Delegations to ensure India not hyphenated with Pak: CPI(M) MP John Brittas

The Modi government is sending seven multi-party delegations to 32 countries and the European Union from Wednesday to campaign against Pakistan sponsored cross-border terrorism.

John Brittas, the CPI(M) Rajya Sabha floor leader who is part of a delegation going to Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore, spoke to DH’s Shemin Joy on the purpose of the global exercise against the backdrop of Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.

What is the thrust of the multi-party delegations being sent to put across India's views following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor?

I feel this is the time for us to put across the views of our country, our concerns on cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan. It is also to make sure that we are not hyphenated with Pakistan. India’s political culture of plurality, diversity and democracy need to be underlined to the international community. It is quite normal for mature democracies to send bipartisan delegations to engage with the international community at a critical juncture.

You referred to the hyphenation of India and Pakistan. Do you think India’s diplomacy at some point of time failed to convince the international community?

I feel we need to do much more. But I won’t use the word failure. I see it in a more positive way by saying that we have to walk many more miles because this is a time, a juncture that is adversarial to us. For example, the statements made by US President Donald Trump and his Secretary of State Marco Rubio are highly disastrous for a country like India. He has been making statements that he brokered the ceasefire deal for us and that India caved in because of his threats or inducements. So, this is the time when we need to do more. There are a lot of misconceptions among other countries and it is always good that efforts are being made. When such delegations go, we can interact freely with different sections of the people.

So, is bringing the focus back on Pakistan sponsored cross-border terrorism one of the main aims of these delegations?

When I say enough is enough, I mean India wants peaceful co-existence with our neighbors. Because we have to focus on our critical areas like redeeming our people from poverty, unemployment etc. So, if you have to face situations like this often, then it will be difficult for a country like India to progress. Also, it is very important to underline the syncretic culture of India and I would say, the difference between India and Pakistan. Pakistan is a country which is born out of religion, which survives out of hate and hatred. Whereas India is a secular country, with a secular Constitution, with plural values very much in play. The international community may not be aware of these nuances. Many of these countries or communities see India and Pakistan at par. There is also an attempt to hyphenate India with Pakistan. I feel that such delegations would be helpful. Why many eyebrows have gone up is that during the last ten years of the Modi regime, there were no by partisan efforts. Modi never believed in bipartisanship. So, when it comes from Modi, naturally, many of us are taken aback.

You referred to the syncretic culture of India. But we saw trolling against one of the Army officers, Foreign Secretary and even victims of the Pahalgam terror attack. An academician has been arrested. How will it impact your work?

We have our concerns with regard to the polarisation by the ruling BJP. There have been systematic attacks and attempts to tarnish and target people like Foreign Secretary Vikam Misri, Himanshi Narwal, (Colonel) Sophia Qureshi etc. There is the arrest of Prof Ali Khan Mahmudabad. These are all concerns. This is not the way in which we need to conduct the affairs because this will only help in underlining the propaganda that is being unleashed by Pakistan. We need to uphold our secular values. We need to uphold our democratic values. This is an egalitarian society, a democratic society.

CPI(M) has said that it is despite its reservations that it is accepting the invitation to be part of the delegation. What are they?

We retain our strong reservations and disagreements with this government even on several aspects of ‘Operation Sindoor’ and after math. We have our questions with regard to the security and intelligence failure, ceasefire announcement and statements by America. We also have our concerns about the government not accepting our demand for an all-party meeting under the stewardship of the Prime Minister and a special Parliament session. Even a country like Pakistan, which is not a democratic country, had their Parliament session. So, such a large democracy like India not having a special Parliament session is something which we don’t understand. We will strongly air our stand despite the fact that we have decided to cooperate with this international outreach programme.

On the delegations, the Congress and the Trinamool have raised questions about it. Could it have been avoided?

We have serious disagreements with this government even the way in which this delegation was appointed. The government should have taken steps to make sure that parties are being taken into confidence. I feel that the government should have acted with much more finesse. They should have taken political parties into confidence before arriving at the names. If at all the government had certain names in their mind, they could have discussed with the party and then they would have been much more positive in that. Unilaterally deciding on the delegation member is not a not a good omen. India is a multi-party democracy and parties are important. The government may have some thoughts about the plurality of the delegations and other factors like having articulate members with domain knowledge in it. All that is okay but this should have been put across to the parties. Parties are mature enough to understand that.