Al Ahram, P.11 (10-1-2009)

Solidarity and peace in India

By: Ahmed Harmosh

The days I spent in Hyderabad city in India for the participation in the 8^th Conference of the Afro-Asian Solidarity Organization (AAPSO) gave me a unique opportunity to personally experience India's conditions in the aftermath of Mumbai terrorist attacks, which have resulted in escalating tension between India and Pakistan. Indian officials have openly accused Pakistan of being involved in these attacks. During the days of the conference, in which the representatives of solidarity committees from 35 African and Asian countries participated, we saw very strict security measures taken by the Indian forces everywhere starting from Hyderabad Airport to Taj Deccan Hotel. However, we never came across any calls for retaliation in the Indian press or media.

We just read in the Indian newspapers in the last days of our stay there that Indian fighter aircrafts violated the Pakistani airspace and roamed over some cities.

All participants in the Conference were highly interested in following up the developments of the terrorist attacks, which targeted the residents of
Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels in Mumbai and they voiced their condemnation of these attacks. The final communiqué of the Conference attributed the flourish of terrorism in this region to the continuation of the occupation of Afghanistan by the US and NATO under the pretext of curbing the terrorist groups. In fact, this occupation gave Taliban the opportunity to regroup and restore their status at the political and social levels in Afghanistan. Accordingly, the US has deployed its forces along the border area with Pakistan, thus causing the spread of unrests and instability in the entire region of Southeast Asia.

Although Pakistan is accused of being involved in these attacks, no calls have come from India calling for waging war against Islamabad. In fact, this is because the Indian people are peaceful by their nature and there are several millions of Muslims living in India in peace and harmony with their Indian brethren of other religions. This feature of peaceful coexistence is clearly reflected in Hyderabad to which large numbers of Muslims immigrated and settled.

The support of the Indian people for the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to establish an independent state is very remarkable and this was very obvious during the special meeting on the Palestinian cause called for by All-India Peace and Solidarity Organization (AIPSO). The meeting was attended by the Palestinian Ambassador in New Delhi Mr. Osama Moussa, who told me many things about the great assistance being offered by the government of India to the Palestinian people. He told me that the government of India offered an area of land for free to the Palestinian side for building the Palestinian Embassy in India. This is in addition to offering all needed construction facilities and equipment. Among the people, who were invited for that meeting, is an Indian journalist called Sayed Fakhurldin. I came to know afterwards that this man, who owns a daily newspaper issued from Hyderabad, had previously invited the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to his residence twice during his two visits to India in 1982 and 1993.

The discussions held during the 8^th Conference of the Afro-Asian Solidarity Organization (AAPSO) did not only focus on the issue of terrorism and religious extremism, but they also addressed other several important issues that affect the life and future of peoples, including the international financial crisis that has sparked in the US and resulted in a comprehensive economic recession in the world. The participants were of the view that this crisis was one of the shortcomings of liberal capitalism and the hegemony of the multinational companies on the world economy since 1980s. The participants have also stressed their anti-aggression policy and called for bringing about peace and freeing the world from nuclear weapons. Among the other topics, which were unanimously condemned, was the aggression on Iraq and the continuation of the occupation of the Iraqi territories. The participants called for the necessity of liberating Iraq, Afghanistan and the Arab occupied territories in Palestine, Golan and Shibaa Farms.

The participants in the Conference expressed their appreciation of the NAM, whose next summit will be hosted by Egypt in 2009. During his visit to India few months ago, President Mohammed Hosny Mubarak discussed some arrangements pertaining to the forthcoming summit of the NAM, which was co-founded by the leaders of Egypt and India.

The discussions of the Conference addressed the approach, which should be adopted by the Organization to revive the issue of solidarity that was raised high by Jawaharlal Nehru and Gamal Abdel Nasser. It is worth mentioning that it was Gamal Abdel Nasser, who extended the invitation to Jawaharlal Nehru, to attend the first Conference of the Afro-Asian Solidarity Organization (AAPSO) in Cairo in December 1957. The 1^st Conference was convened under the sponsorship of the Egyptian Committee on Solidarity, which was formed in August 1957.

During Hyderabad Conference, there was a common desire to expand the membership of the Afro-Asian Solidarity Organization (AAPSO) through accepting the membership of Latin American countries. In this context, the Ambassador of Venezuela to India participated in the Conference and delivered a statement on behalf of President Hugo Chavez, who expressed his country's readiness for cooperation and solidarity with the countries of Africa and Asia under the South-South cooperation.

Thus, I believe that Hyderabad Conference represents a milestone event for expanding the membership of the Organization through accepting the membership of Latin American countries, whose leaders used to be appointed in the past as per instructions from Washington. Today, the situation has changed and this Continent includes eight democratic countries that have a unified stance against the American hegemony.

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