The Hindu : National : Arms control campaigners seek India's support

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 17, 2006

National

National

Arms control campaigners seek India's support

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Campaigners for tougher global arms control on Thursday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek India's support for a draft arms trade treaty (ATT) to be discussed at the second United Nations Arms Review Conference opening after 100 days.

The campaigners later put up a mock panwallah stall selling guns to illustrate how lethal arms could bebought as easily as pan. Members of civil society, including Arundhati Roy, are among the thousands backing the campaign.

"There are tougher regulations in the music industry than in the transfer of arms. Every minute someone dies of armed violence. Women suffer disproportionately, said though they are seldom the buyers, owners or users of firearms,"Anuradha Chenoy, vice-president of the Control Arms Foundation of India, told newspersons.

The draft arms trade treaty (ATT) has been put together by 19 Nobel laureates led by Oscar Arias and is being championed by legal experts and NGOs like Oxfam, Amnesty and International Network on Small Arms.

"The global arms control system is out of control. We are not talking about ending arms control but regulating it. We want India to support and lead the control arms campaign by backing the proposed treaty," said Oxfam's Ben Phillips.

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