The following sentence from the Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848, was as prophetic as the first in today’s context of Islamophobia. It has short and long-term implications for India: “All the great powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this ghost…Where is the opposition that has not been accused of being Communist by its opponents in power?” Today, this sentence has a chilling effect when the Indian right tells dissenting Indians to go to Pakistan.
These philosophical questions have taken on a dangerous dimension for India with Pakistan’s election to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for a two-year term this month. Pakistan received the third highest support from the international community. The UN has 193 member states. Of these, Denmark and Panama were elected to the UNSC with 184 and 183 votes, respectively. Pakistan was next with an overwhelming 182 votes. The other two countries elected on June 6 were Greece and Somalia, with Somalia receiving the lowest support. The vote in the UN General Assembly has shaken India from its false sense of security that Pakistan is a pariah state and has sunk it into a quagmire of quicksand and global ostracism. It is important to wake up and prepare for diplomatic attacks against India by Pakistan from 1 January 2025, when India joins the UNSC. Islamabad is sure to spread the “spectre” of Islamophobia in Europe on a global scale and play the victim of India. Pakistan’s response at the famous horseshoe table where the UN Security Council meets will likely encourage “Hinduphobia” at the UN.
For Pakistan, the ground for such elevation in the UN is now fertile. The UN observes March 15 every year as the International Day for Combating Islamophobia. The war in Gaza is a boon for Pakistani diplomats in New York as it prepares to join the UN Security Council. Under UN Security Council Resolution 2334, the Secretary-General is required to report to the Council every three months on the current situation in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian Territory. Islamabad is trying to use this resolution to bring Kashmir under its jurisdiction following the abrogation of Article 370.
The UN Security Council has a procedure called the ‘Aria procedure’, where any Council member can convene a meeting on any issue away from the horseshoe table without going through the Chair. Aria meetings are held in the Trusteeship Council chambers. Pakistan will no doubt convene such a meeting on Kashmir once it joins the Security Council. Such diplomatic maneuvers will not hurt India, but they could become a constant headache for the country in the next two years. India’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York will have to be constantly vigilant.
(KP Nayar has covered West Asia extensively and has been a foreign correspondent from Washington for 15 years.)
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of DH.
