The Muslim World. DECEMBER 1999 ISSUE

On the occasion of the Palestine Day which was observed all over the Subcontinent on 26th of August, 1938, in response to the call of the Muslim League to express solidarity with the Arabs of Palestine who were groaning under alien yoke, Quaid-i-Azam Jinnah said:

“The Muslims’ heart is wounded and lacerated when they hear the news and accounts of ruthless and tyrannical oppression and repression of these brave Arabs”. Sixty-three years later the gory picture of the sad plight of the Arabs in Palestine due to Israeli savagery is no difference.

Pakistan continues to raise its voice at the UN and in every international and regional forum and in the OIC in support of the helpless Arabs of Palestine but their agony due to Israeli barbarism continues unabated. The long night of terror and death for the Muslims in Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir due to the savagery of more than 600,000 trigger-happy Indian troops knows no end. The OIC has repeatedly called upon India to put an end to the brutal repression it has unleashed on the Muslims of Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and to allow an OIC probe team to visit the blood-spattered State; India has scornfully rejected the OIC’s call. India’s jingoistic rulers might see the light of reason and allow a UN-supervised plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir if all the Muslim countries put up a ‘united front’ and enforce a boycott of Indian goods. Russia’s President Putin can be forced to abandon his gruesome policy of the massacre of freedom-loving Chechens if the Muslim countries unite and threaten a wholesale economic boycott of Russia. While appreciating the economic help Pakistan receives form many oil-rich Muslim countries, our brethren in the world of Islam have to be made aware of the importance of strengthening Pakistan as a fortress of Islam and as a nuclear deterrent to those enemies of the Muslim Ummah who hurl threats at the Muslim world.

Pakistan has befriended the Taliban who rule more than ninety per cent of Afghanistan; they are mostly Pushtuns who are friendly to Pakistan. They are much better neighbours for Pakistan than the Russian-supported Panjsheri opposition forces led by a maverick Afghan warlord, Ahmed Shah Masood whose agents burnt the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul some years ago. Once normalcy returns to the whole of Afghanistan, Pakistan will be able to develop mutually beneficial economic relations, especially trade and quick transportation, with the Central Asian Muslim States via Afghan highways. If Indo-Pakistan relations improve, Iran’s pipeline project via Pakistan to sell oil to India could become a reality, benefiting all the three countries. Besides producing atom bombs, Pakistan’s nuclear know-how can be tapped for an enormous number of beneficial peaceful uses in medicine, agriculture, industry and power generation. The Kahuta nuclear research laboratories near Islamabad are making noteworthy progress in this field. Pakistan’s nuclear power plants in Karachi and at Chashma in Punjab are producing electricity. In a few years Pakistan may be able to build nuclear power plants in electricity-short Muslim countries.

Islamic nations urge UN to protect Palestinians
UNITED NATIONS: Palestinians rebuked the UN Security Council and the United States on August 20, for not taking action in the West Bank and Gaza, saying the lack of an international presence contributed to 11 months of violence.

But Washington, which has veto power in the 15-member Security Council, backed Israel in the public meeting and said a proposed Palestinian resolution calling for monitors was one-sided and unworkable.

Because of the US objections, many non-Islamic countries did not appear anxious to push any resolution to a vote and some, like Russia, were silent on monitors or observers. Nasser al-Kidwa, the chief Palestinian UN observer, said discussions were underway with developing nations before the draft would be formally introduced.

Al-Kidwa’s draft resolution calls for an undefined “monitoring mechanism,” that should “help create a better situation on the ground.” It also asks Israel to relinquish Orient House and other Palestinian offices it seized in occupied Jerusalem in August, a demand most UN members echoed.

While dozens of speakers from Islamic countries in marathon debate supported al-Kidwa and castigated Israel, none went so far as Iraq’s UN Ambassador, Mohammed Aldouri. “The neo-nazi entity…. the criminal entity, the Zionist entity…. The Nazis occupying Palestinian territory, have the blessing of American authorities,” Aldouri said.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and some other Gulf States are boosting their economic relations with Pakistan and investing in its industrial and commercial projects. This will give a new dimension to Pakistan’s fraternal ties with many other Muslim countries in line with the role the Quaid-i-Azam had envisioned for Pakistan in the world of Islam.