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Indian Media Assails Bush Statement
By
IOL
South Asia
Correspondent
NEW DELHI
, June 29 (IslamOnline) - Though Indian Prime Minister AB Vajpayee
today called
Yasser Arafat
,
India
's long-standing ally a "traditional friend", Indian media
reacted variably to President Bush's recent statements about Yasser
Arafat.
One
of
India
's most reputed newspapers, The Hindu, in its editorial Friday, June
28 said, “The U.S. is virtually blaming him (Arafat) for the
campaign of expansionist militarism which
Israel
is inflicting upon all Palestinians at this point in a brazen act of
self-defense. The Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon wants the world
to acknowledge that he is acting within the bounds of international
law even as he seems to punish the entire Palestinian people for the
heinous crimes being committed by some among them.”
The
newspaper commented, “In seeking to dictate how the Palestinians
should cooperate with
Israel
, Bush has sought to draw a lopsided road map for ‘peace’ in
West Asia
as regards the most intractable of the several disputes that haunt the
region.”
“Mr
Bush’s indictment, which borders on a final verdict that Mr Arafat
cannot be
Israel
’s peace-partner, has not caused an instant backlash against the
United States
. The Palestinian people, including Mr Arafat himself, seem determined
to answer the American President through democratic means by holding
elections,” the newspaper pointed out.
“Unfortunately,
however, it (Bush’s speech) is too heavily loaded in
Israel
’s favor for the Palestinians to take it seriously,” wrote another
popular newspaper The Hindustan Times in its editorial of June 27.
“The
initiative may well turn out to be another nail in the coffin of the
1993
Oslo
process, which provided an economic vision for both
Israel
and
Palestine
to coexist peaceably,” the newspaper pointed out.
The
daily also questioned Bush’s locus standi in asking for the
replacement of Arafat. “It’s odd that Mr Bush should ask the
Palestinians to dump Yasser Arafat, since it comes from an American
president who himself was elected by the skin of his teeth after
unpleasant court dramas,” the newspaper wrote.
Another
popular newspaper, Indian Express, in its editorial of June 27,
argued, “Tony Blair’s government has rejected
U.S.
demands that the Palestinian leader step down. U.N. Secretary General
has also lent his weight against the idea of replacing Arafat, arguing
that elections could throw up a more radical leader. The world would
support President Bush in his vision for peace as long as it is
combined with justice.”
The
newspaper continued that the problem with the Bush initiative is it
demands a great deal from the Palestinians without going beyond merely
the hope of a provisional government at a future date with limited
sovereignty. There is no clear time table, and major reforms that are
sought would obviously take time.
Another
leading newspaper, The Times of India, in its issue of June 26 has
described George Bush’s speech on
West Asia
as “largely pure and simple blackmail.” The newspaper said that
Bush’s approach to the problem is shortsighted.
“The
Palestinians certainly need economic help, they definitely need to
build up structures of state and above all, need to get back into the
peace process loop. But putting the onus on Mr Arafat to deliver the
peace is being deliberately shortsighted. It is quite obvious that it
is not forces controlled by Mr Arafat but extremist movements like the
Hamas and Islamic Jihad who are masterminding the attacks on the
Israeli state. In fact, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the head of Hamas, is
under house arrest and has vowed to carry on terror attacks despite Mr
Arafat’s strong condemnation of it. Incidentally, Mr Bush may recall
that it was the Americans who first built up forces like Hamas and the
Hezbollah to counter the PLO in the region,” the newspaper wrote.
The
newspaper also commented, “Were Mr Bush to issue similar demands to
Tel Aviv to pull back its troops and halt Jewish settlements, his
speech would be more credible.”
The
Indian government irrespective of whosoever has been in power, has
always supported the cause of the Palestinian people for a legitimate
independent, sovereign State of Palestine.
However,
much to the amazement, the present NDA government headed by the
rightist Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of Atal
Behari Vajpayee, has preferred to keep a studied silence on the issues
raised by President Bush’s speech. The government’s silence is now
being viewed as a betrayal of
India
’s traditional friendship and concern for the cause of the
Palestinians.
On
the other hand, the principal opposition Congress Party has expressed
shock at the statement of
U.S.
president George Bush. Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi’s
political secretary Ambika Soni issued a press statement Thursday,
June 27, which said, “There is no doubt that terrorist attacks on
both sides should be stopped and the peace process should be restored
in
West Asia
but the onus cannot be placed only on Yasser Arafat.”
The
press statement added that the Congress Party appreciates that the
legitimate security concerns of
Israel
must also be met "but that cannot be done if the
U.S.
takes a one-sided approach."
The
Leftist Communist Party of India (Marxist) in its reaction said that
it condemns the “outrageous suggestion” made by President Bush.
The party statement issued Thursday, June 27, termed this as “pure
and simple blackmail.”
It
said that the
U.S.
imperialism’s partisanship with
Israel
could not have been more blatant. “Not strangely, President Bush has
not issued a stricture, leave alone a condemnation of the Israeli
atrocities being committed on the Palestinians. The inalienable right
of the Palestinians for their homeland can no longer be denied by
imperial conspiracies,” the party statement said.
According
to the statement, party politburo has asked Vajpayee government to
take initiative to de-escalate the situation there.
One
of the reasons why the Central government is still keeping silent over
President Bush’s speech may be that by offering comments in favor of
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat it may rub
U.S.
the wrong way. During the recent Indo-Pak stand off, the shuttle
diplomacy of the
United States
helped in bringing down the temperature and was also instrumental in
seeking
Pakistan
’s assurance for stopping cross-border infiltration.
Indo-U.S.
relations is at present on a harmonious note. Military ties between
the two largest democracies in the world are continuously
strengthening. Any statement from the Indian government which is
heavily loaded in favor of Arafat would certainly offend the
U.S.
Also,
India
is building close security ties with
Israel
and its immediate and not-so-calculated response may come in the way
of its new relationship.
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