What has the conflict in Gaza got to do with a visit by a team of young MlAs from Kerala to the United States under a programme that country sponsorsIJ It means a lot in a State like Kerala where anybody refusing to oppose Israel over a campaign against Palestine is seen as an enemy. Therefore, a team of nine young Kerala MlAs has cancelled a US visit funded by that country.
The US visit by the young MlAs was conceived under the US’s International Visitor leadership Programme and was supposed to start on Monday. As all the team members have stated their decision not to undertake the trip, the Kerala State Assembly secretariat has informed the American consulate that there will be no participants in the programme for Kerala.
While America’s alleged silence over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza was the reason for the MlAs of the Congress, Kerala Congress (M) and Muslim league, the CPI(M)’s decision not to send its two representatives was on the basis of its ideological point that there was no need to become indebted to the US State Department, a wing of which was funding the programme.
“I had decided to be part of the tour team because it had been conceived as an international; study-practice programme. We cannot ignore the fact that there is a lot of anger in the society towards the Israeli action in Gaza, and the US silence cannot be tolerated. That is why I am withdrawing from the tour,” said Muslim league legislator N Shamsuddin.
CPI(M) legislator TV Rajesh and left Independent member KT Jaleel had withdrawn from the team earlier after the Marxist party took a position that there was no need to undertake the trip mainly because it was being funded by the US State Department’s Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau and in that sense, an alleged patronization attempt by the capitalist nation.
The next to withdraw was ES Bijimol of the CPI. The other names proposed by State Assembly Speaker G Karthikeyan for the visit were those of PC Vishnunath, Shafi Parampil, Anwar Sadat, IC Balakrishnan, all from the Congress party, and Mons Joseph, a legislator of the Kerala Congress (M).Congress MlA VT Balaram and Muslim league’s KM Shaji were included in the list after Rajesh and Jaleel withdrew from the programme. But Balaram has now said, “I have decided not to go to the US considering the protests coming out of various corners.” Shaji also withdrew from the tour following pressure from his party.
The International Visitor leadership Programme is said to be a globally renowned exchange programme which had started in the 1940s. The visit of the Kerala MlAs was scheduled to be held between Monday and August 22 for which Rs 18 lakh to Rs 20 lakh was expected to be spent by the US Government for each of the nine legislators.
“There may be many people who are waiting for an opportunity to visit the US but we don’t think Keralites or Indians have anything to learn about working democracy from the US. Why should we become indebted to the capitalists in the name of a programme designed and funded by the US State DepartmentIJ” asked a senior leader of the CPI(M).
Sources in the Muslim league said that the top party leadership had faced serious criticisms in the past few days for not preventing its MlAs from going to the US at this juncture. “Our party does not hate the US. But its silence over Israeli brutality in Gaza is intolerable. The party cannot ignore the protests,” a source said.