Report
Seminar on “Crisis Looming at the United Nations: Causes and Possible Solutions”
To
commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations, the Institute of
Objective Studies and the Association of Indian Africanists jointly organized a
seminar on Crisis Looming at the United Nations: Causes and Possible Solutions,
on the 7th of December 2005 at the India International Center. The participants
of the seminar were Members of the Parliament, Leaders of Political Parties,
Ambassadors and High Commissioners of various diplomatic missions,
representatives of international agencies, civil societies, scholars, and media
personalities. A whole range of problems, causes and the possible solutions were
thoroughly discussed at the seminar. Some of the issues raised at the occasion
include, the UN has failed to meet the expectations of billions of people in the
world. The unnecessary intervention of select developed nations like USA has
contributed to its failure to face up to the challenges confronting it
throughout the globe. The participants strongly condemned such unlawful
interference of the developed nations in the day-to-day affairs of the UN. The
discussants agreed that some of the nations (e.g., Palestine, Rwanda,
Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Zimbabwe, and Western Sahara) have been
victimized by injustice and unfavourable verdict of UN. The participants were of
the opinion that unless the Security Council is restructured in a more
representative manner, it should be done away altogether by giving the mandate
for the General Assembly.
Some
of the participants were very critical of the UN’s role in promoting the
interests of the US and other developed nations by undermining the universality
of its establishment. For example, the Coordinator of the Seminar Dr. Uma
Shankar Jha had made his point that the US President and the British Prime
Minister need to be declared as war criminals along with the former President of
Iraq for killing thousands of innocent civilians. The UN should also impose
sanction against the US and Britain for illegally invading the sovereign
nations. Similarly, a Member of Parliament from the Revolutionary Socialist
Party, Shri Manoj Bhattacharya, remarked that the Headquarters of the UN should
be shifted from New York to another place so that the unnecessary interference
of the US can be minimized and the independent identity of the UN can be
maintained. In another high profile remark, the former Union Agriculture
Minister, Shri Chaturanan Mishra, expressed his unpleasant feeling for the US’s
unbalanced solo power in dictating the affairs of UN agencies like WTO, IMF, and
the World Bank, and in waging war against sovereign nations. What is more, one
of the diplomats known as Ambassador Osama Musa of Palestine had fiercely
criticized the UN for its role in dividing the Palestinian land by creating the
State of Israel to capture more than 60 percent of its land and making
Palestinians as refugees. The Namibian High Commissioner, Mr. Marten Kapewasha
raised the issue of Western Sahara and the delaying tactics of the UN in
providing the referendum. The American and Australian diplomats had also
interacted actively during the discussion time of the seminar. In the end, the
Chairman of the seminar, Dr. M. Manzoor Alam, noted that the US’s agenda seems
to be challenging the civilizations of some nations, particularly Islamic
nations. The Chairman warned the participants that such trends are leading to
dangerous precedence, which could aggravate conflicts among various nations and
nationalities.
To
prevent such a devastating scenario, the participants decided that the UN should
play unbiased and independent leading role to settle all international matters.
For this to happen, a forum promoting people’s views regarding UN needs to be
established in India and other countries.
There
was a general consensus that the United Nations Organization was a forum of all
the countries of the world, which was constituted to resolve the problems and
differences among the countries in a peaceful manner and to protect the
sovereignty and integrity of all the nation states in the world. But in the
light of the functioning of this world body a common feeling has been developed
that it is not running smoothly on the way of its cause. The reason is that the
permanent members of the Security Council of the UN have an unjustified power of
the Veto, which they have been using in a discriminatory manner and with
one-sided interest.