People's Democracy

THE World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, concluded its week-long deliberations with the adoption of a declaration and a programme of action. Delegations from 163 countries, including 16 heads of states, participated in the conference.

The conference represents an important but limited step forward in the worldwide struggle to combat racism and the related discrimination manifested in various forms. The declaration and programme of action adopted at this UN-sponsored conference commits member states to undertake a range of measures to combat racism and discrimination at the international, regional and national levels.

A notable feature of the Durban event was the withdrawal of the United States from the conference alongwith its trusted ally, Israel. By doing so, the USA has once again shown itself outside the main current of world opinion. Just as its pushing for the National Missile Defence plan or its unilateral rejection of the Kyoto Protocol on environmental safeguards, on the question of fighting racism also the United States has shown itself to be standing against the international efforts to fight racism.

It is well known that racial discrimination persists in the USA, with the blacks and other coloured people being subjected to social and economic discrimination in various forms. By walking out of the Durban conference, the US administration has laid itself open to the charge that it wanted to evade the issue altogether. Further, it underlined the US opposition to the central question which dominated the conference --- the question of apologising for the heinous practice of slavery undertaken by the white nations and the colonial powers.

The other issue which dominated the conference was the Palestinian people’s struggle against Zionism and Israel trampling upon the rights of the Palestinians. The Zionist ideology represents Jewish extremism which does not recognise the rights of any non-Jewish people. The US and Israel walked out of the conference protesting against the wording in the draft declaration which condemned Israel for its brutal treatment of the Palestinian people.

Despite the US-Israel walkout, the conference did not collapse. The European Union states decided to continue to negotiate for an agreed wording on the Israel-Palestine question. The compromise arrived at expresses concern about the plight of the Palestinian people under foreign occupation and the declaration recognises the "inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to the establishment of an independent state." This was possible due to the firm stand taken by Arab states and many other third world countries who support the Palestinian cause. For the Palestinian people who are engaged in a life and death struggle against Israeli aggression and occupation, it was vital that the conference expresses support for their struggle. The eventual wording of the declaration provides support to their right to self-determination and an independent state. The compromise worked out recognises in turn Israel’s right to security and extends support to the peace process which is now virtually stalled.

The first World Conference against Racism was held in 1978. It had categorically rejected the idea of racial discrimination based on the biological idea of race. It had strongly condemned the institutionalised racism represented by apartheid system in South Africa. The second World Conference against Racism was held in 1983 where institutionalised racism was again condemned. After the historic victory over apartheid, the Durban conference focussed more on the remedy to the prolonged history of racism and slavery. Most of the African and Asian countries demanded a formal apology for slavery as well as appropriate reparations to be put on the agenda of the conference. The United States was dead against this proposal as it defined slavery and colonialism as "a crime against humanity." While the US opted out of the conference, the European Union decided to stay on and find some agreed formulation. After protracted negotiations, the declaration acknowledges and records the massive human sufferings and the tragic plight of millions of men, women and children "as a result of slavery, slave trade, trans-Atlantic slave trade, apartheid, colonialism and genocide." On the question of reparation, the strong opposition from European countries led to an unsatisfactory compromise; the conference recognised the need for programmes for economic assistance to Africa and to deal with the problems of debt relief and poverty reduction. Alongwith this was tagged "the promotion of foreign direct investment and market access."

One of the most sordid and inhuman aspects of colonialism was the practice of slavery by the capitalist powers of Europe and the USA. Millions of Africans were captured and sold off as slaves. The slave trade from Africa to the Americas and the use of slave labour to produce the wealth and accumulate capital is one of the worst episodes of the early period of the capitalist system. Prior to that was also the horrific genocide inflicted upon the indigenous peoples of the Americas by the white colonisers.

The official Indian delegation led by Omar Abdullah, minister of state for external affairs, played a role unworthy of India at Durban. First of all, the Indian government refused to condemn Israel strongly, nor was it prepared to take cognisance of the reactionary features of Zionism. In a reversal of India's long standing opposition to Zionism, the official delegation took the position that India is now committed to repealing the UN resolution terming Zionism as racism. The pro-Israeli stand reflects the growing nexus between the BJP regime and the Israeli government under American auspices. Nor was India's voice heard strongly in support of the demand for reparations for slavery and the slave trade.

The worst position taken by the official delegation was to oppose the inclusion of any reference to caste oppression within the framework of the theme of the conference. Omar Abdullah, the newly recruited enthusiast for the BJP policies, termed the campaign by Dalit activists from India at Durban about caste oppression "highly exaggerated and misleading propaganda" which was often based on "anecdotal evidence regarding caste based discrimination in India." This is virtually negating the reality of caste oppression in India and an insult to the aspirations of the Dalits who are struggling for equal rights and social justice.

The Indian delegation also vigorously opposed the formulation in para 73 of the draft, which talked of discrimination "based on work and descent." The Indian delegation wanted the deletion of "work" which would imply caste-discrimination based on occupation. Since the final text of the declaration is not yet available, it is yet not clear whether the Indian government's stand prevailed.

One thing is clear. Since the official delegation opposed inclusion of caste oppression of Dalits in the agenda, it was not possible to have it directly included in the agenda of the conference. In contrast to the Indian government's stand, the delegation of the National Human Rights Commission took a principled stand stating that caste oppression should find a place in the deliberations as it falls within the purview of the theme of the conference.

It may be recalled that the CPI(M) was the first national party to voice support for the demand that caste oppression of Dalits be included in the agenda of the conference.

The discussions in the non-official NGOs conference, prior to the official meet, highlighted sufficiently the nature of Dalit oppression in India and the inhuman practices like untouchability. The Indian government has only disgraced itself by its reactionary position on the matter.

The Durban conference, as all such gatherings, was not expected to produce results which could be translated into concrete steps to eliminate racism around the world. What it could achieve was to provide legitimacy and strength to the ongoing struggles against racist oppression and discrimination all round the world. The Durban conference did succeed to a large extent in exposing the United States and the imperialist countries who were shown up to be the defenders of the status quo.