Open
World Conference of Workers
In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights
Common Appeal of Indian and Pakistani Trade Unionists
We say "NO" to India-Pakistan war. We want peace!
We, representatives from India and Pakistan, attending the meeting of
trade unionists in defence of ILO Conventions convened by the ILC in
Geneva on June 16th, strongly feel that any war between India and Pakistan
would be ruinous. People in both countries want peace, not war. Therefore,
we are launching the following appeal to the international labour
movement.
In the context of our preparation for and support to the International
Conference against Deregulation in Berlin (February 21-24, 2002) and in
the context of the war in Afghanistan, we said in December 2001:
"The global war is a war against the people, against the workers:
It is waged on the social and economic levels as well as by military
means".
We called upon the people of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and
Sri Lanka to undertake a common struggle for peace.
The belligerent statements made by the political leaders on both sides of
the India-Pakistan border over the last few days have surely placed the
people of the Sub-continent in general, and India and Pakistan in
particular, on the edge of a precipice. The ongoing fanatical attacks on
innocent people arising out of religious hatred -- as evidenced in Karachi
(Pakistan) and Gujarat (India) involving mass human slaughter, burning,
looting and inhuman acts -- have enflamed the atmosphere even more.
The developments which have taken place in Gujarat, with the communal
carnage pushing Muslims into a corner with the active connivance of the
state machinery, resulting in 100,000 people being compelled to live in
camps, are the beginning of gettho-isation, opening the way to a
Bosnia-like ethnic cleansing.
Keeping the war clouds hovering, India has resorted to massive
deregulation. In the last few weeks, privatisation of public sector units
has been given a big push. Thus, the government-controlled car
manufacturer Maruti Udyog Ltd. was given to Japanese MNC Suzuki.
Government shares in giant corporations like Indian Petrochemical
Corporation Ltd., Indian Oil, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd.
(telecommunications) have been given to the private sector.
Enormous resources have been diverted for the purchasing of weapons,
totally ignoring education, health care and the social security needs of
ordinary men and women. According to the central statistical organisation
of India, the organised sector has lost 700,000 jobs in the last two
years. Corporate sector job losses amounted to 8%. The working class is
already facing the threat of changes in the Indian labour laws to provide
unfettered freedom for employers to lay off and retrench workers and to
close down establishments. War would be an excuse for the government to
push forward its anti-labour designs.
In Pakistan, President Musharraf has legitimised his rule through the
farce of a referendum.
Earlier, he had elevated himself to the Presidency from military
dictatorship. Pakistan's sovereignty has largely been discounted after
September 11th in the United States.
The Pakistani military dictatorship under Musharraf has introduced vicious
anti-working class neoliberal policies.
In Pakistan, the government has increased the price of petrol three times,
and also the price of utilities and daily commodities.
We are deeply concerned about the "hot pursuit" policy advocated
by India and the threat of the nuclear option by Pakistan. Both the
Pakistani and Indian regimes, with nuclear weapons available to them, are
whipping up chauvinism in order to create war hysteria. Neither regime
cares for the interests of the working class and peasantry of their
region.
We are perturbed because the sub-continent is virtually under the
increasing control of the U.S. Since 1999, the U.S. has been issuing
statements about the possibility of a nuclear war between India and
Pakistan, and Pakistan and India following the path of Bosnia. The U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is already on record as saying that the
chance of war between India and Pakistan is "higher than at any point
since 1971" and that conventional war, once begun, could escalate
into a nuclear confrontation.
Taking note of the alarming developments and course of events,
peace-loving trade unionists from India and Pakistan jointly condemned
nuclear tests by India and Pakistan in 1998. That provided an opportunity
for trade unionists from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka to
issue a joint statement opposing adventurist and senseless tests by the
concerned nations. We declared our firm commitment to uphold peace, as we
firmly believed that a war would only benefit those international arms
traders making and selling articles and weapons required by the military.
The common people in India and Pakistan would be the losers.
History teaches us that in the name of austerity, national security and as
a patriotic duty, workers and other poorer sections of society would be
called upon to make sacrifices; sacrifice their freedom, their trade
unions and democratic rights as well as the gains made by them through
past struggles, and while they become cannon fodder, the bosses would be
allowed every freedom to plunder and loot.
We, trade unionists from around the globe, will reject and strongly act in
the labour movement in our own countries against the governments' war
hysteria.
A war between India and Pakistan would destabilise and dismantle the
countries and the working class would face further ruin. Hence, we say NO
to war, the working class wants peace.
We want India and Pakistan to reach a negotiated political solution to the
issues involved.
We call on the international labour movement to support this appeal, to
say NO to war.
Rubina Jamil (APTUF, Pakistan), N. Vasudevan (Trade Union Solidarity
Committee, India) H. Mahadevan (AITUC, India) Sankar Saha (UTUC, Lenin
SARANI)
First endorsers :
Algeria: KHERBACHE Zoubida, Member of Parliament Workers Party,
TAKDJOUT Amar, Member of Parliament - Belgium: GIARROCCO Roberto,
MDT - Benin: AZOUA Gaston, General Secretary CSTB - Brazil:
BOITO Misa, Sao Paulo executive of the Workers Party, TURRA Julio, CUT Nec
- Burkina: NAMA Mamadou, USTB, SAGNON Tolé, General Secretary CGT-B.
- Central Africa: SONNY-COLE Théophile, General Secretary USTC - Chile:
MESINA Luis, Banking Union - Côte-d'Ivoire: YAO K. François,
General Secretary SYNASEG - France: GRANDVAUX Serge,
Informations ouvrières, DELALONDRE Clarisse, Trade unionist EDF,
LANGLET Denis, Steelworker Trade unionist, MEDJKAL Hamou, Steelworker
Trade unionist, CHEVREAU Bernard, University Teacher, SHAPIRA Daniel,
Workers Party, HEBERT Alexandre, 'Union des anarcho-syndicalistes',
BILLAUDEL Marc, Workers Party, RAGUIN Hubert, Teacher Trade unionist,
PARIS Jacques, Teacher Trade unionist, KATZ Jean-Philippe, Health Worker
Trade unionist, SANDRI Geneviève, SANDRI Roger, Retired Trade unionist,
PEPERS Véronique, Trade Unionist chemical industry, ALLIOT Marie-José,
GP, Trade unionist, DORIANE Olivier, Workers Party, BRUNET Marie-Edmonde,
Teacher Trade unionist; EMIN Hélène, Workers Party, DAVANTURE Alain,
Builder Trade unionist, SYBELIN Yannick, MARTIN Odile, Iqbal Masih
Committee in defence of Children's rights, SAINT-ANDRE Alain, Trade
unionist, STAGLIANO Marie, Teacher Trade unionist, THUILOT Rose-Marie,
Trade unionist Public Services, DUBOIS Jean-Paul, Trade Unionist Public
services, GANI Janine, Résistances communistes, GOME Gérard, Workers
Party, BARROIS Jean-Pierre, Workers Party, GLUCKSTEIN Daniel Workers
Party, International Liaison Committee coordinator , KERMIN Jean-Charles,
Trade unionist EDF, BOYADJIS Maïté, 'Union des anarcho-syndicalistes',
SIMONNIN Michèle, Trade unionist, ALLOUCHE Jean-Marc, MARQUISET
Jean-Charles, Résistances communistes, GIROD Jacques, Trade unionist - Gabon:
MOMBO-MOUELET Camille, FLEEMA/CGSL, MEBIAME EVOUNG Léon, President Gabon
Trade Union Congress - Germany: EISNER Udo, DGB-IGM, FREY Henning,
Ver.di, BOULBOULLE Carla, german committee of Berlin Conference against
Deregulation, BECKER Heinrich, GEW, SAALMULLER Peter, Ver.di, SCHULLER
Klaus, DGB, PIPPART Peter, Ver.di, GERHOLD Karlheinz, SPD, Ver.di,
SCHUSTER Hans Werner, SPD, Ver.di - Greece: RACHIOTIS George, GSOM
- Guadeloupe: LAPITRE Jocelyn, MPTPG - Guinea: FOFANA
Ibrahima, General Secretary USTG - Italy: DEFENDIS Rita, CISL-education,
SOLA Laura Teacher, VARALDO Lorenzo, UIL-education , CARRETTONI Lorenza
Teacher CISL - Mexico: ESQUIVEL Consuelo, SNTE - Morocco:
RAKHAMASI Rachid, OST, MERYAM - Pakistan: JAMIL Rubina, APTUF - Portugal:
LA SALETTE Silva - Romania - COZMA Gheorghe, National Committee of
the Workers - Russia: Gavrilov Andrei, KOZLOV Evgeny, Solidarity
Committee Saint-Petersburg - Spain: BEJAR Jesus, POSI, CCOO, COBO-SANCHEZ
Eva, Working Women Committee, SORIA GARCIA Conrad, Trade Unionist Public
Services, QUERO Josep, FSP-UGT, CABRERA Ana, FSP-UGT - Switzerland:
PERRUCHONO Eric, UCPO, ANOR Alexandre, PSS, MUNOZ Choni, SSP, CASAGRANDE
Marco, UCPO, LONGCHAMP Chantal, SCHELLER Philippe, Teacher, UCPO, LONFAT
Myriam, UPOP, SSP Former Deputy, DELEY Luc, Health worker, Chair Public
Services Union Geneva Regional Committee, HOFER Daniel,Trade Unionist FTMH,
MADDALENA Silvia, CLI, ANDRE Richard, Trade Unionist, ABDOU Landry UCPO/SSP,
HERRANZ Sylviane, journalist, VASTA Lorette, SSP, ISELI Pierrette, UCPO,
ISELI Claude, UCPO, GINDRAT Michel, UCPO's Journal editorial board,
SOLARI VICENSINI Costanza, UCPO, ANOR Catherine, teacher, UCPO, ROBERT
Max, UCPO - Togo: GBIKPI-BENISSAN Norbert, General Secretary UNSIT,
LAWSON Messan, Workers Party, AMEGANVI Claude, Workers Party - UK:
CHARALAMBOUS Charlie, Labour Party, WILKS Sue, NUS Leeds.
For all contacts :
France : ILC, 87, rue du Fg St Denis, 75010 Paris
Tel : 01 48 01 88 20 - Fax : 01 48 01 89 24
Email : eit.ilc@wanadoo.fr
Pakistan : All Pakistan Trade Union Federation ( APTUF)
14-N, Industrial Area; Gulbert, Lahore
fax : 009242-6686519 - email : rjapwsl@nexlink.net.pk
India: Trade Union Solidarity Committee
6, Neelbanth Apartments, Gokuldas, Posta Rd, Dadar (RE)Munbai 400 014
Fax : 00 91 22-4150750 - email : aibef@yahoo.com