CPI(M) MP Brittas urges government to ‘end its silence’ and move resolution on Iran war

CPI(M) MP John Brittas on Tuesday (March 24, 2026) invoked Parliament’s unanimous 2003 resolution under then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, condemning the Iraq war, to urge the government to introduce a similar motion on the ongoing conflict involving Iran.

Raising the matter during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Brittas called for a “united and unanimous voice” of Parliament against what he described as unilateral and illegal military actions by the United States and Israel. India, he said, “should not remain silent”.

Iran-Israel war updates on March 24, 2026

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address in the Lok Sabha on Monday (March 23, 2026), Mr. Brittas said the Prime Minister mentioned economic concerns and issues affecting the Indian diaspora but made no reference to the broader geopolitical conflict, which he argued required a clear stand from India.

“What was missing was the silence on this unilateral, immoral, illegal war that has been unleashed by the United States and Israel,” he said.

Addressing Chairman C. P. Radhakrishnan, who was a Lok Sabha member in 2003, Mr. Brittas recalled that both Houses of Parliament had passed a joint, unanimous resolution condemning the U.S.-led war in Iraq during Vajpayee’s tenure.

“I wish that the Indian Parliament, as the Prime Minister said, should express a united voice unanimously. Let the government bring a resolution which should be passed by both the Houses,” he said.

Genesis of the crisis

Mr. Brittas noted that while India had termed Iran’s attacks on Gulf countries as “egregious”, the government had not addressed “the genesis of this crisis”. He said he hoped the government would be guided not by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor’s advice that “silence is statecraft”, but by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who has repeatedly demanded an immediate short-duration discussion on the Iran conflict and its impact on India.

“I wish that India, being a leader of the non-aligned nations, should feel that silence is not a solution. We have to make sure that our voice is heard not only for the selfish interest of the nation but for the interest of larger humanity,” he said, urging the government to move a resolution.

The CPI(M) MP also flagged concerns about Indians affected by the escalating situation, including nearly 700 seafarers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, and urged the government to set up a mechanism to help families communicate with them.

Rehabilitation package

He pressed for a rehabilitation package for Gulf returnees, stressing the importance of remittances to India and particularly to Kerala’s economy. Kerala receives nearly ₹2.2 lakh crore, about one-third of its gross domestic product in remittances, he said.

In his Lok Sabha speech on Monday (March 23, 2026), the Prime Minister had spoken of the economic fallout of the Iran war, disruptions in supply chains, LPG shortages and the implications for the Indian diaspora. However, he made no reference to the U.S.–Israel military strikes on Iran on February 28, which have triggered a wider regional escalation.