The Hindu : 'Break the silence on Iraq'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 23, 2003

National

National

'Break the silence on Iraq'

The following is a statement by leading film-makers and others against the planned war on Iraq:

"We are deeply troubled by the reluctance of the political class of the country to condemn the United States' planned illegal aggression on Iraq in the most unequivocal terms. Given the ruling party's communal, political, and geopolitical agenda, the refusal of the Government of India to take a strong stand is not surprising. So of much greater concern is the failure of secular, progressive parties to mobilise widespread popular support for a No War movement (Why Are We Silent? The Hindu Feb. 18), especially when this is happening so massively across the world: when the peoples of the world are clearly willing to take a stand on this issue.

"Our Government's silence, and the silence of our political parties, is not our silence. We express our solidarity with the people of Iraq and with peace-loving people everywhere. We unequivocally condemn the imperialist agenda of the United States and the United Kingdom and affirm our opposition to their planned aggression on Iraq, which is in complete disregard of international law, the U.N. Charter and of public opinion in their own countries and throughout the world. We urge fellow citizens to add their names to this statement and to make their voices heard against this lawless aggression in every possible way."

Signed:

Ammu Chaterji, Anand Patwardhan, Aparna Sen, Arun Kumar, Bhawana Somaaya, Bina Sarkar Elias, Chandralekha, Chidananda Das Gupta, Dhritiman Chaterji, Jai Sen, Kalyan Ray, Konkona Sen Sharma, Leo Saldanha, Maithili Rao, Malini Parthasarathy, Mrinal Sen, Prashant Bhushan, Ram Ray, Sadanand Menon, Sheba Chhachhi, Sanjay Kak, Siddhartha, Shripad Dharmadhikary, Souparna Lahiri, Subhash Jha, Vasudha Dhagamwar

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