They said that the western campaign had imperialist designs against the oil wealth and the strategic geographical position of Libya.
“The same powers did not lift a finger against the brutal Israeli occupation of Palestinian and Syrian lands and the murderous Zionist attacks against Gaza Strip and Lebanon, and the same powers are taking a diagonally opposite stand towards similar popular movements in some other Arab countries” said the leaders in a statement. They also condemned the Arab League for meekly providing a fig leaf for the western powers to interfere and occupy an Arab country.
They however rejected the autocratic Gaddafi regime’s murder of protesting Libyan civilians and supported the struggle of the Libyan people to free them from the brutal dictatorship.
“A people’s movement must not be used to impose western control over yet another Muslim country. We genuinely fear that the current western military campaign will quickly lead to landing forces on the Libyan soil in order to loot Libyan oil wealth and plant a permanent military presence on its soil as has already happened in Afghanistan and Iraq”, they said urging Arab countries not to fall in this trap and to refrain from offering their token support as it will be used to legitimise this neocolonial campaign.
The signatories include Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, Working President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, Mujtaba Farooq, Secretary, Jamaat-e Islami Hind, Maulana Abdul Wahab Khilji, President, Indian Islahi Movemrnt, Dr Taslim Rahmani, Muslim Political Council of India, Navaid Hamid, General Secretary, Movement for the Empowerment of Muslim Indians, Feroze Mithiborwala, President, Bharat Bachao Andolan, Mumbai and Prof. M.H. Jawahirullah, Tamilnadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam, Chennai.