By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net,
Bhopal: The central secretariat of Students Islamic Organization, (SIO), of India has strongly demanded the Central Government to refrain from signing the Indo-US Nuclear Deal .
The SIO has cautioned that the annual assessment and certification clause in the Hyde Act and various other clauses which give provision for the termination of the Nuclear Deal are real threat to the sovereignty of India and independent foreign policy. The conditions of termination also includes, “Secure India’s full and active participation in United States’ efforts to dissuade, isolate, and, if necessary, sanction and contain Iran ..” [Section 103 (b) 4].
The SIO statement, issued by Suhail KK, Secretary (PR), after a meeting held in New Delhi which was presided over by its president Bishruddin Sharqi, said: “SIO strongly believes that the deal is not going to be a strategic civilian nuclear cooperation, but petty strategy to establish American hegemony in nuclear trade in Asia and is part of a larger interlocking program”.
The SIO statement said that democracy has become a laughing stock in the nuclear deal issue. The vote of confidence and the debate before the motion was nothing other than a farce and humorous play and had already sent a harmful message regarding our democracy to the international community. Indo-US nuclear deal which is stated to be the mother of all deals and agreements made till date by India has not been subjected to serious debate in any of the houses of Parliament of India.
On the contrary, the two houses of American parliament has not only debated the agreement for long seven months but have also passed a law known as the Hyde Act which lays the foundation of the 123 agreement. It’s quite disappointing and painful that a deal which has serious and far reaching consequences in the determination of future foreign policy and future energy resources of India, is going to be signed without an appropriate and truthful democratic procedure, the statement said.
Moreover, the power generated by nuclear energy is more costly than the one generated by coal and hydro power plants. Therefore, the deal will help us only to a marginal extent in addressing our primary energy needs. India had been far ahead than China in nuclear technology. But China made sporadic achievements since the last 50 years in the field by exercising its national will power, despite of the pressure created by USSR. We need this political will power and not thinking that we could attain advanced technology only after signing agreement with the US, the statement added. ([email protected])