Thousands of people marched across the streets of central Kolkata, the capital of India’s eastern state of West Bengal, Tuesday, May 13, to denounce war mongering and growing religious polarizations in the country. They called for peace and harmony in the region.
The Tuesday rally saw a larger turnout after a similar rally organized by left intellectuals, human rights groups, and student organizations on Monday was attacked by a counter mobilization from the ruling ultra-right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Left parties reject war with Pakistan
On Tuesday, people holding banners and placards marched from Esplanade to Sealdeh in the central part of Kolkata, shouting anti-war slogans and carrying banners and posters with messages of peace.
The rally denounced attempts by the Hindu right wing to incite religious passion in the name of war against Pakistan, and urged the government of India to immediately begin diplomatic engagements with the neighboring country to resolve all outstanding issues.
India and Pakistan emerged as two nations after the end of Britain’s centuries-long colonial occupation of India in 1947. The partition of India on the line of religious identity led to large-scale violence which killed over a million people. Since then, both countries claim several unresolved issues – Kashmir being the most important – and have fought three major wars and one minor war so far.
The speakers also questioned the rationale for using military action to stop terrorism. They cited examples of how all the previous military incursions by the Indian government to stop terrorism have failed.
India has historically accused Pakistan of sponsoring separatist movements in Indian-administered Kashmir and has increasingly resorted to military strikes as a counter. The BJP government has so far rebuffed calls for diplomatic engagements with Pakistan, asking it first to address the issue of “terrorism.”
The rally was jointly organized by Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, Forward Block, and Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI).
Several top leaders of the left parties joined the rally, extending their solidarity with the peace movement and demanding that the Narendra Modi-led government be held accountable for its repeated failure to stop the violence against innocent civilians in Kashmir.
Peace with neighbors and harmony in society
“Those who want war do not go to the battlefield and those who go to war do not want it,” read banners held by the participants in the rally. Placards calling for peace with Pakistan and harmony in society were also displayed.
The Indian government launched multiple military strikes inside Pakistan May 7, holding it responsible for the April 22 attacks in Pahalgam in Kashmir, in which 26 people (mostly tourists) were killed by armed men.
Pakistan denied any involvement in the Pahalgam attacks. Its armed forces retaliated against the May 7 Indian strikes with heavy shelling across the border and with drones and missiles. This led to yet another war-like situation between the two-nuclear powered countries in the region.
The media and right-wing groups in India continued to incite passions around war. A spike in anti-Muslim attacks was also recorded, with mobs attacking establishments run by them in many places. The mobs largely targeted Muslims, accusing them of siding with the “enemy” country. The people who attacked the rally in Kolkata on Monday also accused the peace activists of siding with Pakistan and being anti-national.
The speakers in Tuesday’s rally declared that the people of India do not want war. They criticized the war frenzy and hysteria created by the media in India, calling for an end to their “fake news and warmongering.”
The speakers at the rally welcomed the May 10 ceasefire announcement after three tense days of attacks and counter attacks in which dozens of people on both sides of the border were killed and hundreds were injured. A large number of civilian homes were also destroyed in the attacks.
Watch: Vijay Prashad and Taimur Rahman discuss the rising tensions in South Asia
US involvement in ceasefire draws criticism, calls for transparency
All the speakers also questioned the silence of the Modi government over the issue of the alleged involvement of the US in attaining the ceasefire, and asked the government to clarify the situation.
US President Donald Trump was the first to announce the ceasefire and claimed that his administration played a crucial role in brokering the ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
There is a wider consensus in India over the involvement of the US in any mediation with Pakistan. M. A. Baby, the general secretary of CPI (M) recently wrote to Modi asking him to clarify the situation. He reiterated the opposition’s demand for a special session of the parliament to set the record straight.
