NEW DELHI/BOMBAY, 16 December 2003 — India has reacted with extreme caution to news of Saddam Hussein’s arrest. “We have taken note of Mr. Saddam Hussein’s arrest in Iraq,” External Affairs Minister Yashwan Sinha said yesterday. Asked whether India welcomed the arrest, he replied: “It is only a question of taking note of a development. That’s all.”
US Secretary of State Colin Powell telephoned Sinha yesterday to tell him about the arrest, claiming the arrest “would bring about a change in the psychology of the whole situation” in Iraq, according to a ministry statement.
Sinha expressed hope that “these developments shall contribute to the stabilization of Iraq.”
But until late yesterday, India had made no official statement.
Saddam’s arrest dominated both houses of Parliament yesterday. In the Lok Sabha or lower house, the opposition demanded a government statement.
The government’s stand on the issue should be laid out clearly, said Ram Vilas Paswan of Lok Janashakti. “The rule of law should prevail in Saddam’s case. No action should be taken against him on the whims of the United States or George Bush alone,” he said. “We from the Congress party would like to request the government of India to make a statement on the situation arising out of the arrest of former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein,” Jaipal Reddy said.
Dharamraj Singh Patel of the BSP said efforts should be made to see that Hussein was humanely treated and tried under the jurisdiction of the United Nations.
While coalition forces and most of the world’s media described the arrest as a “major success,” Indian media was muted in its reaction.
“While US is trying its hand at winning the Iraqis through a psychological battle, the Iraq war is far from over. Hussein’s arrest may carry a lot of meaning for US for electoral reasons or otherwise, the Americans will remain an occupation force, outsiders, against whom the Iraqis are likely to continue their attacks,” Ajit Panja, a former minister of state for external affairs, wrote in a Bengali daily.
Indian diplomats and analysts find it difficult to forget Saddam Hussein’s attitude to India. Kamal Bakshi, who served as ambassador in Baghdad between 1985 and 1991, said: “His attitude toward India was always very positive, friendly and warm. He had tremendous respect for India and its leadership, particularly former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.”
Enthusiasm greeted the news of the arrest of Saddam Hussein in Bombay.
Even critics of the US invasion of Iraq find little to mourn in Saddam’s capture. A Middle East specialist at Pune’s Center for Foreign Studies, Dr. Ravindra Joshi said that the arrest was a greater cause for celebration for the US government than for the Iraqi people — continued Baathist resistance suggested as much, he said.
Farouk Nadiadwala, a prominent Bollywood film producer and director, said Saddam deserved “no mercy”.
“He was not only a cruel and barbaric dictator who crushed his own people, but he also destroyed the economy of the country,” he said.
“Those who show no mercy for others, should not expect mercy from others,” he added.
Nadiadwala doubted Saddam would be tried in Iraq. “Americans have strange ways of tackling dictators. Take (former Panama dictator) Gen. Noriega — they flew him to New York and put him behind bars,” he said.
Retired army officer Iqbal Singh said Saddam should be hanged right away. “No civilized army in the world had ever committed as many killings as Saddam Hussein’s,” he said.
Former Indian Foreign Service officer Moin Khan, who served in the Middle East for many years, felt the dictator had been a problem not only for his people but also for his Arab neighbors.
“Instead of being grateful to them for huge financial help worth billions of dollars, Saddam bullied them,” he said. “Who can forget his adventure into Kuwait in 1990, when he invaded the very country that had given billions of dollars in aid to Iraq?” Khan asked. “Such people have no place in this world.”
Youth Congress leader Samiullah Qureshi believes Saddam will have to pay for his crimes. “Indian people are in full sympathy with the Iraqi people, who suffered badly at the hands of Saddam and his regime,” he said. “Justice can be delayed but never denied, and the people of Iraq will see the dictator who unleashed terror finally brought to justice.”
