Date:02/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/02/stories/2009010255311000.htm

National

‘Centre should intervene diplomatically on Israeli aggression’

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The leaders of the Left parties, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Telugu Desam on Thursday expressed anguish that the Centre remained “virtually silent” on the ongoing Israeli “genocidal aggression” against Palestinians. “The Government of India should not just condemn the Israeli action but intervene diplomatically to see that the aggression is ended. It must take up with Israel and the United Nations the question of allowing food and humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip,” the leaders said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Expressing deep shock and horror over the attacks, the leaders said the targets included hospitals and schools leading to loss of more than 400 lives.

The U.N. Secretary General, the Arab League and many governments had condemned the attacks. They demanded an immediate end to the aggression by Israel, its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and restoration of humanitarian assistance.

The signatories included former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda , the Communist Party of India General Secretary Prakash Karat, his CPI counterpart A.B. Bardhan, AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa, Telugu Desam President N. Chandrababu Naidu., Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas and his RSP counterpart J. Chandrachudan, Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI), D. Raja (CPI) and Veerendra Kumar (JD-S).

Corrections and Clarifications

The last paragraph of a report "'Centre should intervene diplomatically'" (January 2, 2009) mentioned Mr. Prakash Karat to be the Communist Party of India General Secretary. Mr. Karat is the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).