The left parties have decided to stage protests throughout the country on January 24, against the visit of U.S. President Barak Obama to participate in the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi.
Left party leaders, including Moula Mulla of the CPI, Sharanabasappa Mamshetty of the CPI(M) and H.V. Diwakar of the SUCI, addressing a joint press conference here on Monday, said by inviting Mr. Obama for the Republic Day celebrations, the BJP-led NDA government was committing a serious breach of faith among the people.
They said India had a rich tradition of remaining non-aligned with any superpower, and continuing the socialistic pattern of governance by protecting the rights of the underprivileged. By inviting Mr. Obama, the country has strayed away from this path. “The present government is leading the country to a capitalistic society by abandoning the socialistic path,” they said.
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The leaders said Mr. Obama represented a country which brought misery to the people of under-developed and developing countries through its war-mongering policies. History has proven that countries close to the U.S. have ended up in total disarray. They cautioned that by moving closer to the U.S., India was inviting trouble. Mr. Obama’s visit to India is to explore more avenues to open up the market so that MNCs from the U.S. exploit the cheap labour available in India, they said.