"I speak for the mothers of Yugoslavia which I say that you cannot pretend to speak for humanity and human rights on the one hand and bomb with the most sophisticated weapons the world has ever seen on the other. You are bombing our children, our schools, our hospitals, our bridges, our mosques and cathedrals and even a cemetery—is this human rights?" When Dragana Janicic representative of Yugoslavia, spoke these words the women broke out to a spontaneous applause. She said that the US had fired over 500 cruise missiles and 5000 bombs on Yugoslavia. According to one calculation every Yugoslavian citizen has a burden of half a kilo of bombs on their back. She said that for all these years the people of Yugoslavia have lived together. Today they leave Korsova because of the bombing not because of any internal violence. She said it is the US which wants to destroy our country. They are giving arms and weapon to those who want to break up our country. Can any sovereign nation tolerate that she asked? Yesterday 50,000 of those who had been forced to flee Korsovo because of the bombing have come back because they say their situation in the so-called relief camps run by the West are worse. She described how the children of Belgrade are defending a bridge by a human chain around it. Kill us but we will not surrender to your attempts to destroy our country. She thanked the AIDWA for organsing the meeting and said she would convey the feelings of solidarity of Indian women to the government and people. Her Excellency, Cuba’s Ambassador, Olga Chamerro thanking the AIDWA for giving her the opportunity to express her strong feelings extended the solidarity of Cuban women and the government of Cuba to Yugoslavia and it is not your struggle alone. It is the struggle of all people who want independence and refuse to fall in line with the dictates of America. She said that her country knew the actual meaning of the American talk of compromise. She said for them compromise did not mean agreement from both sides, for them compromise meant surrender. She said Cuba today in an example of a people who have not and will not surrender. She said Iraq, Palestine, countries of Latin America and many other countries have also had a similar experience. She said after the collapse of the Soviet Union US wants to be the ruler of the world. If we do not fight this today we will be slaves tomorrow. Turning to Dragana amidst the applause of participants she said please tell your sisters, your brothers, your government that they have a strong friend in Cuba. In every international forum, in every meeting we have demanded an end to the war.

Nawal Badrani leader of the General Federation of Iraqi women said it was a very good initiative taken by AIDWA to hold such a meeting and to give her a platform to speak. She said the government, the president, the people of Iraq and especially the women of Iraq have expressed in no uncertain terms their strong condemnation of the bombing of Yugoslavia. She said we ourselves have faced a similar situation. Today our children die due to the continuing war by other means being waged against us. She said the US is the enemy of the whole world in general and muslim countries in particular—wants to dominate, divide and destroy so that it can rule the world. She said that internal problems of Yugoslavia must be solved by the government and people of Yugoslavia. She demanded an end to the war against Yugoslavia and appealed to the gathering to also extend their support to her country which faced a similar situation.

In conclusion Dr. Vina Mazumdar said that at the end of the 20th century the news forms of domination by imperialist power was being witnessed. India can never be silent in the face of this blatant aggression against a sovereign nation. She called on the women present to take this message far and wide.

The meeting them unanimously adopted the resolution amidst slogans: "Down down American imperialism and Nato – Stop the war, Stop it now."

The three main speakers along with AIDWA leaders linked hands and joined the gathering in singing we shall overcome – we shall indeed.

Leaders of Left parties, prominent intellectuals and leaders of mass organisations have issued the following appeal:

NATO forces have been savagely bombing Yugoslavia for the past two weeks. There is no end in sight of this brazen aggression. The barrage of missiles and bombs are now targetted on Central Belgrade and infrastructure and civilian facilities all over the country designed to cripple normal life. Already scores have been killed and hundreds injured.

The US led NATO attack is plain and simple aggression against the sovereign country. It violates all international norms; it transgresses the United Nations Charter as it has not been sanctioned by the Security Council; it is gross interference in the internal affairs of Yugoslavia; it is a blatant manifestation of the lawless power exercised by the United States towards countries which refuse to accept its diktat.

The Indian people have been outraged by this brutal display of military might and arrogance by the NATO powers led by the United States. The problem of Kosovo cannot be resolved by punishing the Yugoslavian people. The call for ending of the bombing by Russia, China and India, constituting 40 per cent of the world’s population, is representative of international opinion.

Protests against this attack on Yugoslavia have been held in various centres. Since the US and the NATO are bent upon the destruction of the Serbian Republic, it is essential that we build up a powerful protest movement in solidarity with the people of Yugoslavia who have been traditional friends of India and partners in the non-aligned movement. Let the voice of all sections of the Indian people be heard: Hands off Yugoslavia! Stop the bombing! Negotiate under the auspices of the U.N.!

We appeal to all sections of the Indian people to join the ongoing protest movement.

 Harkishan Singh Surjeet, Prakash Karat (CPI-M), A.B. Bardhan,D. Raja (CPI), K. Pankajakshan (RSP), Debabrata Biswas (Forward Bloc)

Sumit Sarkar, S.P. Shukla, Utsa Patnaik, Dr. Nirmal Chandra, Prabhat Patnaik, N. Ram, Dr. Arun Ghosh, Ambrose Pinto, Achin Vanaik, Tanika Sarkar