Down with the “secret mission” of Tony Blair to South Asia!

Defend the right of the Afghan people to determine their own destiny, free from interference of outside powers!

Statement of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, October 6, 2001

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is on a lightning tour of Pakistan and India, following a similar visit to Russia.

Defend the right of the Afghan people to determine their own destiny, free from interference of outside powers!

Statement of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, October 6, 2001

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is on a lightning tour of Pakistan and India, following a similar visit to Russia. He is acting as the envoy of Anglo-American imperialism, to prepare political support and appropriate conditions for bringing down the Taliban regime by force and replacing it with a new political arrangement in Afghanistan. The Communist Ghadar Party of India condemns this visit of the chieftain of British imperialism to South Asia at this time, as interference in the affairs of South Asia in the interest of Anglo-American imperialism and against the cause of peace in this region.

In Moscow, Blair is reported to have discussed with Russian President Putin about the nature of the political arrangement that could be established in Afghanistan after the Taliban is brought down. In Pakistan, he is reported to have discussed two topics. First, he supposedly shared some evidence in secret with the Pakistan President, who then announced to the press that he thinks that Bin Laden is guilty and should be handed over by the Taliban. And second, he discussed the composition and nature of the regime that would replace the Taliban in Afghanistan, what kind of representation it would have of the Pakhtuns and so on.

While Blair was sharing some "secret evidence" with the leaders of the Pakistan Government, to convince them of the legitimacy of waging war against the Taliban Government in Afghanistan, a 17-page dossier that was presented to the British Parliament as evidence has been dismissed by leading legal experts in Britain as being thin on facts. Mr. Anthony Scrivener, a lawyer in The Times, London, stated that a legal case could not be made simply on the strength of motive and the fact that the attacks on September 11 bore "hallmarks" of a Bin Laden operation. It is reported that out of 70 points in the dossier, only 9 related to the September 11 attacks, and even these are in the nature of conjecture rather than evidence.

At the end of Blair’s visit, Pakistan joined the Anglo-American chorus, with Musharraf publicly asserting that Taliban can be attacked if it does not hand over Bin Laden. In return for this cooperative stand by the Government of Pakistan, Blair announced that further economic aid from the US, UK, World Bank and IMF would be forthcoming to Pakistan.

Blair arrived in India on Friday night and met with Vajpayee on October 6. Blair presumably shared the same "secret evidence" with him, although the Government of India needs no evidence to join the US-led "war on terrorism". Blair’s mission in India was focused more on appeasing the Indian bourgeoisie with some promised prominent role in establishing the new arrangement in Afghanistan.

The issue of what kind of state power and government should be there in Afghanistan is a matter for the Afghan people to decide. What business is it of Tony Blair, George Bush, Musharraf and Vajpayee or of any other outside power?

The war being prepared by Anglo-American imperialism to bring down the Taliban regime, with concocted "evidence" against Bin Laden as the justification, is an entirely unjust war that is in gross violation of all accepted principles of civilised conduct among countries, nations and peoples of the world.

The rulers of India claim that their own "national unity and territorial integrity" should not be violated at any cost, while they have the right to violate the sovereignty and integrity of Afghanistan. Vajpayee is willing to discuss with Blair what role India wants to play in bringing down the current Taliban government and in determining the shape of the regime that would take its place. But what right does India have to interfere in the political affairs of Afghanistan?

The Communist Ghadar Party of India calls on all progressive and peace-loving parties and political forces in South Asia to oppose the unjust imperialist war against Afghanistan from the principled standpoint that the people of Afghanistan have the right to determine their own political destiny, free from outside interference! All the peoples of South Asia have this right as well. An attack on one is an attack on all!

The Communist Ghadar Party of India calls on the communists in the Parliament to step up their opposition to the imperialist war plans and India’s participation in this unjust war. It is not only the use of Indian space by US forces to attack targets in Afghanistan that needs to be opposed. Any form of Indian cooperation with the Anglo-American plan must be opposed. All outside interference, including interference by the Indian State, in Afghanistan, must be opposed.

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