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Friday, Sep 26, 2008
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Nuclear deal: Left, BSP, JD(S) stage protests

Special Correspondent

Senate panel’s stand exposes Manmohan’s claim on 123 pact: Karat

NEW DELHI: The Left parties, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Janata Dal (Secular) on Thursday staged protests here against the United Progressive Alliance government for not holding the Parliament session and going ahead with the civil nuclear agreement with the United States.

MPs belonging to these parties staged a sit-in on the steps of the main entrance to Parliament House stating that the government should have convened the House at a time when the people were facing serious problems.

They said issues such as the terror strikes, attacks on Christian minorities, continuing price rise and the impact of the U.S. financial crisis should have been discussed.

Holding placards and raising slogans, the MPs also protested against the government’s decision to carry forward the nuclear agreement. The parties said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh went back on his assurance that he would come back to Parliament after getting clearances from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Parliament is scheduled to meet only on October 17.

The protest was also held to coincide with Dr. Singh’s meeting with President George Bush in Washington on Thursday (early Friday morning here).

A kilometre away from Parliament House, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, his AIFB counterpart Debabrata Biswas and CPI national secretary Amarjit Kaur addressed members of the Left parties staging a protest at Jantar Mantar.

Mr. Karat said the argument by the government that India would only be bound by the 123 Agreement stood exposed with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee insisting that the Henry J. Hyde Act would be supreme.

Besides terminating the agreement and recalling the equipment sold by the U.S. in the event of India testing again, the stipulations include that the U.S. could ask other member-countries of the NSG to adopt similar measures.

Mr. Biswas said the Left stand against the nuclear agreement now stood vindicated. What was more worrying was that India would be roped in to engage with the U.S. in its war on terror in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said India was insulated from the impact of the American financial crisis due to the consistent stand adopted by the Left parties against the opening up of the financial sector.

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