A. Veronica Fernandes addressing the rally
Ministry of Interior, Col. Juma Al Kholifi kissing the Kuwaiti flag
During the invasion time of Kuwait, I was in my place Goa, India, busy in organising meetings and rallies in Goa in support of Kuwait. Suddenly opposite to Azad Maidan in Panaji the capital city of Goa, I met Eduaro Faleiro who was at that time a Congress Member of Parliament. A short while before, he was the Minister in Central Government Delhi holding the prestigious post of Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. By virtue of being a minister of that high rank, he should be expert in foreign affairs. But no! According to his statement he made to me on that day which I reproduce herebelow as I still remembered after a long period, it goes like this:
He wished me saying “Veronica, how are you?
I said, fine. How about you?
He said ok and asked me: what are you doing?
I said, presently very busy in organising a movement on behalf of GOA-KUWAIT SOLIDARITY CENTER in support of the liberation of Kuwait.
He sarcastically smiled and said: Veronica, forget about Kuwait’s liberation, forget about Kuwait. KUWAIT IS GONE.
When I immediately retorted asking him “why”?
He replied thus: Kuwait’s case will be like that of Palestinian case. It will drag on for years and years like Palestinian case for another 25 to 50 years. Veronica, you forget about Kuwait’s liberation. A COUNTRY THAT IS ALREADY INVADED WILL NOT COME BACK.
From the above statement of India’s foreign affairs stalwart one could make out that only a miracle was required to liberate Kuwait.
Immediately after the invasion of Kuwait, Arab Leaders met to discuss this issue of invasion of Kuwait and as if it was an easy matter to solve, issued a statement saying “it was an Arab issue and it would be solved under Arab umbrella”. What was that Arab umbrella? It was an Arab League that binds the Arab race together. In fact Arab League failed Kuwait miserably. It turned out to be an impotent body to force Saddam Hussein to vacate Kuwait. Why Arab League only? What about Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) which binds the Muslim member nations thru religious affinity and strictly prohibits use of force to settle bilateral disputes between the member nations? Though Kuwait and Iraq both being members of OIC as both are Muslim countries, yet Iraq rejected the principle of Organisation of Islamic Conference and used force to invade Kuwait. Saddam Hussein proved to be a fake Muslim otherwise he would respect the religious values of OIC.
Non Align Movement (NAM) was yet another organization that failed to withstand the fury of Saddam Hussein. NAM also prescribes use of peaceful methods to solve bilateral issues between the member nations. Both Kuwait and Iraq are the members of NAM yet Saddam Hussein made a fool of NAM. Once a few years back, Libyan Leader Gaddafi dubbed NAM as a big JOKE. It is a romantic figment of romantic Nehru supported by Nasser and Tito, all toothless leaders who established NAM as a toothless body.
Finally, the ultimate solution for Kuwait rested on the shoulders of UN which proved its worth. With the strong mandate given by the UN to liberate Kuwait, a coalition of innumerable countries headed by US waged a deadly war against Iraq and on this date 19 years back, finally liberated Kuwait from where we earn our sustenance, the country which is a home for many of us away from our own homes back in our countries. Thanks to Margaret Thatcher for creating an awakening in support of Kuwait immediately after its invasion by Saddam’s Iraq. She at that particular time was visiting US and when she got this news, her first broadcast early in the morning relayed by BBC was this “In no way this brutal and illegal invasion should be allowed. Saddam Hussein is a brute, a dictator, a barbarian, a despot worst than Hitler. This invasion of tiny peace loving country Kuwait must be reversed by all means”. Then she disrupted her itinerary in US and directly went to Baba Bush (Sr.) and asked him to give a lead to organize the world to liberate Kuwait. Being a super power, she said US is in position to do so and finally US under Bush Sr. gave a strong lead in this direction.
It was very nice at that time Gorbachev was ruling Soviet Russia. Gorbachev was a democratic and decent leader who would use his rationale to judge the situation in its true perspective. He judged the Kuwait situation rightly even though he was not an Arab or a Muslim. It was ironic to know that the liberation movement of Kuwait was opposed by some of the Arab and Muslim countries while non-Muslim and Non-Arab countries openly supported Kuwait’s liberation though US and West were blamed as anti-Arab and Anti-Muslim without any basis. For this reason, during his last summit in the Mediterranean Sea with Gorbachev before the start of the Gulf War for the liberation of Kuwait, the president of US, Bush Sr. said “This war is not a war between Arabs and West. It is a war between Arab and Arabs. This war is not a war between Muslim and Christians. It is a war between Muslims and Muslims. Christian US and Christian West are only supporting the weak Arab and weak Muslim country to gain its liberation”.
One of the major reasons for Kuwait to get strong support for its liberation war was the excellent foreign policy conducted by Kuwait under its long time Foreign Minister who is currently the Amir of Kuwait. His dealings with all nations with fair manner earned him and Kuwait an excellent goodwill all around the globe that finally paid dividends for Kuwait.
That Kuwait will be liberated one day was certain to me but when? That was the question mark. But I knew that one day is not very far unlike my compatriot Eduardo Faleiro. I feel my knowledge of foreign affairs is far better than that of Eduardo Faleiro the Foreign Affairs stalwart of India. I said to myself, either today or tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, liberation will come and surely it will come but till such time, let us fly the flag of Kuwait high in Goa. All my colleagues in our movement supported me. Accordingly, soon after our first rally in Panjim on 12th November 1990 in support of Kuwait, we took the decision to organize a big meeting in Panjim to mark the National Day of Kuwait on 25th February 1991. When Kuwait’s Ambassador Zakaria got this news, on my advice he sent us one box containing Leaflets, Kuwaiti Flag, Audio Cassette of National Anthem of Kuwait, Free Kuwait Badges etc. When we marked this day, I could see nothing but joy on the faces of Goans who gathered there to mark this day. When the National Anthem of Kuwait was played, I could see nothing but tears of joy in the eyes of so many Goans who listened to the Kuwaiti National Anthem after so many months. It was nothing but joy and joy on the faces of everyone gathered there on that auspicious day making us aware of the following day’s good tidings that Kuwait was on the verge of liberation which surely and as predicted came on 26th February 1991.
The movement we Goans organised in Goa - India continuously for so many months in support of Kuwait was done purely out of love and gratitude for Kuwait from where we earned our sustenance. It was done in such a big and vociferous scale that its voice was heard not only in Goa but also in New Delhi thus forcing the Government of India to change its stand openly and support Kuwait clearly and strongly. Not only this, our voice we raised from Goa was heard in Taif - Saudi Arabia by the Government of Kuwait in exile, other governments in the world thru their Embassies in New Delhi and to all over the world thru Radio, TV and Press News. Our voice we raised from Goa under the umbrella of Goa-Kuwait Solidarity Center was a direct slap on the face of Saddam Hussein, his Bath Party, his Iraq and all his supporters and admirers. By organising our movement in Goa we wanted to show our affiliation to Kuwait. This movement we organised on our own wish and on our own initiative and no external power or external elements involved in it. It was purely an indegenous Goan movement financed by none other than by us, Kuwait returnee Goans only. Its credit should go to none other than all who associated in it physically and financially. By organising this movement I am happy that we got an opportunity to show our gratitude to Kuwait from where we gained so much.
To wage the war against Iraq to liberate Kuwait, I cannot ignore the enormous efforts made by US, UK and France and the great sacrifices of their soldiers who lost their precious lives for the cause of Kuwait. The liberation of Kuwait was realized only with the active involvement of these nations and their soldiers and of course with the stellar initiative of UN.
On behalf of GOA-KUWAIT SOLIDARITY CENTER, I, A. Veronica Fernandes, Convener of Goa-Kuwait Solidarity Centre wish Kuwaitis, Government of Kuwait and the ruling family of Kuwait all the best on the liberation day of Kuwait. May God Bless Kuwait.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
To wage the war against Iraq to liberate Kuwait, I cannot ignore the enormous efforts made by US, UK and France and the great sacrifices of their soldiers who lost their precious lives for the cause of Kuwait. The liberation of Kuwait was realized only with the active involvement of these nations and their soldiers and of course with the stellar initiative of UN.
On behalf of GOA-KUWAIT SOLIDARITY CENTER, I, A. Veronica Fernandes, Convener of Goa-Kuwait Solidarity Centre wish Kuwaitis, Government of Kuwait and the ruling family of Kuwait all the best on the liberation day of Kuwait. May God Bless Kuwait.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
