Kanchi Uttamchandani | Assistant News Editor
Featured image: CUPE 3903 joined 15 Years of War in a rally that concluded with the destruction of an effigy of Justin Trudeau. | Courtesy of 15 Years of War
The 15 Years of War coalition organized a rally on October 7 to protest the imperialist forces in Afghanistan, though not all agree with the anti-capitalist campaign’s principles.
October 7 marks the 15th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO.
“It’s been 15 long years since the […] occupation of Afghanistan as the so-called ‘Global War on Terror’ began. But it has also been 15 long years of people’s active resistance against foreign invaders, including Canadian imperialism and ISIS,” says CUPE 3903 Unit 3 Chief Steward Jacqueline Ristola.
Ristola says the union has endorsed and donated funds to the anti-war campaign in line with CUPE’s international solidarity mandate and anti-imperialist stance.
“With our Afghan comrades in the lead, we marched through downtown Toronto, stopping in front of buildings [housing] imperialist exploiters such as Export Development Canada. We ended the rally with the destruction of an effigy of Justin Trudeau,” she says.
Afghans United for Justice organizer Suraia Sahar believes that Trudeau’s government merely perpetuates systems of political and economic exploitation set up by Stephen Harper’s government, citing an instance when Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan opposed an inquiry into the torture of Afghan detainees.
“Like other grim aspects of this long and disastrous war, this is just one of many where Canada loses legitimacy in its ‘democratic values’,” she adds.
Ristola maintains that the Canadian government has committed $227 million in development assistance and $330 million to support the “puppet” government’s army that enables Western imperialism in Afghanistan.
“The Canadian military, using expertise gained during the bombing and occupation of the Balkans by NATO, went ‘all in’ in support of the campaign. Ships and planes bombarded Afghanistan under the maple leaf, soon joined by soldiers protecting the new imperialist order in person,” she says.
Jonah Hart, vice-president of Campus Conservatives at York University, disagrees.
“I find it unconscionable that this ‘left-wing’ group of students would rather have the Taliban reign supreme in Afghanistan than the Western coalition. The Canadian government is not interested in a colonial enterprise,” he says.
Hart adds that Conservatives and Liberals are on the same page on the situation in Afghanistan, and both parties view the unrest as a potential launching pad for international terror that poses a threat to the entire world.
“To align with these evil-doers by calling on Canadian troops to withdraw is shockingly narrow-minded,” he adds.
Ali Aziz, president of the Afghans Against Extremism club at York, points out that while anti-imperialist efforts are important, the situation in Afghanistan is very complicated and requires more than just an anti-war perspective: “It’s not just about getting Western powers to stop interfering. If Western powers pulled out entirely, then it wouldn’t be long before the Taliban retook control over most of the country.”
Sahar asserts that everyone is responsible for being informed about the government’s domestic and foreign policies, and where tax dollars are being spent.
“As a York University student, one question I ask myself is, ‘Why is more money being spent on miscarried military warfare than on student tuition?’” says Sahar.
Protestors’ demands included policy changes, such as Western forces withdrawing from Afghanistan, condemning the government and supporting the progressive revolutionary resistance of the people of Afghanistan, among others.
Campus groups, including CUPE 3903 executive committee, OPIRG York, Revolutionary Student Movement at York and Afghans United for Justice, have endorsed the rally.
