Manik Mukherje speaks at an International Conference of workers at Friendship Hall, Khartoum, Sudan on August 3, 2008

Manik Mukherjee, General Secretary of International Anti-imperialist and People's Solidarity Coordinating Committee (IAPSCC) attended the programme on National Workers Day Celebration on invitation from the Sudan Workers Trade Union Front (SWTUF). The Conference started on August 3, 2008 with nearly 2000 delegates from 20 countries at the Friendship Hall, Khartoum.

The Text of Manik Mukherjee's Speech at the Conference is given below.

Imperialists, Hands Off Sudan

 

Manik Mukherjee

 

General Secretary

 

International Anti-imperialist and

 

People's Solidarity Coordinating Committee

 

(IAPSCC)

 

Brothers, Sisters, Friends,

 

 

I have come here to express the solidarity of the Indian people with the people of Sudan in their struggle against imperialist domination. India and Sudan suffered long under the yoke of the British rule, and both had to bear the agony of fratricidal bloodshed instigated by the imperialist rulers. We share your pain and are partners in your anti-imperialist struggle. Today the imperialist powers headed by USA are waging murderous wars against the people of the world.  After bringing devastation to Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, they are now turning their attention to other countries like Sudan, Iran, Palestine, Lebanon etc.. Sudan is a country rich in natural resources, like oil, natural gas, uranium, copper etc., which are coveted by the imperialist powers. Sudan has therefore become a victim of the age-old intrigues and conspiracies of imperialists. It is a country with great ethnic diversity, but for centuries the various ethnic groups had intermarried and shared common cultural and religious traits. The British rulers followed their customary divide-and-rule policy to perpetuate their colonial rule and to keep the country poor, underdeveloped and weak. They fomented mistrust and division among the different ethnic groups. Because of their conspiracy and instigation, when they were finally forced to leave in 1956, the country plunged into a protracted civil war. The imperialist powers, principally Britain, France and USA, kept alive this internal conflict by playing off one group against the other.

 

The surge of anti-colonial movements in the post-Second-World-War period freed from foreign rule one country after another throughout the world, and in Africa too national governments were established in these countries. But the imperialist powers loathed to let the huge natural resources of the African countries go out of their control. So whenever the governmental policies showed any proclivity towards an independent course of development, or if the people's movements took the slightest anti-capitalist stance, the imperialists pounced on them. They launched destabilization campaigns, counter-insurgency operations, outright military interventions, even military occupations, and mounted operations to bring about regime changes. We witnessed this in Congo, in Ghana, in Guinea-Bissau, in Angola, in Somalia and in a host of other countries. USA is in the forefront of these imperialist attacks. US-controlled financial institutions like IMF, World Bank, USAID try to strangle the economic development of the African countries and to keep them forever under imperialist domination. The rivalry between the imperialist powers has added to the tensions and conflicts in Africa.

 

Independent Sudan tried to follow a policy of development of its economic resources not guided by the imperialist dictates. It has not granted USA access to its oil resources, nor did it support the US-led war against Iraq and its subsequent occupation. This has infuriated USA and consequently it has long been trying to destabilize the country. In 1998 it even launched a missile attack on a pharmaceutical plant within Sudan on the plea that it was manufacturing chemical weapons. This allegation was proved to be false by an investigating team led by the former US Attorney General Mr. Ramsey Clark, who is now the President of our organization International Anti-imperialist and People's Solidarity Coordinating Committee (IAPSCC). No reparations were given for this destruction which annihilated the facility that used to produce 60% of the available medicines in Sudan (Workers World Magazine, USA). The cornerstone of imperialist policy is to foment national and regional antagonisms, to instigate one group against the other and prop up one group in the conflict through financial and military aid. In Sudan this policy is very effectively implemented to create the civil war situation extending for nearly half a century. Sudan was devastated by the north versus south warfare; two million people are estimated to have been killed, many more millions were displaced; it shattered Sudan’s economy and led to food shortages resulting in starvation and malnutrition; health care and basic education became unavailable to vast sections of people. At last after protracted negotiations a Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed at Nairobi in 2005, and the beleaguered Sudanese people started to look forward to a period of peace and reconciliation... But just when the first tentative steps for a peaceful solution to the problems were being taken, USA and its allies stoked the fire in Darfur.

 

The imperialists wrongly portray the civil conflict in Darfur as a racial one between the Arabs and the African Blacks. But as one commentator pointed out, "All parties involved in the Darfur conflict – whether they are referred to as "Arab" or as "African" -- are equally indigenous and equally Black. All are Muslim and all are local." Prolonged drought, famine and poverty plunged the people in Darfur in dire straits, and there was a simmering discontent among the different groups on the sharing of the scanty resources. The imperialists fanned this up so that the resulting unrest and fighting would destabilize the Sudanese Government "unfriendly" to them, and thereby facilitate their entry into Sudan. The sympathy and support of the capitalists in USA and Europe went to the rebel groups fighting the Sudan Government. They are militarily trained and aided and incited by the imperialist powers either directly or through regimes subservient to them. After instigating the internal conflict they are now crying hoarse about genocide in Darfur. The Western right wing organizations, the spokespersons of the capitalists, and even some confused liberal groups are raising the demands for external intervention to "save" Darfur. U.S. and U.K. leaders like George Bush, Condoleezza Rice, John Bolton General Colin Powell, General Wesley Clark, Tony Blair, etc. have advocated intervention in Sudan to stop the "genocide". We are seeing a pattern in the modus operandi of the imperialists. After instigating the civil wars and allowing them to continue through direct intervention and supporting one group against the other, they start talking about "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity", and demand that the perpetrators must be tried and punished. We witnessed it in Cambodia, in Rwanda, in Yugoslavia. And everywhere such charges were leveled against that side which was most opposed to the imperialists. We see the same pattern in Sudan. The right wing groups in USA and Europe have launched a propaganda blitz to highlight the sufferings of the people in Darfur and are calling for direct military intervention and a permanent presence of Western powers in Sudan to monitor the situation. History has amply demonstrated that the so-called "peace-keeping" forces sent for "humanitarian" reasons are in reality deployed to further the imperialist interests, and not for peace and reconciliation. We should take lesson from what happened in Korea, in Congo, in Rwanda, in Yugoslavia.

 

In 2006 at the initiative of the African Union the Darfur Peace Agreement was signed by the Sudanese Government and the largest group of Darfur militants as a step to promote the process of healing and reconciliation. But imperialist interference is blocking the resolution of the conflict, and other groups enjoying the support of imperialist powers are keeping the conflict alive. At such a juncture the International Criminal Court (ICC), at the behest of the imperialist powers, started criminal proceedings against Sudanese leaders. In 2007 the ICC judges issued warrants against two high level Sudanese officials for crimes against humanity and war crimes. Recently on July 14 of this year ICC indicted President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity. We voice our strongest protest against this heinous move. We are happy that the African Union and the Arab League have opposed this ICC maneuver and we endorse the statement of the African Union that this prosecution threat would jeopardize the peace efforts in the Darfur region.  All right thinking people view this action as an assault on the sovereignty of Sudan, and the Sudanese Government and the Sudanese people are justifiably firm in their resolve not to succumb to any political blackmail. The IAPSCC calls upon all the anti-imperialist people of the world to come out in solidarity with the Sudanese people in their fight against imperialism and help them to protect their sovereignty. We emphasize that the Sudanese people are the sole custodians of their country. It is they alone who chart out a course for tackling all their internal problems without any foreign interference or any external pressure. They have the sole right to investigate whether any violations of human rights have taken place and to judge and punish the perpetrators. Sudanese people do not need to be taught by the imperialists how to protect human rights. Let a call go from this platform to scrap the ICC indictment against President al-Bashir and demand instead that President George Bush and his cohorts be indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity for waging war against Iraq and Afghanistan and for the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo.

 

Long live anti-imperialist struggle, long live solidarity of the people, imperialists, hands off Sudan.