22 July 2005
Press Statement
The
leaders of Left Parties – Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party
of India, Revolutionary Socialist Party and Forward Bloc – met today.
They have issued the following statement:
On Women’s Reservation Bill
The
Left Parties discussed the issue of one-third reservation for women in
parliament and state legislatures. In
this connection, the Left Parties wanted the government to bring the original
Bill providing one-third
reservation for women in the forthcoming session of parliament.
This will be in keeping with the commitment made in the Common Minimum
Programme.
Further
delay in the matter will be unwarranted.
On India-Pakistan-Iran Gas Pipeline Project
The
Left Parties expressed concern at the remarks made by the Prime Minister to an
American newspaper in which he has reported to have said that the pipeline
project is fraught with difficulties, among
which is that no international consortium is coming forward to underwrite the
project.
It
is unfortunate that the Prime Minister has made such remarks in Washington when it is well-known that the United States is oppose to the
project. The Prime Minister should
immediately clarify whether the commitment to the pipeline project has been
diluted as a result of his visit to United States.
The
Left Parties consider the going ahead of the pipeline project as an acid test
for the UPA government’s commitment to an independent policy serving national
interests.
Manipur Situation
The
Left Parties expressed serious concern at the worsening situation in Manipur.
The Left Parties urged the Central government to intervene immediately to
restore the road and other communications so that normalcy returns to the state.
The
Left Parties will be writing a joint letter to the Prime Minister in this
regard.
Those
who attended the meeting:
CPI : A. B. Bardhan , D. Raja
CPI(M):
Prakash Karat, H. K. Surjeet, Sitaram Yechury
AIFB : Debabrata Biswas, G. Devarajan
RSP
:
Abani Roy, Manoj Bhattacharya
