Saving UPA-I biggest mistake: Mulayam

Samajwadi Party supreme Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday termed as 'biggest mistake' the decision to save United Progressive Alliance-I government last year over the Indo-US nuclear deal and said had the ruling dispensation collapsed, it would have brought a big change in the Indian polity.

"We were not trying to bring down the government. It was the Left Front (which was doing so). We saved the government and it was our biggest mistake," Yadav said while addressing a conference in New Delhi to express solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

Yadav claimed that his party men were not in favour of saving the government after Left Front withdrew support. "But some members of my household and junior leaders in the hierarchy said we should support UPA," he added.

The SP chief however, explained that the party's support was extended to the UPA government in the national interest as India lacked uranium to produce nuclear power.

"The support was based on the issue of national interest. Even now, our support is strictly issue-based," he added.

Accusing the UPA government of ignoring the ideals of Jawaharlal Nehru on foreign policy, the SP chief said India's first prime minister had said that country should raise its voice against human rights violation anywhere in the world.

"Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee could not raise his voice against the US and Israel for human rights violations...the present prime minister would also not say anything against them," he added.

Yadav said he would soon write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his stand on the issue of Palestine.

"In the next session, I will raise the issue in Lok Sabha and ask for PM's reply. If I am not allowed to speak, we will resort to other means," he said.

Attacking the country's foreign policy, the SP leader said, "We have no friends. We may have good relations with many countries, but there are no friends. Russia was the only friend India had. In fact none of the governments in the country ever had a specific foreign policy. We praise all the nations."

Yadav said India is also facing threats from China but the government has failed to put up a brave front to deal with the situation.

He underlined the need for having a discussion on Palestine among political parties, as they have the capacity of influencing the policy of the country.

"The US is the sole benefactor of Israel... In any kind of conflict, it is the Muslim who is the worst affected. However, in our country, Muslims are discriminated against. None of the governments have ever recruited Muslims in the armed forces and their representation is quite low. As chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, I had increased their quota in the police force. I feel that greater awareness about Palestine in India and Pakistan will help stop US dominance," Yadav said.

Addressing the seminar, organised by the Muslim Political Council of India, Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Nilotpal Basu said by buying Israeli weapons, India is indirectly supporting Tel Aviv's attacks on Gaza Strip.

Attacking government's foreign policy, Basu said it was dictated by the US' pressure.

Politician and journalist Shahid Siddiqui, who had last year left SP over its decision to support UPA on nuclear deal, said his opposition to the deal was because, "I felt that the deal was not for energy security. By accepting the nuclear deal, I felt that we were becoming part of the America-Israel camp."

He said in the post 9/11 world, India's foreign policy has changed. "Earlier it was an independent policy but it has now changed," Siddiqui said, adding America and Israel's penetration is deep within political and media circles in India which has weakened minorities in the country.

The Palestine issue, he said, has been pushed to the back burner due to increased American dominance in the post-USSR world.

Siddiqui also expressed concern over growing intelligence sharing and armed training between India and Israel.

Image: SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav   Text: PTI