09-07-2003, 10:41 PM
The CPM does not like India's burgeoning relationship with Israel. The main reason is that it wants to keep the pot boiling between followers of India's 2 major religions
[url="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030907/asp/nation/story_2341301.asp"]CPM call to clarify stand on Palestine[/url]
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, Sept. 6: CPM general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet has asked Atal Bihari Vajpayee to clarify his governmentâs stand on Palestine, two days before Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon arrives on an official visit.
In a three-page letter to the Prime Minister, Surjeet said: âIt is incumbent on the part of the government to reiterate its stand on Palestine in the context of the invitation extended to the Israeli Prime Minister.â
He added: âIt is time that the government clarified its stand instead of trying to run with the hare and hunt with the hound.â
Surjeet asked the Centre to clarify if it supported the creation of an independent Palestine state as per relevant UN resolutions. He wished to know if the government sought the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the West Bank and Gaza strip and if it recognised the Palestinian Liberation Organisation as the genuine representative of Palestinians.
This is not the first time the CPM has criticised the Centreâs foreign policy. It has often said the government is moving away from Indiaâs traditional policy based on national consensus.
Surjeet pointed out Sharon had to quit as defence minister following a massacre of Palestinian refugees. âOn February 13, 1983, a commission of inquiry set up by the Israeli government found Sharon guilty of complicity in the massacre in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Beirut between September 16-18 1982,â he said.
[url="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030907/asp/nation/story_2341301.asp"]CPM call to clarify stand on Palestine[/url]
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, Sept. 6: CPM general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet has asked Atal Bihari Vajpayee to clarify his governmentâs stand on Palestine, two days before Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon arrives on an official visit.
In a three-page letter to the Prime Minister, Surjeet said: âIt is incumbent on the part of the government to reiterate its stand on Palestine in the context of the invitation extended to the Israeli Prime Minister.â
He added: âIt is time that the government clarified its stand instead of trying to run with the hare and hunt with the hound.â
Surjeet asked the Centre to clarify if it supported the creation of an independent Palestine state as per relevant UN resolutions. He wished to know if the government sought the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the West Bank and Gaza strip and if it recognised the Palestinian Liberation Organisation as the genuine representative of Palestinians.
This is not the first time the CPM has criticised the Centreâs foreign policy. It has often said the government is moving away from Indiaâs traditional policy based on national consensus.
Surjeet pointed out Sharon had to quit as defence minister following a massacre of Palestinian refugees. âOn February 13, 1983, a commission of inquiry set up by the Israeli government found Sharon guilty of complicity in the massacre in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Beirut between September 16-18 1982,â he said.