Demonstrators Urge India to Cut Military and Economic Ties with Israel– Abdul Bari Masoud
New Delhi: The Palestine Solidarity Organisation staged a massive protest at Jantar Mantar on Friday against Israel’s renewed war on Gaza. Left leaders and civil society members condemned the killing of thousands of Palestinians and demanded that India end military and economic ties with Israel.
CPIML, CPI(M), other left parties, students, and progressive groups participated. Protesters called for an immediate ceasefire and criticized the Indian government’s silence on the atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank. They urged India to break ties with apartheid Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to a ceasefire on January 15, 2025, after a year of attacks. However, within two months, he resumed bombings, violating the truce.
CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said Israel’s latest assault killed over 400 people, mostly women and children, in a single day. He called it a move to abandon the second phase of the ceasefire.
CPI(M) leader Subhashni Ali blamed the US for backing Israel’s attacks. “The Trump administration is complicit in this aggression, aiming to destroy Gaza,” she said.
B. Venkat, General Secretary of AIAWU, declared solidarity with Palestine, stating, “Israel’s and the US’s imperialist attacks endanger humanity.” He accused PM Modi of failing to act while India supplies weapons to Israel.
“Modi, claiming India is the ‘Mother of Democracy,’ must intervene for peace in this brutal conflict,” he added.
Speakers, including ex-MP Hanan Mulla, Prof. Achin Vinayak, and Dr. Syeda Hameed, condemned Israel’s war crimes and US complicity. Hameed criticized India’s shift from supporting Palestine to siding with Israel under Hindutva influence.
Protesters held placards reading: “Stop the Genocide in Gaza!”, “Condemn Israel’s Breach of Ceasefire!”, and “Modi Must Stop Reeling Under Trump’s Diktats!”
