The Hindu : Uphold our principles

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 07, 2003

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Uphold our principles

Sir, — Kudos to your well-reasoned out Editorial, `Don't send Indian troops to Iraq' ( July 4 ). The U.S. has failed to prove its charge that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction — a charge which it held out as a justification for its invasion. Now it is seeking a legitimisation of its illegal occupation of Iraq. The U.S.-led troops find it extremely hard to combat the ground realities in Iraq; hence the Bush administration is looking out for mercenary countries to bail it out of this situation. The least that America could do is to leave Iraq at the earliest.

One hopes that the NDA Government will not betray the high principles this country has upheld in its foreign policies. By sending our Army we would be legitimising the invasion of a sovereign state and become subservient, nay, even partners to imperialistic designs. No amount of economic benefits can justify this. Our soldiers are not mercenaries and they cannot be sacrificed on the streets of Iraq. The reconstruction and rehabilitation work in Iraq must be under the aegis of the United Nations and not under the supervision of an invader. India has a role to play in making this possible along with other countries — `to empower the U.N. to restore Iraq to the Iraqis'.

Hilda Raja,
Chennai

Sir, — You have rightly advised that the Indian Government ``should work in coordination with countries such as Russia, China, France, Germany and Iran to empower the U.N. to take over and restore Iraq to the Iraqis.'' Having suffered for almost two hundred years under colonial rule, Indian sentiment cannot allow itself to act as a colonial agent for the U.S. in Iraq. The freedom of the Iraqis cannot be trampled upon by the invaders. If the Americans and the British sincerely want to rebuild Iraq, by now they should have handed over Iraq to the U.N. to take up nation building, actively assisting it and generously donating funds and materials.

Let not Indian soldiers get killed to suppress the Iraqis' aspirations for freedom.

G.M. Rama Rao,
Vishakapatnam

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