Press Statement
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:
With the ongoing attack on Gaza which has led to the death of 220 Palestinians including 40 children, it was expected that the Modi Government would condemn the Israeli aggression and demand a halt to the attack. Instead of this, the government has adopted a dubious stand which condones the unjustified Israeli aggression.
First of all the Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement which equated both sides as responsible for the violence. Following this, when in the Lok Sabha members of the opposition parties demanded that the government condemn the Israeli violence in Gaza, it refused to do so. Subsequently, in the Rajya Sabha where the violence in Gaza was listed for a short duration discussion, the government refused to conduct this discussion. The External Affairs Minister stated that India has diplomatic ties with both nations and any discourteous reference to any friendly country would affect relations. This is a specious and misleading stand. The BJP government should know that Palestine is an occupied territory and not an independent nation. The effort to gloss over Israel’s aggression and occupation of Palestine is condemnable.
The Modi Government is going back on the longstanding position of India regarding Palestine and is adopting a pro-Israeli stance which is unacceptable. The Polit Bureau demands that the Government take a categorical stand opposing the continuing Israeli aggression which has killed innocent civilians.