NEW DELHI, October 16 (ANI): Opposition MPs and other politicians met the Palestine ambassador Adnan Abu al Haija here on Monday to express solidarity amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
“We have come to meet Palestine ambassador to express solidarity with the Palestinians. India has been sharing good ties with Palestinians traditionally. We are friends with Palestine. In this time of difficulty when imperialist forces and Israel are oppressing them, we are standing with them,” Rajya Sabha MP Javed Ali Khan told ANI.
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Shahid Siddiqui said that the traditional position on Israel was that of Mahatma Gandhi, Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayprakash Narayan and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
#WATCH | Delhi: Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar arrived at the Embassy of the state of Palestine, earlier today to attend a meeting with Adnan Abu al Haija, Ambassador of Palestine in India.
Many other leaders of the opposition, including a few MPs attended this meeting,… pic.twitter.com/sQMy3i8D0n
— ANI (@ANI) October 16, 2023
“The policy of India, which was that of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Lohia, Jayprakash Narayan, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, that we believe in the rights of Palestine. We recognise Israel but Palestine should get right to a its own nation. The attack on them in Gaza is against the rules of the United Nations and international law,” Siddiqui said.
CPI (ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said that the ongoing violence in Gaza is nothing short of an “openly declared genocide”.
“We came here to express our solidarity on behalf of Indian people. Right now, we all know whatever happened on the 7th of October but it has not stopped there. Right now what is happening in Gaza is nothing short of a very openly declared genocide. We cannot allow this to go on like this,” Bhattacharya said.
Following the meeting, Adnan Abu al Haija, the Ambassador of Palestine in India expressed hope that India will play a role in stopping the siege on Palestinians in Gaza.
HT adds:
Shortly after the meeting with the Palestinian envoy, the leaders released a joint statement urging the international community to bring a peaceful resolution to the conflict, to respect the rights of the Palestinian people, and for immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.
“The international community must exert pressure on the state of Israel to abide by international laws and respect the rights and identity of the Palestinian people. We call for intensified diplomatic efforts and multilateral initiatives to ensure a lasting peace in the region,” the statement read.
“We express our deep concern regarding the ongoing crisis in Gaza and the suffering of the Palestinian people. We strongly condemn the indiscriminate bombing of Palestinians in Gaza by Israel, which we believe amounts to an attempt at genocide,” the statement added.
This is a developing story.
