B'luru for Justice & Peace urges MPs to act against city-based firms linked to Israeli arms industry
Bengaluru: Bengaluru for Justice and Peace (BfJP), a civil society collective, has issued an open letter to Members of Parliament demanding urgent action against several Bengaluru-based companies allegedly supplying critical components to Israeli defence firms. The letter calls for increased corporate accountability and urges lawmakers to support an arms embargo on Israel, citing the country’s alleged war crimes in Gaza and other occupied Palestinian territories.
The letter names three major Israeli defence companies, Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, as recipients of key defence technologies from nine Indian firms based in Bengaluru.
These local companies include:
Ace Inotec Manufacturing Private Limited (AIMPL)
Alpha Design Technologies Private Limited (ADTPL)
Alpha-Elsec Aerospace Systems
Amphenol Interconnect India Pvt Ltd
Amphetronix Offset Interconnect Solutions Pvt Ltd
DCX Systems Limited
Defsys Solutions Pvt Ltd
Indo-MIM Pvt Ltd
SASMOS HET Technologies Ltd
Wave Mechanics Private Limited
BfJP alleged that these companies are “complicit in the genocide of Palestinians” and are directly enabling Israeli military actions through the transfer of defence-related components and technologies. Many of the firms listed were previously highlighted in a report by Workers in Palestine, a global alliance of trade unions and civil society groups advocating for a boycott of Israel’s military-industrial complex.
“It is in this context that we warn you that India’s long-standing legacy of solidarity with the Palestinian people, rooted in our own anti-colonial struggle, now stands in grave danger of being irreversibly betrayed,” the letter stated.
The group invoked Article 51 of the Indian Constitution, which speaks to the promotion of international peace and security, along with obligations under the Genocide Convention, as legal grounds for action. BfJP called on MPs to uphold these principles by pressuring the government to end defence collaborations with Israel.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Right to vote under threat, must be made fundamental right: Cong's Jairam Ramesh
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged on Thursday that the right to vote is under threat and the time has come when it should be made a fundamental right for citizens.
Speaking with reporters, Ramesh lashed out at Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, saying the Election Commission (EC) has never been as compromised as it has been under him.
"The rot started under his predecessor. This man is a player and not a neutral observer," the Congress leader said, slamming Kumar.
Kumar is completely compromised and has become a player in elections, he alleged.
"Home Minister Amit Shah had talked about three Ds -- detect, delete and deport. So we want to know how many non-Indian citizens have been detected, how many have been deleted and how many have been deported," Ramesh said, adding that the right to vote is now under threat.
On opposition parties submitting a fresh notice in the Rajya Sabha, seeking to move a motion for the CEC's removal, the Congress leader said they will continue to make efforts for Kumar's removal as he is "compromised".
Ramesh also batted for the right to vote to be recognised as a fundamental right.
"I believe that the time has come that the right to vote should be made a fundamental right. It is a statutory right, it is not a fundamental right. Fundamental rights are justiciable," he said.
The former Union minister said this was discussed in the Constituent Assembly, but it was eventually decided that it should be made part of the Constitution.
B R Ambedkar and Jagjivan Ram had warned that in the future, governments might try to disenfranchise voters, he added.
"Once and for all, include the right to vote as a fundamental right for Indian citizens," Ramesh asserted.
