KARACHI: The Anglo-American attack on Iraq was condemned by the city writers, intellectuals and journalists at a meeting on Friday.
The meeting was presided over by Ghulam Kibria. Speakers represented various organizations of intellectuals and writers.
Condemning the US aggression, Ghulam Kibria quoted history recalling the US’s shameful withdrawal from Vietnam. He urged the Pakistan government not to be subdued and overawed by the US aggressive designs and follow an independent foreign policy.
Dr Mohammed Ali Siddiqui said the US designs now stood fully exposed as earlier explained by noted intellectual Noam Chomsky. The imperialists had in the past usurped many lands in Latin America and exploited their material resources and now in the same way they were determined to occupy the Iraqi oil.
Giving an overview of the prevailing conditions, M. B. Naqvi said a new kind of imperialism was being imposed globally which meant monopoly on the world’s resources and its economy.
Dr Jaafer Ahmed said branding Iraq a threat to the region was only an excuse by the US and its small number of allies to usurp the Iraqi oil. And it was not just the oil but the exploitation of major natural resources of the world, which was sought by the US for its economic power, he said.
Muslim Shamim, the Secretary of the Progressive Writers Association, said it was the duty of thinkers, writers and poets to denounce the imperialists who were plundering a country and killing its innocents people. What the US was doing was a clear violation of the UN Charter and the basic human rights of the people, he said and appealed to writers to join in the protest. They could capture the “spirit of the time” in their writings by supporting truth and condemning the evil, he further said.
The aged newspaper columnist Mohammed Ahmed Sabzwari said the US itself, having acquired monopoly over the weapons of mass destruction, was a threat to world peace. It was not a war against Iraq but naked aggression against a small country, he said.
Noted artiste Talat Husain was of the view that Saddam Hussein being painted as larger than life by the media was perhaps the creation of Americans themselves. This war had brought the entire humanity on one side as massive protests were being held against the aggressors the world over.
Prof Sahar Ansari, Naqqash Kazmi and Baba Najmi recited their verses befitting the occasion.
Among others who spoke on behalf of the sponsors included Prof Anis Zaidi, and Saba Ekram with their brief comments and vote of thanks to the speakers. Hasan Zaheer did the compering.
