The National Alliance of People’s Movements (India) said that it is immensely concerned by the ongoing global developments, leading to yet another unilateral attack on common people of smaller nations by mighty nation states; this time by the Russian Govt. against Ukraine.
At the outset, it unequivocally condemn this brazen military aggression that has only made the possibilities of exploring lasting peace and stability in the region even more precarious.
NAPM demanded an immediate end to this war and return of all parties to the diplomatic table in a substantive way. Like always, it said that it is the working people who become the casualty of the imperialist agendas of nation states. If not contained at the earliest via serious diplomatic efforts, this could very soon snowball into a humanitarian crisis of unimaginable proportions.
NAPM deplored that ten days since the aggression began via land, air and sea routes, with bombing of military installations and even civilian establishments, the casualties have been increasing. While the United Nations has confirmed that at least 364 civilians have been killed (including 25 children) and 759 injured in Ukraine, since Russia’s invasion began on 24th Feb, it is believed that the actual numbers could be higher.
It also pointed out that UNHRC estimates that close to one million people have fled Ukraine over the past week to Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and other neighboring nations. The casualties of military personnel on either side also seem to be rising sharply, although the exact count varies, as per Ukrainian and Russian official sources. While two rounds of ‘talks’ on the Belarus-Ukraine border have yielded no results, it is hoped that some concrete negotiation can emerge in the third round.
As the world witnessed, NAPM observed that what started as ‘peacekeeping’ by Russia on the Ukrainian border over many months, slowly led to a frontal attack on a sovereign nation. While the Russian President, Vladimir Putin claims this to be ‘a special military operation’; in reality, NAPM lamented that this is an unjustifiable and avoidable aggression against the ordinary people of Ukraine, which gives scope for powerful vested interests both within and outside Ukraine to escalate the tensions.
NAPM asserted that it needs to be emphasized here that the growing anti-war movement within Russia itself is testimony to the fact that Putin’s war ‘on behalf of the Russian people’, has no intention to ‘save ethnic Russians’ or ‘establish peace in Donbass’, but assert regional hegemony.
NAPM said that the current war categorically exposes the inter-imperialist contradictions of our times and urge for geo-economic expansion; in particular; US and NATO’s destructive politics in Europe, Russian dominance in the region and resistance to NATO breaking its 30-year-old promise to not make inroads eastwards into Europe, Ukraine Govt’s pandering to the US and America thwarting economic partnerships between Russia and Germany.
Although not very imminent, given Germany’s consistent opposition, NAPM felt that if and when Ukraine becomes a NATO member, it could have potential adverse implications for Russia and the entire region. While none of this justifies Russia’s inhuman war on an entire people, it is important to acknowledge these geo-political complexities in framing our response to the crisis.
NAPM said : The current moment calls for a nuanced and principled understanding of the overall situation. All democratic-minded people, organizations and parties must take an unambiguous pro-peace, anti-war position and not get caught into or perpetuate the deliberately constructed and problematic binaries being advocated by pro-NATO, pro-Russian or even pro-Ukraine Govt. positions.
“We must fully oppose all power blocs and militarised formations that are racing towards a nuclear war and hold the potential to destroy the life of people everywhere and the planet itself. Through this detailed statement, we try to unpack some of the many complexities involved in this entire issue and attempt to put forth some specific demands and appeals”, it added.
