Hyderabad: Demanding cancellation of all deals with Israel due to the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, the Human Rights Forum (HRF) of Telangana has strongly condemned the Adani group’s recent agreements with Israel to send advanced drones.
The HRF stated that the deal was done “with the clear potential to aid the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza”, and demanded that the Indian government cancel with immediate effect all deals with Israel. Adani-Elbit Advanced Systems India Ltd in Hyderabad is a joint venture between Adani Defence and Aerospace and Elbit Systems, Israel, to manufacture advanced drone systems.
According to HRF, the latest version of these drones is the Hermes 900. “This is the only Hermes production facility outside of Israel. An MoU was also recently exchanged between the Telangana Government and Adani groups with an investment of Rs 1000 crore ‘to set up a comprehensive ecosystem for the research, development, design, manufacturing and integration of counter drone and missile systems at the Adani Aerospace Park, Hyderabad’.”, it said in a press release on Friday.
Calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and reiterating its solidarity with the people of Palestine, HRF demanded that all deals with the “Zionist apartheid State of Israel” be annulled. The organisation alleged that Adani Elbit has recently supplied 20 Hermes 900 drones to the Israel military. “While several countries have withdrawn support to Israel in the face of its inhuman carnage of Palestinians, Adani continues to profit from it, lining its pocket with blood money,” said HRF convenors VS Krishna S Jeevan Kumar in the statement.
The statement also said that Palestine has been a “laboratory for war technologies” and that the killings in Palestine is a “genocidal ‘success’” that is being “marketed” by Israel globally. “PLR Systems Pvt Ltd is a partnership between Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) and Adani Enterprises for the manufacturing of weapons. The company’s website calls it a ‘shining example of make in India’. The vulture capitalist went on to seal one of the biggest Israel-India deals in history in January 2023, by acquiring a part of Haifa Port,” claimed the HRF.
Censuring the Indian government for not taking a stand against Israel, HRF here stated that Elbit Systems is the largest weapons manufacturing company in Israel and supplies nearly 81% of Israel’s drones. “The Hermes 900 are unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with a payload capacity of around 300 kgs and an endurance of about 30 hours marking performance,” it added.
The organisation also said that it opposed to India’s alleged “fast-tracking” of Israeli recruitment of Indian migrant workers to replace outlawed Palestinian labour. “Apart from being complicit with Israel, this also reneges on its responsibility to provide safe, secure and decently paid jobs to our own underemployed and unemployed poor,” said HRF.
