Left to observe black day when N-deal is signed

NEW DELHI: The Left will litter the Capital���s streets with ���antiimperialist��� propaganda material on the day US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice arrives for the signing of the Indo-US nuclear deal.

The Left on Tuesday appealed to other political parties to join their protest against the Manmohan Singh government���s betrayal on the nuclear issue.

For the government, the protests against Ms Rice will just be a side show. However, it will have to contend with the attack from the entire Opposition in Parliament.

The Opposition has been charging the government with allowing shifting of goalposts. ���The Act to be adopted by the Senate includes all the retrograde provisions of the Hyde Act and also puts constraints on full civilian nuclear cooperation in India.

There is no uninterrupted fuel supply assurance, no provision for strategic fuel reserve, no transfer of nuclear technology and steps to be taken against Iran. Any self-respecting government would have refused to sign the deal and operationalise it after this,��� the four Left parties said in a joint statement.

The Left, which will get the support of the non-BJP , non-Congress parties, in its opposition to the deal, has already planned the next strategy in its battle against the nuclear agreement with the US.

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat has made it clear that the Left will support a government which scraps the deal with the US. This rules out the Left backing a Congressled government, unless it agrees to undo Prime Minister Manmohan Singh���s deed.

���It has been announced that Condoleeza Rice, US Secretary of State, will be arriving in New Delhi to sign the nuclear agreement on 4th October, 2008. In order to protest against the signing of the nuclear deal during Condoleeza Rice���s visit on 4th October, the Left parties call for the observance of a black day against this surrender to US imperialism,��� the statement said.

The participants of the protest will hoist black flags wearing black badges as the deal is signed. Mr Karat had made an appeal to the government on Monday to back out of the agreement saying it was possible to dump the deal even at this stage.