Indian Independence Day Meeting

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Indian Independence Day Meeting

Mass Picket against India's Home Minister

India Gets Ready to Purchase Advanced Jet Trainers from Britain

A meeting to commemorate Indian Independence Day was held in Southall on Saturday, August 24, attended by some 200 people. The meeting was organised by SEWA, AWAAZ, and Friends of CPI (Communist Party of India), among others. Speakers included local Labour MP P S Khabra, Najar Singh Basra (Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Association of Indian Communists), veteran Indian communist Chain Singh Chain, Hardip Singh Dahra (Friends of CPI), Salvinder Singh Dhillon (SEWA), Dr Lekh Raj (Congress activist, Punjab), Roops Singh (youth activist) and Chris Coleman, National Spokesperson of RCPB(ML).

Speech by Chris Coleman, RCPB(ML)

Comrades and Friends

I feel very privileged to be joining with you in commemorating Indian Independence Day. The achievement of formal independence in 1947 was, of course, a great milestone in the struggle of the Indian people against colonial oppression and domination. Many facts, however – the fact that the legal basis of the Indian Union, the 1950 constitution, was based essentially on the British Government of India Act 1935, in other words it was a colonial document; the fact that since 1947 the central government has used, like the British, military force to impose its will on the peoples; the fact that terrible communal massacres, as recently in Gujarat, have continued to be a tool of oppression of both central and state governments; the fact that time and again the interests of the domestic monopolies and foreign multinationals are put above the interests of the people – all make clear that the free India for which Baghat Singh, Udam Singh and countless other martyrs laid down their lives has still to be achieved.

It is not of course for me as an Englishman or our Party as a British party to be telling the Indian people how to wage their struggle, however strong our support or heartfelt our sympathy. But one thing which does concern us directly, and about which we feel we have a duty to act, is the fact that the same British state which for two centuries plundered India and devastated its peoples, which now claims to be a "longstanding friend of India" but without acknowledging the terrible legacy of colonialism or the moral obligation to make reparations for its crimes, this same British state now parades about the world anew as if it were some sort of colonial master. So we have the shameful spectacle in recent months of Jack Straw journeying to Delhi claiming to be a peacemaker, but in reality acting as an arms salesman for the British Aerospace monopoly. We have a government that talks of "regime change", whether in Zimbabwe or Iraq, as a legitimate part of foreign policy, rather than what it is, a gross violation of international law. Worst of all we have Britain along with the USA, using the terrible events of September 11 as a pretext, visiting genocidal war on the people of Afghanistan, and planning to do the same on the people of Iraq, all as part of imposing the neo-liberal globalisation, the rule of the monopolies, on the peoples of the world, and attempting to crush all who resist. Such aggressive and chauvinist foreign policies inevitably have their reflection at home. We see the attempt to criminalise all dissent, all resistance to the Blairite policies, labelling those who oppose these policies "wreckers" or even "traitors". We see the failure to repeal any of the racist Nationality laws and Immigration laws of previous governments; in fact their strengthening. We hear from the likes of David Blunkett shameful attacks on asylum seekers, giving the green light to the most backward elements to carry out racist attacks and foment civil strife, as we have seen in some of our cities.

Our Party has always considered that the workers of Indian origin living here, the wider Indian community, as an integral part of the working class and people. We have always paid tribute to the fact that the Indian community, as well as standing up militantly against racism and for its rights and interests, has always participated in the wider progressive movement, in the trade unions, in political life generally, to a far greater extent than its numbers would suggest. So on this day when we celebrate Indian Independence Day, and when it is natural that the hearts of those of Indian origin should burn for the motherland, equally and integrally linked to it, it seems to us, is the necessity for the Indian community to step up its participation in the struggle for an alternative to the agenda being presented by the Blair government of war, privatisation and civil strife, to step up the struggle for a society in which the wellbeing of the people is made central, in which equal rights of citizenship and provisions are guaranteed irrespective of wealth, national origin, skin colour or any other characteristic, to fight for democratic renewal of the political processes and institutions which will make the people themselves the decision makers. These are our thoughts on this occasion. Thank you for inviting us to participate and we wish you all success in your struggles. Thank you.

India’s Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani paid a three-day official visit to Britain earlier this month. A picket was jointly organised by AWAAZ (South Asia Watch) and South Asia Solidarity Group on Wednesday, August 21, outside the India High Commission in London to declare that Advani is not welcome in this country.

The organisers of the picket pointed out that as Home Minister L K Advani has allowed the Gujarat Government to engage in a systematic, state sponsored massacre of Muslims. Since February 28, 2002, more than 2,000 Muslims have been killed, most burnt alive. Over 250 Muslim women have been gang raped and then torched or butchered. Looting and burning of Muslim homes and businesses worth billions of pounds has left 100,000 Muslims in relief camps. Hundreds of Muslim places of worship have been destroyed. All this was done with the state government ministers’ direct involvement and the Home Minister’s patronage, the organisers stressed.

While in Britain, the Indian Deputy Prime Minister declared that India considers itself "at war" with Pakistan over Kashmir despite there being no formal declaration of hostilities.

The militant picket of over 100 people shouted slogans against Hindu fascism and the state-organised massacres for over two hours outside the High Commission in Aldwych.

An article in India Today of August 26 points out that India appears to be one of the most favoured destinations for the British government. Prime Minister Tony Blair, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon have all visited the subcontinent as part of the Anglo-American exercise to "reduce tensions" between India and Pakistan. However, the unstated purpose of the high-profile visits, the article says, has been to urge Delhi to sign the £680 million deal for the purchase of Hawk advanced jet trainer (AJT) aircraft from British Aerospace.

The AJT deal goes before the Indian Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for final approval this month, the article says. The cabinet note has been prepared on the basis of a report of a committee headed by Air Marshal S G Inamdar, vice-chief of air staff, which was involved in lengthy price negotiations with British Aerospace for the past year. The deal involves off-the-shelf purchase of 22 Hawk aircraft, with another 44 jets to be assembled in India. It also envisages the manufacture of another 134 jets in the coming years under the transfer of technology agreement with British Aerospace. According to Indian Defence Ministry sources, the Cabinet is expected to take a decision on the purchase of the Hawk AJT after the monsoon session of Parliament.

The Indian Defence Ministry set up a price-negotiating committee under Air Marshal Inamdar to negotiate the cost and the terms of the deal with British Aerospace. While the negotiated price of the Hawk is being kept a secret, ballpark figures indicate that the British were initially asking for around £12.4 million per aircraft. After detailed negotiations, British Aerospace quoted the "best and final offer" of around £10.1 million for a Hawk. Since the difference between that and the Indian government offer of around £9.5 million is considerable, the Defence Ministry wants the political leadership to decide on the matter.

British Aerospace has apparently refused to give further price concessions. It claims that anything less than the quoted amount would make the deal economically unviable. The aircraft manufacturer is being helped by the British government, which has been lobbying with the Indian government. "From Tony Blair to Jack Straw, everyone has written letters to the Vajpayee Government for buying the Hawk AJT," a senior Indian Defence Ministry official revealed.