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Home TFT E-Paper Archives

Long lost friends

Saeed Naqvi by Saeed Naqvi
August 29, 2014 - Updated on September 21, 2021
in TFT E-Paper Archives, Analysis
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It is widely known that New Delhi tilts towards Israel in its dealings with West Asia, particularly since the 1999 Kargil war when the Jewish state provided the ammunition required for India’s field guns. Other mutual interests have since multiplied.

It therefore made practical sense that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj restored the balance somewhat when she dwelt at length on traditional ties with the Arab world while opening an India-Arab media conference organized by the MEA and attended by media managers from the Arab world. The media link is a tenuous one because an independent media is not the Arab world’s strongest feature, Al Jazeera’s inexplicable credibility notwithstanding. It is an enigma: an independent channel owned by a Sheikhdom which hosts the US Central Command.

Even during India’s non aligned phase, there were groups and individuals who saw Israel as a model for the wrong reasons. The late ML Sondhi, for instance, sketched a grand design in my presence in the conference room of Jerusalem’s King David hotel: two non Muslim countries surrounded by problematic Muslim neighbours. Both also had “problematic” Muslims within.

Activists from a Muslim organization burn an Israeli flag at a protest in Hyderabad, India
Activists from a Muslim organization burn an Israeli flag at a protest in Hyderabad, India

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, it seemed a dream scenario for these “two” countries to clasp the hand of the world’s sole superpower and live happily ever after.

It would be useful for Sushma Swaraj to recall the goings on in Atal Behari Vajpayee’s cabinet. LK Advani and Jaswant Singh had agreed to send Indian troops to govern the Kurdish North of Iraq, exactly the region the Americans have now returned to in military formation. Why was India willing to subserve US occupation of a friendly country? In fact possibly the friendliest country India ever had. In every UN debate Iraq was the only Muslim country that stood with India on Kashmir.

[quote]ML Sondhi sketched a grand design in my presence in the conference room of Jerusalem’s King David hotel: two non Muslim countries surrounded by problematic Muslim neighbours. Both also had “problematic” Muslims within[/quote]

In 2003 there was great faith in the durability of the sole superpower. After Saddam Hussain’s fall, the Indian ambassador to Baghdad was not asked to return to New Delhi. He was asked to mark time in a three star hotel in neighbouring Amman, and wait for Americans to take charge in Baghdad whence he would rush to present his credentials.

The person who read the future right was Vajpayee. On April 9, Saddam Hussain’s statue was pulled down at Baghdad’s Firdous Square by US marines. The global media gave it a different spin. Angry Iraqis had pulled down the statue, the world was told. Vajpayee described the US as an “awesome” power on the move. From Srinagar he called off the eye ball to eye ball confrontation with Pakistan.

Newscaster Tony Harris, formerly of CNN, presents the afternoon headlines on Al Jazeera, with a large Syrian flag in the background
Newscaster Tony Harris, formerly of CNN, presents the afternoon headlines on Al Jazeera, with a large Syrian flag in the background

I have inserted this piece of history the world knows little about, deliberately at a time when a handful of Arab media representatives are present in New Delhi. The Arab media itself had been pushed beyond the margins during the occupation of Iraq. The show was being largely controlled by BBC and CNN. It is worth mentioning that Doordarshan was the only non western media to have comprehensively covered that piece of history. Sushma Swaraj was the Information and Broadcasting Minister then.

US Vice President Dick Cheney, even more than Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, was keen to declare victory on global TV. Obstructing celebrations was a singular problem. There was no demonstrable public enthusiasm for Saddam’s ouster. The entire choreography of the war had been designed for TV. How could the US declare victory if there were no street celebrations?

The only people willing to celebrate Saddam’s downfall were Shias in the south and east of the country. They could not be magically produced in Baghdad. In any case Shias would be ultra cautious coming out on an American invitation because after Operation Desert Storm in 1992 they had mounted an uprising in the South against Saddam Hussain. They mistakenly thought they had US protection. But Washington looked the other way. Saddam Hussain brutally crushed the uprising.

[quote]Why was India willing to subserve US occupation of a friendly country? In fact possibly the friendliest country India ever had[/quote]

Cheney’s men did some quick thinking. After the 1992 uprising, Saddam Hussain had settled rebellious Shias from the south in a ghetto outside Baghdad called Saddam city. These Shias could be commandeered if their leaders, Ayatullah Baqar al Hakeem and Muqtada Sadr could be persuaded. They agreed. That is when Shias came out of their ghetto slapping Saddam Hussain’s photographs with heir sandals. Saddam city was overnight renamed Sadr city by an American edict.

India's Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid speaks during a joint news conference with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari at the foreign ministry headquarters in Baghdad in 2013
India’s Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid speaks during a joint news conference with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari at the foreign ministry headquarters in Baghdad in 2013

Only after operation Desert Storm did Saddam Hussain place “Allah O Akbar” on the Iraqi flag. His message was simple: the “agnostic” and “atheistic” Baath Sunnis would from now on not be averse to the easier, more emotional, religious mobilization. Abu Bakr al Baghdadi is a subsequent creature of this duality. Baathist education with a religious edge. An ability to organize, administer, hold territory, derives from his Baathist training. Macabre actions like James Foley’s beheading and suicide bombing are a specialization of recent Sunni Jehadism. The two can be alternately stoked against the American infidel in Iraq and the Shia exclusivism of Baghdad. Now the US, Baghdad and Iran are laying traps to catch this animal.

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Saeed Naqvi

Saeed Naqvi

The writer is a journalist based in India.

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Comments 5

  1. Enid says:
    8 years ago

    The hate-write against India and hindus (and of course Israel) was suddenly abandoned by Naqvi towards the end of the article. What happened? Chicken bone got stuck in throat or what?

  2. Samir Dutt says:
    8 years ago

    There is not the slightest possibility that India would have sent troops to Iraq in support of US policy. Not the slightest. Here is an excerpt from an interview conducted on Aug. 28, 2009 by Karan Thapar. Brajesh Misra was India’s National Security Adviser at the relevant time –

    Karan Thapar: During the period 2002 and 2003 after the American invasion of Iraq, there was a lot of speculation that the Indian government was considering sending Indian troops to Iraq and it was reported and believed that Mr Advani as Home Minister was in favour of this. What exactly happened?

    Brajesh Mishra: I cannot say that Mr Advani was in favour of it although I remember the reports and rumours that had come up at that time. When the matter came up to the Cabinet Committee and security agency, of course there were informal discussions before the formal meeting with the committee, Mr Vajpayee was very clear saying, no we can’t send troops to Iraq. And it is my belief, that the prime minister would never have sent the troops to Iraq. The experience of Indian peace-keeping force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka is still fresh in our minds. No. 2, we as a government did not believe that the action in Iraq was a correct one by the US at that time. There was no question of anyone, including Mr Advani of supporting the issue of sending troops to Iraq.

    Karan Thapar: Despite the speculation at that time, Mr Vajpayee was very clear that there was no question of Indian troops being sent?

    Brajesh Mishra: I believed from the beginning that he would never have agreed to it. This is my belief.

    http://ibnlive.in.com/news/devils-advocate-brajesh-mishra-on-kandahar/100134-37.html

  3. Ram says:
    8 years ago

    Is this disjointed, unstructured, meandering rant an OpEd or “Brief” (Comment) or reporting or historiograph? I’m surprised to read it in the TFT of all places. I’ve read better writing from highschoolers! This is in contrast to the other Naqvi who writes high-minded stuff in snobbish, “clever”, high-flowing language. The commonality between the two cannot be missed though – it is in their uninhibited sophistry. This comment of mine probably won’t be published but what the he**, here it is anyway…

  4. gopa says:
    8 years ago

    ”two non Muslim countries surrounded by problematic Muslim neighbours. Both also had “problematic” Muslims within.”

    Why is it that in every non-muslim countries ‘muslims’ are always seen as problematic? In every country in Europe, muslims are at loggerheads with the local people. How is it that hindus and sikhs are never found problematic in the west, and also never in the arab world? Will the author kindly answer to this.

  5. gary says:
    8 years ago

    The author, as usual, is disturbed as India is warming her relationship with Israel. Well, that is the only way. Arabs have nothing to offer to India, and Israel has everything to offer.

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