Srinagar, September 25: A marathon UN diatribe by Libya’s Moamer Gathafi won him an enthusiastic fan base in Kashmir.
Gathafi berated US and some EU powers for an hour and 35 minutes from the General Assembly podium on Wednesday in a speech covering issues as diverse as John F. Kennedy’s assassination, swine flu and his support for Kashmiri independence.
Separatist leaders in Kashmir were united in praise for his ringing endorsement of their struggle.
“Kashmir should be an independent state, not Indian, not Pakistani. We should end this conflict,” Gathafi told the assembly.
His remarks were splashed over the front pages of Kashmir’s leading dailies on Friday, as separatist leaders applauded.
“We hail this brave and valiant leader for his bold advocacy of Kashmiris’ wishes and aspirations,” said Yasin Malik, head of pro-independence political party the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front.
“Such statements from international leaders provide solace and satisfaction to the oppressed people of Kashmir,” said Malik.
Seen as one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints, Kashmir has been the trigger for two wars between India and Pakistan, who control divided portions of the region and claim the territory in full.
The conflict in the Indian-administered section has claimed 47,000 lives.
While some of the most powerful groups favour accession to Pakistan, the majority of Muslims in Indian Kashmir support independence from both the South Asian rivals.
“Independence is the only viable solution,” said separatist leader Javed Mir.
Syed Ali Geelani, a hardline separatist, said the Libyan leader had set an example for others to follow.
“Not only Gathafi, but the world leaders, especially those from Muslim nations, should play an active role in the resolution of the Kashmir issue,” Geelani said.
Gathafi had accused the global body of failing to prevent millions of deaths as he demanded trillions of dollars in colonial reparations.
Paying his first visit to the 192-member body in his 40 years in power, Gathafi was introduced to the podium by the title “King of Kings,” immediately after US President Barack Obama.
Sporting a sand-hued tribal robe with an oversized lapel pin in the shape of Africa, Gathafi flagrantly defied orders by the General Assembly’s chair — a fellow Libyan — to speak for 15 minutes, and went on for one hour, 35 minutes.
He denounced the UN Security Council — where five powers hold veto power — as a “Terror Council” and blamed it for failing to prevent 65 wars since its creation in the aftermath of World War II.
“Superpowers have interests and they use the power of the United Nations to protect their interests. The third world is terrified and being terrorized and living in fear,” Gathafi said.
“Sixty-five wars broke out after the establishment of the United Nations. The victims are in the millions, more than the victims of World War II,” he said.
With too many countries vying to join the elite club of the Security Council, Gathafi said the United Nations should instead empower its General Assembly to make binding decisions.
Gathafi, who said he was speaking “in the name of 1,000 African kingdoms,” also demanded compensation from the West for colonization of the continent and provided a precise figure — 7.77 trillion dollars.
“The Africans will call for that and if you don’t give that amount — 7.77 trillion — the Africans will go to where you have taken these trillions. They have the right and they will bring the money back,” Gathafi said.
Despite the length of his speech, Gathafi did not come close to record-holder Fidel Castro, who spoke to the UN General Assembly for four hours, 29 minutes in 1960, the year after he seized power in Cuba.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who waited to speak after Gathafi, politely noted that the Libyan leader had addressed a range of topics but said he agreed with the need to reform the United Nations.
Gathafi also attacked one of Obama’s key foreign policy goals, questioning his build-up of US troops in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban.
Noting that no Afghans attacked the United States on September 11, 2001, Gathafi said the Taliban’s goal of a rigid Islamic state was not a threat.
“If the Taliban wants to make a religious state, okay, like the Vatican, does the Vatican constitute a danger against us? No,” Gathafi said.
But Gathafi offered profuse praise for Obama at the United Nations — and said he wouldn’t mind if he became US president for life.
“It was completely different for an American president,” Gathafi said of Obama’s speech. “You are the beginning of a change.”
But he added: “Can you guarantee that after Obama that America will be different?”
“We would be happy if Obama could stay forever as the president of America,” he said in a rambling speech to the UN General Assembly.
“This is a great thing,” Gathafi said, referring back to the US past when “blacks couldn’t go where whites went and couldn’t be on the same bus.”
—Agencies