CPI(M) today said the case of the Italian government's refusal to return two marines facing trial over the killing of Kerala fishermen was not an "isolated" instance and smacked of connivance of various levels of authority in the country.
"This latest case of the Italian marines is not an isolated one. All these instances cannot be construed as mere lapses or rank inefficiency of the Indian State. In most of these cases, connivance of various levels of authority can be noticed," senior party leader Sitaram Yechury said.
The Left party alleged that the "surrender of economic sovereignty" was now leading "to the undermining of our political sovereignty".
In this context, he referred to the cases of Union Carbide chief Warren Andersen, accused in the Bhopal gas tragedy, Ottavio Quattrocchi accused in the Bofors case, Peter Bleach and Kim Davy accused of Purulia arms drop and Richard Headley, the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
"Such an undermining of India's sovereignty and rule of law, particularly with regard to foreign nationals who violate Indian law with virtual impunity, is directly connected with the neo-liberal trajectory of economic reforms that India had begun pursuing since 1991," Yechury said in an editorial in the upcoming issue of CPI(M) organ 'People's Democracy'.
He said that the government, in its "urge and eagerness" to attract foreign investments, was "virtually succumbing to the dictates of international finance capital."
"India is increasingly being seen as a State that vacillates to firmly uphold our political sovereignty and the rule of law.
"Such an appeasement to foreign capital at the expense of our sovereignty undermines the vital essence and character of the Indian nation. This only vindicates our position that surrender of economic sovereignty in the name of neo-liberal reforms can never stop there and will necessarily lead to the undermining of our political sovereignty," Yechury said.
