PRAGOTI

The protest March held by the Students Federation of India(SFI) activists in front of Prime Minister's residence has drawn widespread attention.It was a spontaneous protest in the wake of the leak of letter of US President George Bush to the US Congressmen,which has underlined the concerns raised by the Left and exposed the deceitful stand taken by the Central Government on the Indo-US Nuclear deal.

STUDENTS’ FEDERATION OF INDIA

Jawaharlal Nehru University

Press Release

04/09/08

The SFI had a spontaneous demonstration in front of the Prime Minister’s residence yesterday night while the emergency meeting called by the government in the wake of the leak of letter of US President George Bush to the US Congressmen addressing concerns on the Nuclear Deal was going on. The 26 page letter containing 45 questions exposed the real intentions of the US administrations in concluding the Indo-US Civil Nuclear Cooperation agreement. In fact, the letter also vindicated the stand of the Left forces in our country, who had been carrying a consistent campaign among the people, that this deal was an attempt to subvert and compromise with our sovereignty and independent foreign policy. The letter leaked to the media by Howard L.Berman, the Chairman of the US House Foreign Relations Committee, clearly contradicts all the assurances given by the UPA government and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the people of our country on this deal. The letter revealed that:

* The US has given no binding fuel-supply assurance to India.
* There is no US consent to India's stockpiling of lifetime fuel reserves for safeguarded power reactors.
* Civil nuclear cooperation is explicitly conditioned to India not testing ever again.
* The US has retained the right to suspend or terminate supplies at its own discretion.
* The letter makes clear that the 123 Agreement has granted India no right to take corrective measures in case of any fuel-supply disruption.
* The Bush administration's letter states that the 123 Agreement fully conforms to the Hyde Act provisions.
* The letter assures Congress that the US government will not assist India in the design, construction or operation of sensitive nuclear technologies, including enrichment and reprocessing.

At around 9:30 in the night around 20 SFI activists from SFI-JNU gathered in front of the PM’s residence with placards and started shouting slogans against the nuclear deal and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s betrayal to the nation. Amidst constant slogan shouting the protestors blocked the traffic on both sides of the road. The protestors were later arrested and taken to the Chanakyapuri police station, to be released late in the night. The spirited protest was widely covered in the electronic media and has caused a lot of embarrassment to the government which is already trying to cover up its lies on the question of nuclear deal.

The small but militant protest which was held yesterday is a warning to Manmohan Singh and his pro-US clique which has been completely exposed after the leak of the US administration’s real terms and conditions regarding the nuclear cooperation agreement. The SFI along with other left forces in this country will build a very strong and militant struggle if the government still goes ahead and operationalizes this deal. We appeal to the JNU student community to rally behind all such struggles in the future to defend our country’s independence and sovereignty.

Sd/- Anand, President SFI-JNU Sd/- Roshan, Secretary SFI-JNU.

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SFI stages protest against nuclear deal

New Delhi, Sept 3 (PTI) About 20 SFI activists tonight staged a protest outside the residence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here asking the government not to move ahead with the "anti-national" nuclear deal with the United States which it said will "compromise the country's sovereignty".

The protest at the Race Course Road, which started at 9.40 pm, came in the backdrop of disclosure of a communication between the US Congress and the US State Department in which Washington made it clear that it will stop fuel supplies and other nuclear cooperation if India conducts a nuclear test.

The activists, who raised slogans like 'Manmohan Exposed', 'Singh is Not King, 'Bush Has Done a Sting' and 'Withdraw Anti-National Deal', also blocked traffic on the road for some time.

"The disclosure of the communication has confirmed the fears expressed by the Left parties. The Prime Minister has betrayed the nation and the deal should not be allowed to go through," Roshan, Secretary of JNU SFI unit, said.

Source : PTI