PROMINENT INDIAN FIGURES DEMAND ARMS SHIPMENT HALT TO ISRAEL

Mon 05 August 2024:

A group of prominent figures in India have called on Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to halt arms shipments to Israel. According to Indian media, former judges of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, economists and activists sent a letter to Defence Minister Singh, which read: “India should immediately suspend its cooperation with Israel on the shipment of military munitions and immediately make every effort to ensure that arms delivered to Israel are not used in genocide or violations of international humanitarian law.”

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The figures demanded a review of all licenses issued to Indian companies to export military weapons and munitions to Israel. They called for continuing to keep details of export licenses, including the countries to which they are exported, available to the public. The figures also explained that the government granted licenses to at least three arms companies to export weapons to Israel during the war on Gaza and even after the International Court of Justice issued its decisions. The figures stressed that India is committed to various international laws and agreements that oblige it not to export military weapons to countries that commit war crimes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has not made any statement about sending arms to Israel, but previous press reports have confirmed that New Delhi is supplying weapons to Israel. In June, former Israeli ambassador to New Delhi Daniel Carmon remarked that India might supply Israel with weapons to “return the favour” for Israel’s assistance during the 1999 Kargil War.

Speaking on Thursday at an event at the Press Club of India, acclaimed author Arundhati Roy urged the Indian government to stop selling weapons to Israel, which she called the south Asian country’s “complicit” in Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on Palestine.

Speakers at the event included CPIM Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat, senior editor Siddharth Varadarajan, rights lawyer Prashant Bhushan, economist Jean Drèze, and retired IFS officer Ashok Sharma.

The speakers condemned the assistance provided by the Indian government to Israel in violation of the ruling of the International Court of Justice and called for solidarity with the people of Palestine.

“India used to be a country that supported the people of Palestine in their struggle for freedom,” Roy said. “Everywhere, even in the United States… people are standing up against their government’s support for [Israel]. But we are not standing up… and that is such a shame.”

“We must stand up. We must refuse. We will not support the export of weapons of any kind,” she said.

“The Indian government is complicit in the genocide that Israel is conducting in Gaza,” Roy said. “It is our responsibility to show that as people of India, we refuse to be complicit in that, even if our government wishes to continue with what it does. We want these weapons exports to stop immediately.”

“What is happening in Gaza, it is not just the murder… of tens of thousands of women and children. It is the bombing of hospitals, the destruction of universities… the attempt to erase the very memory people have of that place. It is a genocide like no other because it’s taking place on live TV,” she said.

“It is a great shame, that in our country, the news from Gaza is not reported. It is not on front pages of our paper. It is not on our television channels. It’s really a a terrible shame,” she added.

The narration against Hamas by ruling Hindu nationalists fueled Islamophobia in India, particularly during the 2024 elections, said retired IFS officer Ashok Sharma.

He alleged that the NDA won by taking advantage of Islamophobia.

He also said that India’s television channels utilised October 7 attack to spread Islamophobia in India and to portray Muslims as villains.

“How can Palestine solidarity protests and waving flags be an offense and a national security threat?” asked Prashanth Bhushan.

“Solidarity with Palestine requires us to hold accountable our own government and its actions which support the perpetrators of the continuing barbaric horror against children and people of Palestine,” said CPIM leader Karat.

A day before the solidarity gathering, more than two dozen former Indian Supreme Court justices and other judges, foreign service officers, academics, artists, activists, and others sent a letter to Defense Minister Rajnath Singh urging him to halt the licensing of arms sales to Israel, whose military forces have killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians while obliterating and starving Gaza.

“The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has clearly ruled that Israel is in violation of obligations under the Genocide Convention and further that Israel is in illegal occupation of the occupied Palestinian territory,” read the letter. “In light of these rulings, any supply of military material to Israel would amount to a violation of India’s obligations under international humanitarian law and the mandate of Article 21 read with Article 51(c) of the Constitution of India.”

According to the letter, among the weapons India has sent to Israel are Hermes 900 unmanned aerial drones, which are co-manufactured with Israeli arms company Elbit Systems. The drones “have been extensively used in the Israeli Defense Forces’ military campaign in Gaza,” they alleged.

They went on to say: “Several [United Nations] experts have warned that the transfer of weapons and ammunition to Israel may constitute serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian laws, and risk state complicity in international crimes, possibly including genocide, reiterating their demand to stop transfers immediately.”

“In short, the grant of licenses and approvals for export of military material to Israel, coupled with reports of such exports by Indian companies, constitutes a serious violation of India’s obligations under international law and our own Constitution,” the letter noted.

“International law aside, we consider such exports to be morally objectionable, indeed abominable,” the letter added. “We demand, therefore, that India should immediately suspend its collaboration in the delivery of military material to Israel. Further, India must immediately make every effort to ensure that weapons already delivered to Israel are not used to contribute to acts of genocide or violations of international humanitarian law.”

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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