By Dr. Sawraj Singh
The Focus TV news channel invited me as an expert on Iraq in their discussion on how to help the Indians trapped there in the ongoing fighting in Iraq. Families of some of these people also participated and they also contacted some Indians in Iraq by phone. These Indians have become innocent victims of the civil war raging in Iraq. Many of them hail from Punjab and are very poor people who are doing either labor jobs in construction, maintenance, and cleaning or are drivers. The Indian government claims that it is doing everything to help these people. However, the families and some people who were contacted in Iraq did not see much evidence of that help.
Historically, India had very good relations with Arab countries. Nasser, who is considered the Father of Arab Nationalism, was a close friend of Nehru. Many Arab people had very cordial feelings about Indians, particularly in countries where Arab nationalism was strong. Iraq was one of them. In the seventies, when I visited Egypt, I experienced the warmth of the people towards Indians. People stopped me in the streets in Cairo and asked if I was Indian. When I replied yes, then they would tell me that they consider Indians as their close friends. I saw a big posters of Indian films in the square of Cairo. Apparently, Indian movies were very popular there.
Nehru, Nasser, Tito of Yugoslavia, and Sukarno of Indonesia were the pioneers of the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM). In many parts of the world, India was respected as the leader of the Non-Alignment Movement. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, India tilted toward America and the West. The Non-Alignment Movement, for all practical purposes, fizzled out. India also lost the prestige it once enjoyed as the leader of the movement. I feel that if you are considered to be citizens of a non-aligned and neutral country, then you have less chance of being caught up in a conflict. I came across some people, particularly from Islamic countries, who expressed some resentment that India is now getting too close to America and the West.
I have often heard this complaint from overseas Indians that Indian officers do not do as much as they should for them even though personally, I have had some very good experiences with them. However, I do feel that we need a reorientation of our officers in both India and abroad. We should understand that the basic mentality of our officers was set in the colonial period. They were given the feeling that they are ruling over the people. Now, it should change to the fact that they are there to serve the people rather than rule over them. I feel that our IAS, IFS, and IPS officers should be given courses which emphasize the need to change the old colonial mentality and become more sensitive to peoples’ needs and perceptions.
Coming back to the situation in Iraq, we should utilize all channels available. We should talk to the government of Iraq and also use our good relations with Iran to influence the Iraqi government to do everything they can to help the Indians there. We should also try to approach the other side through Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has big control over the other side. We should ask America and England to use their influence over Saudi Arabia to convince the other side that it should not harm the Indians and let them go. We should also talk to countries like Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to use their influence with Saudi Arabia. We should also talk to Egypt which is still the leading Arab country. We can also ask Russia to use its influence with Egypt to help our people.
We should also approach the United Nations (UN), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Red Cross/Red Crescent. We should also try to contact the Arab media such as Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya. The media can help to set a tone that the innocent Indians should not be harmed.
This is one situation where Prime Minister Modi can talk to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Pakistan is a very important Islamic country and has very close relations with Saudi Arabia. We should try everything and explore every channel which we can to help our people. Maybe we will all come out better persons from this ordeal and make some much needed changes in our policies and attitudes.
Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at [email protected].
