Reds tell UPA to stop toadying to US

Published on 9/9/2007  

VV Balakrishna

Visakhapatnam, Sept 8:Thousands of Left activists who gat hered in the city today to oppose the nuclear deal and the war games sent out a clear and loud message to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, Concede our demands or face the consequences. The warning rang out from the public meeting at the RK Beach here which marked the culmination of two jathas from Chennai and Kolkata respectively which entered the city this morning.   The Left painted the town red, with their flags and festoons in all streets. In the afternoon, the cadres went in procession from Sripuram Junction to the venue of the public meeting. It was a veritable red river coursing its way towards the Bay of Bengal as the red-shirted activists made their way to the beach. And towering above them was the giant-size cut-out of the ‘demon’ George Bush garlanded with human skulls and bones.   A large number of activists from Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Viskhapatnam and East Godavari districts took part and, significantly, over half of them were women and youth.   Women activists from remote places like Pedda Bayalu, Koyyuru, Chintapalli, Gk Veedhi, Araku and Paderu mandals in Visakhapatnam district showed up in strength which indicates the Left’s ability to create awareness in the masses on crucial national issues. The speakers were lustily cheered, more so when they came down Bush. Many weekend regulars at the beach also listened to the speeches with rapt attention

Red guns boom on Vizag beach

Published on 9/9/2007

VV Balakrishna

Visakhapatnam, Sept 8:A mighty Red river coursed its way towards the Bay of Bengal in Visakhapatnam today, The two jathas, led respectively by stalwarts AB Bardhan (CPI) and Prakash Karat (CPM) converged on the Ramakrishna Beach here. Where the two leaders assailed the UPA Government for its cosying up to the US, as witnessed by the nuclear deal deliberations and the ongoing wargames involving the navies of the US and those of its satellites.   They warned the UPA it would have to face the music if it went any further on the deal. Other leaders who addres sed the public meeting included Sitaram Yechury and BV Raghavulu (CPM) and S Sudhakar Reddy (CPI). Two other Left parties — the Forward Bloc and the RSP — were represented by Devabrata Biswas and Abani Roy respectively.   Addressing the rally, Karat said: The nuke deal is outside the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) and the UPA is straying from it. The CMP stood for independent foreign policy. The UPA would have itself to blame if there is political instability in future.   He issued a stern warning to the Congress that if the government did not abide by the decisions of the Joint Committee which is meeting on September 14, the Left parties would have to decide on their future course of action. Bardhan echoed similar concerns over the US bid to gain strategic control over India and undermine its sovereignty, and ridiculed the recent professions of friendship by the US as a sham. He dismissed as baseless the contention that the Left parties were creating political instability in the country, and recounted the role they had played in pressuring the Government into enacting the Right to Information and implementing the National Rural Employment Guarantee schemes.   For his part, Sitaram Yechury voiced the apprehension that if India tilted towards the US its enemy, Al-Qaeda, would target India. The US was just pursuing its self-interest in trying to sell one lakh crore worth of nuclear fuel to India and the nuclear power thus generated would prove prohibitively expensive, he averred. 

Red Star over Vizag

 Published on  9/8/2007 

VV Balakrishna

Visakhapatnam, Sept 7: A day ahead of the mock war as part of the five-nation joint naval exercise 500 nautical miles off the Visakhapatnam coast, the Left parties are all set to mock the exercise at a huge public meeting scheduled in this port city tomorrow. The Left is likely to issue a stern warning to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government demanding that it snap military ties with the imperialist US. The Left-Congress relations are already under tremendous strain following the nuclear tango. Strongly protesting the naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal on September 4-9 codenamed Malabar-2007, the Left parties are organising two vehicular jathas which will culminate in a public meeting tomorrow at RK Beach. Though the Malabar series is in its 13th year, this year’s is the biggest-ever peacetime show, having been expanded to include Japan, Australia and Singapore. The participating nations claim that the joint naval exercise is an anti-piracy and anti-marine terror drill, but the Left parties have made it clear that the naval exercise is an integral component in a grand strategic military alliance in the making. They have already sent strong signals that they would oppose any move taking the country into the American fold. ‘‘The Left parties are organising jathas to build mass support opposing the naval exercise and the N-deal with the imperialist US which is against the country’s sovereignty,’’ CPM district secretary Ch Narasinga Rao, told Express. The two jathas — one flagged off in Kolkata on September 4 and the other in Chennai the following day — will converge at Siripuram Junction in the city and then head for the meeting at RK Beach.