India must unequivocally condemn U.S. attack on Venezuela: CPI leader Narayana

Condemning Saturday’s U.S. military strikes on Venezuela, CPI Central Control Commission chairman K. Narayana has demanded that the Central government condemn the U.S. attack, which he called as “imperialist aggression” on a sovereign country.

Speaking to the media at Giriprasad Bhavan in Khammam on Sunday, he said, “India’s long-standing commitment to non-alignment, peace and respect for sovereignty demands a clear and firm response.”

“The U.S. action is driven by greed for oil and mineral resources,” he said, adding India has gained substantial economic and strategic benefits through independent foreign policy choices and cooperation with multiple nations.

“India cannot remain silent when democracy is crushed elsewhere for corporate and imperial interests,” he said.

He alleged that the BJP-led Central government repealed the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) named after the Father of the Nation, in pursuit of its pro-corporate policies. The Centre should immediately restore the MGNREGA to safeguard the hard-won rights of rural poor, he said.

He recalled that the CPI organised an agitation over the Musi river’s pollution issue during the former Chief Minister of the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh late Y S Rajasekhar Reddy’s government. He demanded that those who lose houses for the proposed Musi rejuvenation project should be rehabilitated and the interests of poor people be fully protected.

Describing the ensuing public meeting of the CPI slated to be held in Khammam on January 18 as a historic event, he said delegates from across the country and abroad will participate in the meeting. It will mark the closing ceremony of the CPI centenary celebrations.