Left to protest against Obama visit on Nov 8

The Left parties, consisting of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, CPI, All India Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party issued a press statement on Friday on the eve of United States President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to India.

Obama, being the first Afro-American pesident and coming after the neo-conservative Bush regime, there were expectations of positive changes. These, however, have not materialized, the Left parties noted.

The Left parties also decided to organise a countrywide day of protest on November 8. "The United States, as part of its global hegemonic designs, is pursuing policies which are inimical to the national sovereignty and the people's interests of many countries. As far as India is concerned, the United States is aggressively pressurising the government to adopt economic policies which are detrimental to the people in the name of a strategic alliance," the Left parties said.

The Left parties stated that they will highlight the following issues on the protest day:

"Justice for the victims of the Bhopal Gas accident; to make Dow Chemicals pay for the damages and for the clean up of the factory site; US should extradite Warren Anderson to India to stand trial,

The United States should stop pressurising India on foreign policy and to open up agriculture, retail trade, education and other services for American capital and multinational companies,

Scrap the Indo-US Defence Framework Agreement which seeks to convert India into a military ally of the United States. Stop pressurising India to give up liability claims on US nuclear suppliers,

Withdraw the remaining 50,000 US troops in Iraq forthwith; have a political settlement in Afghanistan to establish an independent and neutral state and withdraw US-Nato forces immediately, and

End the US embargo on Cuba; stop all assistance to Israel till it vacates the occupied Palestinian and Arab territories," the Left parties demanded.