OIC LEADERSHIP 1

OIC LEADERSHIP IN 1974: ASPIRATIONS ANDAFTERMATHS

Erum Gul Sajid

Lecturer in History, GCW, Bhalwal

PhD Scholar, Quaid i Azam University,Islamabad

OIC LEADERSHIP 2

OIC LEADERSHIP IN 1974: ASPIRATIONS ANDAFTERMATHS

ABSTRACT

The dawn of 1970s observed trendy foreign policy bythe leadership of the Muslim World. Following the1967 Arab War the Muslim countries entered into anew era of political and socio-economic cooperationon a joint platform of Organization of IslamicConference. Arab-Israel conflict became theimmediate cause of its formation, and the initialfervour, emotions were manifested in highaspirations at Lahore, in 1974. The emerging youngleadership represented largely the general supportof their respective countries. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto,Colonel Qaddafi, President Houari Boumedienne, ShahFaisal, Jafar al Namiri of Sudan, and PLO’s YasserArafat were at the top of the pyramid. They tried toconfigure an independent Muslim World Order byexploring alternatives other than becoming a US or aSoviet client and with the new defunct Non-AlignedMovement (NAM). The prospects for future of theMuslim Ummah seemed progressive, however, the auraof this leadership dispersed soon as this leadershipgot through ill fate leaving their followersdispersed on the way to achieve the proposedobjectives in the 1974 Summit. This study makes aneffort to explore why this aura wiped out gradually,

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portraying these leaders culprits in their ownhomelands.

Key Words: OIC, socialism, foreign policy, Pakistan,Libya, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Palestine, CIA,leadership.

INTRODUCTION

Earlier in 1930s before the partition of India, Dr.

Allama Muhammad Iqbal foresaw an alliance of Muslim

Countries and Nations, which would be a platform to

rally around while keeping their individual identity

intact. It seemed as the dream of a poet and was

laughed at by friends and foes. It was in 1930s when

all the Muslim World had been passing through the

stage of colonialism. This dream was, however, not

knew as Sayyid Jamal-ud-Din Afghani had envisioned

it in the end of the 19th century and had struggled

for it by visiting a number of Muslim countries. The

downfall of Ottomans after WWI had also left a

vacuum on the central leadership; though the

institution of caliphate was not more than a

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symbolic one. The pooling of ideas for launching a

joint platform has been commenced in 1926, and World

Islamic Conference was opened by King Abdul Aziz ibn

Suad in Makkah. It aimed to safeguard the Holy

Places, improve conditions for pilgrims and

religious liberties for all Muslim Sects. (OIC,

2006) After WWII, Islamic International Conference

held regularly with the increased factionalism and

unification both and Palestine Problem remained top

priority. Split culminated when in 1962, four

different conferences held; World Islamic conference

in Baghdad, Islamic Conference in Cairo, Associates

of the General Islamic Congress in Jerusalem and

League of the Islamic World in Makkah. (OIC, 2006)

The decade of 1940s observed the launching of the

freedom movements in the colonies. Until the

beginning of 1970s, almost whole of the Muslim World

got freedom, yet, a new phase of colonialism started

which had had the instruments of economic

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exploitation through international organization,

that ultimately influence the political process and

political leadership in these countries. Military

coups and overthrowing of the popular governments

(i.e., in Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey etc.) were

carried through under the aegis of assistance of

super powers. Yet, the International Islamic

Economic Conference in Karachi in 1949 and then at

Tehran in 1950 marked the first attempts to forge

the concept of Muslim Unity. (Hussain, 2004:84) The

decade of 1960s observed a wave of socialism all

over the world and the emerging leadership in the

Muslim countries was influenced also and they were

successful in mobilizing the masses. Moreover, the

growth of regionalism and declining role for the

traditional nation-state in the second half of the

twentieth are indicative of the global change in the

political and socio-economic perspective. (Hansen &

Hemmasi, 2001:259-260) Losing the Six-Day War in

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1967 provided the incentive needed and the leaders

of Muslim nations finally met in Rabat to establish

the Organization of Islamic Conference on 25

September 1969 (now C in OIC stands for

‘Cooperation’).

In 1971, the Islamic Foreign Ministers Conference

formally established the OIC by approving the

Charter, which a majority of member states had

ratified by February 1973. (Hansen, 2001:259) OIC

Permanent Delegation to UN website (2000, August 18)

narrates the objectives of OIC under the charter as:

a. To strengthen Islamic solidarity among member

states;

b. To consolidate cooperation in the political,

economic, social, cultural, scientific fields

c. To safeguard the dignity, independence and

national rights of Muslim peoples;

d. To safeguard the Holy Places and support the

struggle of the Palestinian people;

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e. To eliminate the racial discrimination and all

form of colonialism;

f. To promote cooperation and understanding between

member states and others; (Hansen, 2001:260) and,

g. To uphold international peace and security; and

advance education, particularly in the fields of

science and technology.

It declared itself as “the collective voice of the

Muslim world" which would work to "safeguard and

protect the interests of the Muslim world in the

spirit of promoting international peace and

harmony." A striking feature of OIC was the absence

of racial feelings among its member states as these

belong to countries from hot zone of Africa to the

temperate zones of Asia and southern Europe. Toynbee

expounds this fact as: “the extinction of race

consciousness as between Muslims is one of the

outstanding moral achievements of Islam, and in the

contemporary world there is, as it happens a crying

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need for the propagation of this Islamic virtue; for

the race consciousness is a fatality of the present

situation.”(Riyazul Hasan, 2013)

Another feature that OIC characterizes is the

gathering of the countries having different social

and political back ground. Despite of having

different polities the 1974 Summit was a forceful

expression towards the culmination of these

sentiments. When in Lahore the leaders of the Muslim

Countries expressed in a fascinating way their mode

of action in future towards forming an strong and

viable Muslim Block that was going to play an

important role in the World economy and politics

while progressing in the fields of science and

technology. Actually “these leaders gravitated

towards each other perhaps due to their secular

persona, populist appeal, a nationalist outlook

rooted in what they perceived as anti-imperialism

and varying levels of drift towards socialism — none

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of which was an anathema then. In fact…the masses

embraced them.” (Taqi, October 2011) Sheikh Mujeeb-

ur-Rahman, Prime Minister of Bangladesh also

attended the conference. He arrived at Lahore on

20thfeburary after Bhutto’s acceptance of the new

Muslim country. The venue of the meeting was named

Gadaffi Stadium. It was expected that Bhutto,

Colonel Gadaffi and King Faisal will lead the Muslim

Ummah. (Taqi, 2011)

THEORY

“The Muslim leadership that emerged at the dawn of the decade of1970s, with enthusiastic slogans for the socio-economic uplift of theircountry-men and Ummah at large, faced the ill fate; mostlyoverthrown or even executed death sentence by shooting, hanging orby public revolt etc. This phenomenon might have multi-facetedcauses, as: Were the interior upheavals resulted in these happeningsor it was the extermination of the revolutionary strata of leadershipamong the Muslims to bar even the notion of progress raised by it andif in the second case, by whom?” 1 In addition, how the exterminationof these Muslim Leaders have been justified by portraying them asculprits in their own homelands.

1 The author submitted this article to the QAU, Islamabad in May, 2013, whereas the same theory was also discussed later in HamidMir’s program CAPITAL TALK on July 31, 2014 concluding that this was the World scheme and cannot be just viewed within national context

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ASPIRATIONS ENCHANTED IN OIC SUMMIT 1974

Here is an attempt to explore these reasons viewing

the happenings going on in the countries under

discussion, while analysing the proceedings of the

Summit and the rhetoric of the leaders present in

it:

The Prime Minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan,

Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was elected the Chairman of

the Conference at the opening of it. (It is ironic

that he was still the Chairman of the OIC, when

executed by General Zia). In his inaugural address,

while expressing grief on the Palestine Issue, he

emphasized on the urgency of the definite

settlement. He urged the Third World to use its own

resources for financing its development through co-

operative efforts and to forge its own financial

institutions. Similarly Hafez al-Asad declared this

occasion as, “a matter of great importance that the

leaders of 700 million Muslims should meet at Summit

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level with the aim of defending the holy places of

Islam.” He added, “we meet today as makers of events

where as we had met in the past in reaction to

events.” (Riyazul Hasan, 2013) It is very

interesting that President Houari Boumedienne of

Algeria discussed analysed the situations

philosophically by discussing the link between the

spiritual and the material. He recognized the

presence of the spiritual ties that is to be

embodied and to assume its material shape through

co-operation in various fields, particularly the

economic one. (Riyazul Hasan, 2013) Colonel Qaddafi

announced that the industrialized world would have

to choose “between our friendship and the friendship

of our economy.” The leaders agreed that they

should avoid the seduction of apparently simple but

deceptive solutions which tend to dilute the cause

and check this awakening consciousness which is

dawning on the Third World and that a concrete

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resolution should be got out of this meeting. The

Palestine Cause was further reinforced by the

presence of His Beatitude the Patriarch of Antioch

and the East, Elias, IV, who described the creation

and continuation of the state of Israel on Arab soil

as an “act of theft---a base act.” In the ending

session of the Summit, PM Bhutto declared the people

of Pakistan as the soldiers of Islam and its armies

as the armies of Islam. He affirmed that the

conference had achieved positive results and the

time would prove how valuable it had been. (Riyazul

Hasan, 2013) The summit resolved that the solidarity

of the Islamic peoples is based, not on hostility,

but on the positive and eternal precepts of

equality, fraternity and dignity of man, freedom

from discrimination and exploitation and struggle

against oppression and injustice. (Noorul Haq, n.d.)

The presence of these leaders along with the vibrant

Yasser Arafat and their gestures among themselves

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evoked the continental sentiments not only of the

Muslim masses but also of the other nations of the

world.

This may be concluded by going through the speeches

of the participating heads of the states that there

was a general consensus on the fact of the unity of

the Muslim Ummah and that the crisis entangling them

is not only on the political level but also the

socio-economic one. They were well aware that they

had been monopolizing by the colonial powers from

decades and then even after getting independence

they were bleeding and licking their own wounds

owing to the post-colonial legacies, which left them

destabilized and fractioned after benefitting the

resources of the colonies, lamented by the Algerian

president in the summit Day 2. (Riyazul Hasan, 2013)

So, these leaders reiterated the need of

establishing a kind of socio-economic co-operation.

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All the Muslim Leaders stood in the same row at

Badshahi Mosque in Lahore for offering Juma’ Prayers

and the Summit summed up amongst enthusiasm and with

best wishes declaring:

Their conviction on common Faith as an indissoluble

bond between their peoples, that the solidarity of

the Islamic peoples is based on the positive and

eternal precepts of equality and dignity of man,

freedom from discrimination and exploitation and

struggle against oppression and injustice; for the

joint struggle of the peoples of Asia, Africa and

Latin America for social and economic progress and

prosperity of all nations of the world; and the

desire to endeavours in promoting world peace based

on freedom and social justice in accordance with the

tenets of Islam while preserving and promoting the

solidarity among the Muslim countries. (Noorul Haq,

n.d.)

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AFTERMATHS OF 1974

The era of 1950s to 70s was perplexing with the

ideologies of socialism and the western capitalism.

Both were making efforts to extend their influences

and to stretch their strong hold through different

policies all over the world. (As John Foster Dulles

had postulated the theory of the Containment of

Communism in Asia that resulted in the formation of

alliances like SEATO and CENTO in South East Asia

and Western Asia. Pakistan joined the both for the

reasons pertaining to defence.) Whereas, the Summit

in 1974, manifested the ideologies with socialist

flavour with emphasis was on the reforms on socio-

economic level not only for the whole Muslim

countries but also the nations in all the continents

on earth. In addition, the conviction in Islam as

the common faith and as a guiding principle was

expounded. This blend of socialist thinking and the

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Islamic principles was not new as on May 28th, 1937,

Dr. Muhammad Iqbal had elaborated that the socialist

democracy is not against Islam but it is very near

to its spirit. (Asim, 1977:140) So, this vigour and

applause shown at the OIC Summit 1974 may be

considered as an effort to achieve this objective in

the true sense of Iqbal, which narrated that these

ideologies could be applicable however, in an

atmosphere free and sovereign. The participating

nations in the Summit were free but facing great

difficulties due to neo-colonialist policies of the

West, who vacated these countries but devising every

day new tactics to monopolize the economies and

trends of change by manoeuvring the political strata

of these. The Summit left a profound imprint now

that the time is changing now and the leadership had

emerged that was going to lead the masses to a

prospective progress in every field. Ironically, the

international players were not ready to leave a

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large part of the world out of their influence.

Western History is replete with the forming of

alliances and making of blocs round various

ideologies, yet whenever, a Muslim one is going to

be expected even, the Western powers used every mean

to dismantle these. (Nizami, 2007:127) The central

point of this conference was Defence and Reforming

Economy and the Muslim countries had agreed to co-

operate for the development of one another by using

their resources.(Nizami, 2007:128) The aura of the

Summit Leaders was fascinating and it seemed that

the problems of Muslim Ummah individually or

collectively are nearly going to some conclusive

ends. The eyes were on them for practical steps to

be taken.

One may observe that in their respective countries

these leaders initiated the reforms programs for

their countrymen. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Qaddafi,

Boumedienne and Shah Faisal all endeavoured

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implications reforms in their countries and took

important decision on international levels. Rather

Libya has always had rocky relations with the

international community. (The Hague Justice Portal,

2013) The oil embargo imposed by the Arab caucus of

the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries

(OPEC) was founded in many ways by Colonel Gaddafi.

He removed the U.S. and British military bases from

Libya in 1970. He also brought about many reforms

at home too, which were criticized by the West, like

he expelled most members of the native Italian and

Jewish communities from Libya and in 1973 he

nationalized all foreign-owned petroleum assets in

the country. He also outlawed alcoholic beverages

and gambling, in accordance with his own strict

Islamic principles. (Grifa, 2012:3,4) Bhutto laid the

foundation of Nuclear Power Plants in Pakistan. He

along with King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, tried to

configure some form of a Muslim world order. Bhutto

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had explored alternatives to becoming a US or a

Soviet client and with Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)

under Indian influence and leaned towards the Muslim

countries. While pan-Islamism was the obvious theme

of the 1974 Lahore Summit of the Organisation of the

Islamic Conference (OIC), a strong subtext was

‘Islamic Socialism’, with Bhutto, Gaddafi, Algeria’s

Houari Boumedienne, Syria’s Hafez al-Assad and PLO’s

Yasser Arafat leading that pack. (Taqi, 2011)

Similarly, Boumedienne laid strong emphasis on

socio-economic co-operation among the Muslim

countries. Surprisingly, almost all the influential

leaders passed away leaving the episode of change in

its very initial stage abandoning all these

activities at once.

Houari Boumedienne asserted his direct and

undisputed leadership of Algeria after an attempt by

military officers to overthrow his regime failed in

December 1967. In 1971 he imposed state control on

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the oil industry, at the cost of ending Algeria’s

special relationship with France. He risked war with

Morocco in 1975 by trying to gain territorial access

to the Atlantic across the Spanish Sahara (later

Western Sahara). In 1976 his government issued a

National Charter and then a new constitution, both

adopted by referendum. Negotiating important

industrial contracts with Western countries and at

the same time maintaining close but independent

relations with the Soviet bloc, Boumedienne became a

leading figure in the nonaligned movement. He was

pursuing a policy of non-alignment, maintaining good

relations with both the communist bloc and the

capitalist nations, and promoting third-world

cooperation. In the United Nations, he called for

a new world order built on equal status for western

and ex-colonial nations, and brought about by

a socialist-style change in political and trade

relations. Since 1971 he had been reforming the

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Algerian oil industry by nationalization, increasing

government revenue tremendously, which sparked an

intense protest from the French government. He put

the soaring oil and gas resources into building

heavy industry, hoping to make his country

the Maghreb's industrial centre. (Boumeddiene, 2014)

His years in power were in fact marked by a reliable

and consistent economic growth. He remained in coma

due to Waldemstrom’s disease, and passed away

following unsuccessful treatment in Moscow. (Facts,

n.d.) Rumours about his being assassinated or

poisoned have surfaced occasionally in Algerian

politics owing to the rarity of this disease. King

Faisal was assassinated in 1976 by his nephew who

was suffering from with psychiatric disease. CIA was

alleged to use this person from inside to hamper the

policies and reforms carrying by the King. Colonel

Muammar al-Gaddafi of Libya was beaten up and then

murdered by a single gunshot to his head, on the

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road between his native Sirte and his nemesis

Misrata in 2012, (Taqi,2011) a leader was murdered

and no one voiced against this cruel act manoeuvred

by the Jackal tactics of CIA. (Archives, 2013)

In Pakistan Z. A. Bhutto was also carrying out the

socio-economic and political reforms by

nationalizing industry while raising the rhetoric of

Islamic Socialism. He accompanying all the above

mentioned leaders had initiated a process of forming

of not only a Muslim Bloc abut viewed the progress

of all the Third World countries. On the other hand,

the then Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi

was raising objections on the proceedings of the OIC

Summit that it would sabotage the Third World

Countries Cause. The fact is that the speeches of

the leaders and declaration of the Summit clearly

supported the Third World Cause and expounded to

take steps practically. Bhutto took steps forward as

he launched Nuclear Technology program in Pakistan,

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though in the beginning it was in retaliation of the

Indian Nuclear Tests, which were carried with

codenamed Smiling Buddha near Pakistan's eastern

border in 1974. Bhutto lobbied for the United States

to impose economic sanctions and arms embargo on

India could not get success. Pakistan's Ambassador

to the United States convened a meeting with

Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who told

Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington that the test is

“a fait accompli and that Pakistan would have to learn to live with it.”

Conversely, US imposed an embargo to limit its

nuclear programme. However, Bhutto continued to

administer the research on nuclear weapons and

succeeded in establishing finally the Nuclear Power

Plant in Pakistan. In 1976, Kissinger travelled to

Pakistan to hold a meeting with Bhutto, offering an

expensive package of F-5 jets for PAF. When Bhutto

analysed its technology he was unconvinced of its

combat performance, and refused the sale. Kissinger

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reportedly used an unorthodox language and

threatened Bhutto. In a meeting, Kissinger had told

to Bhutto: "that if you [Bhutto] do not cancel, modify or postpone

the Reprocessing Plant Agreement, we will make a horrible example

from you." (Yahya & Rose, 2013) Following this, Bhutto

had to face the embargo and pressure from the

American President Carter who was totally against

the political objectives which Bhutto had set forth

for his upcoming future plans. Carter indirectly

announced his opposition to Bhutto, his ambition and

the elections. Bhutto tried to resolve the issue,

but Carter intentionally sabotaged the talks. (Shah,

2013) Riots and agitation movements erupted after

the 1977 election resulting in the Military coup by

General Zia ul Haq on July 04, 1977. Political

analysts and scientists widely suspected that the

riots and coup against Bhutto were orchestrated with

help of the Central Intelligence Agency and the

United States Government because the United States

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allegedly feared Bhutto's socialist policies which

were seen as sympathetic to the Soviet Union and had

built a bridge that allowed the Soviet Union to be

involved in Pakistan. (Bhutto, n.d.:6-9) Bhutto’s

venture of establishing the mega project of Steel

Mills in Karachi with the financial and technical

assistance of USSR had been considered a great

achievement after the failure in getting help from

the West though Pakistan had treaties with them

regarding the economy and defense. Former U.S.

attorney general and Human Rights activist, Ramsey

Clark, quotes,

"I [Ramsey Clark] do not believe in conspiracy

theories in general, but the similarities in the

staging of riots in Chile (where the CIA allegedly

helped overthrow President Salvadore Allende) and in

Pakistan are just too close, Bhutto was removed from

power in Pakistan by force on 5 July, after the

usual party on the 4th at the U.S. Embassy in

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Islamabad, with U.S. approval, if not more, by

General Zia-ul-Haq. Bhutto was falsely accused and

brutalized for months during proceedings that

corrupted the Judiciary of Pakistan before being

murdered, then hanged. As Americans, we must ask

ourselves this: Is it possible that a rational

military leader under the circumstances in Pakistan

could have overthrown a constitutional government,

without at least the tacit approval of the United

States?"

Qayyum Nizami comments, “Bhutto was removed due to

the Nuclear Program and leading the Muslim

Countries.”(Nizami, 2007:131)

It is difficult to ignore here that OIC could

develop a viable atmosphere of cognitive peaceful

dialogue between the Muslims and the West. However,

the leaders who could perform and fulfil these goals

became the victim of international pursuits mostly

inflicted by the indigenous factors. As Bhutto has

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to face criticism by the staunch rightists and an

all parties alliance against the results of the 1977

elections resulted in military coup, which led him

to the gallows. In Algeria, at the time of

Boumedienne’s death the political and constitutional

order was virtually entirely of his own design.

Qaddafi was declared the worst dictator at the end

of his regime and after a bloody revolt he was

killed. One may conclude that the loop holes in the

policies were tactically used in their removal by

the opponents.

CONCLUSION

This study is an effort to find out the facts and

reasons behind the diminishing of the ideologies and

vigour of the OIC Summit 1974 and cleansing of that

very leadership by analysing the world political

trends. The global powers considered the formation

of a Muslim Block dangerous to achieve their

economic and political interests. It has also

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searched whether the Muslim world has been devoid of

that ideologies and their under currents or any

resistance still persists to face the global powers

agendas and policies to reform and revive at

leadership as well as at masses level, too.

The Muslim world has been a very useful hunting

ground to meet the interests of the developed world.

These countries have been providing basic raw

materials and ideal markets for their finished

products. At the occasion of the Lahore Summit the

Muslim World dared to challenge these interests

while trying to make a Muslim Block with the notions

of socialist ideologies. This phenomenon cannot be

acceptable for the Capitalist West, who had also the

pride of being the ruler of the world too, the few

years earlier. In addition, the foreign policy of

the west aimed at the proliferation of its

ideologies in any way i.e., by manoeuvring

economically and politically through the world

OIC LEADERSHIP 29

organizations indirectly or by threatening or

pressurizing mostly the illegitimate rulers whom it

itself had baked to take over initially. Thus it has

been exploiting the whole natural resources of the

affected countries of the world to its own benefits.

These designs by the superpowers seemed to be

successful as the socio-political conditions in the

Muslim countries are dazzling. About 65 % of the

adult Arabs are illiterate. No Muslim country has

the literacy rate more than 50% with a few

exceptions and in turn unable to exploit their own

natural resources for socio-economic development due

to lack of expertise in science and technology. They

are war stricken in Asia, Africa and for sometimes

even in Europe. The Arab countries have the lowest

freedom score. They have the lowest value of all

regions of the world for voice and accountability.

(Khan, 2004:88) Moreover, most of the Muslim

countries are ruled by the autocratic dictatorial

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regimes. As, two kings, two sheikhs, a sultan, a

prince, twenty presidents and seven prime ministers

attended the OIC Summit in Putrajaya, Malaysia, in

2004 whom the Muslim think tanks declare the

architects of our misfortunes. (Khan, 2004:89) Yet,

…The medley and timed arrivals of the many heads of

governments of the OIC to the Convention Center in

Putrajaya, sends the sounds of greater seriousness

and raises the hope among the OIC leaders that this

forum can effectively address the plaguing problems

of the "Ummah". (Jair, 2003) Whereas, it is also a

fact that the tone of the OIC Summit in 1974 has

been changed out rightly as there was neither

emphasis on the issues of Kashmir or Palestine nor

reference or condemnation of the American invasion

of Iraq and its illegal occupation and ruthless

bombing on the civilians. (Gauhar, 2004)

Despite of these conditions, the OIC could help

resolve not only the inter-state issues but it could

OIC LEADERSHIP 31

serve as an effective unifying force to protect the

socio-economic and strategic interests all over the

world. (Hussain, 84) Though, Islamophobia is the

term used to manifest the fear of the West

particularly, OIC is trying to combat internal and

external issues of terrorism or to attune itself as

an international institution willing to reform and

assert in global economy and politics OIC. Recent

years have seen the OIC transform from a ceremonial

international institution to one willing to reform and

assert itself in global economy and politics. In

December 2005, the leaders of 57 OIC Muslim member-

countries agreed to wide-ranging reforms of the

organization at an extraordinary Islamic Summit in

Mecca, Saudi Arabia. A number of internal and external

factors have necessitated such reforms, including the

domestic challenge from Muslim extremism, the

US/Western pressure, Muslim ruling elites’ realization

about the urgency of reforms, and the assertion of

non-Arab Muslim countries in OIC affairs. Some recent

OIC LEADERSHIP 32

practical instances of the OIC’s economic and

political assertion at the international stage are

additional indicators of change. No doubt the OIC has

a disappointing track-record in realizing its past

objectives. It has traditionally preferred rhetorical

declarations to realistic action in world affairs. At

present, however, owing to the above factors—which

emanate essentially from the qualitatively changed

global circumstances in the aftermath of the terrorist

events of 11 September 2001—the OIC leadership seems

willing to opt for a more pragmatic and cooperative

path to help revamp the socio-economic situation in

the Muslim world, and harmonize its ties with the non-

Muslim world, particularly the US/West. The recourse

to political pragmatism, and a regionalism based on

common Muslim identity, assisted by the forces of

globalization, could help the OIC re-chart the

political and economic course of the Muslim world.

(Ahmad, 2008) It is working to eradicate such

feelings by arranging meetings, seminars and by

OIC LEADERSHIP 33

writing articles by the renowned scholars of Ummah

on basic human rights focusing UNO’s charter.

International Conference on Terrorism: Dimensions,

Threats and Countermeasures held in Tunis, 15-17

November, 2007 was also an effort in this regard.

(OIC, 2014) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the OIC Secretary

General from Turkey lays emphasis to the Muslim

countries to be strengthened internally by focusing

on representative governments, free speech, and

equal rights for all citizens in that would enhance

the prospects of unity of the Muslim World and also

to reform OIC as a necessary step towards achieving

its goals. (Ekmeleddin, 2010)

Formation of OIC is at the apex of the efforts by

the Muslim countries who have been trying to gather

round some nucleus by forming organization/s on

regional and global as well. All the Muslim

countries are the members of OIC along with the

regional organizations as is shown below:

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The above map shows that the OIC is encompassing all the other

regional organizations of the Muslim Countries all over the

world.

Despite of its all its impotencies the process of

reforms is going on by the new emerging leadership

again in the Muslim World, who are anxious of the

hazards entangling by them yet hopeful for the

solutions.

References

Asim. Mehmood. ed. (1977). Letters to Jinnah. Iqbal KMilli Afkar. Lahore: Maktaba e Aliya.

OIC LEADERSHIP 35

Bhutto, Zulfiqar Ali. (n.d.)My Pakistan. Reproducedin pdf format by Sani H. Panhwar (Member SindhCouncil). Retrieved April 07, 2015 fromhttp://bhutto.org/Acrobat/My%20Pakistan.pdf. & AboutZulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Site dedicated to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.Retrieved May 27, 2013 fromhttp://www.bhutto.org/about-bhutto.php.

Gauhar, Feryal Ali. (2004) US Expansionist Designsin the Middle East. Contemporary Affairs. Lahore:Caravan Enterprise. 70-74. On the other hand, the UShas given Israel a total of $95 Billion from 1949-2001 according to the American- Israeli CooperativeEnterprise AICE. What is not widely known, however,is that most of this aid violates American Laws. AndMadeline Albright declared the killing of more thana half million children in Iraq resulting the USbombing and using of even biological warfare just“collateral damage.

Grifa, Moussa. The Libyan Revolution: Establishing aNew Political System and The Transition toStatehood, Arab Reform Brief (2012, September).Retrieved April 07, 2015, from: http://www.arab-reform.net/sites/default/files/ARB_62_Libya_M.Griffa_Sept12_Final_En.pdf

OIC LEADERSHIP 36

Hansen, Devon A. & Mohammad Hemmasi, (2001) The State Of The Organization Of The Islamic Conference (OIC) At The Dawn Of New Millenium, Prairie Perspectives: Geographical Essays. Volume 4 (2001), edited by Douglas C. Munski (University of North Dakota). 258-282, Retrieved April 01, 2015, from pcag.uwinnipeg.ca/Prairie-Perspectives/PP-Vol04/Hansen-Hemmasi.pdf

Harders, Silja & Matteo Legrenzi. (Eds.) (2008,May). Beyond Regionalism? Regional Cooperation, Regionalism andRegionalisation in the Middle East. London: Ashgate. Ahmad.Dr. Ishtiaq. The Organization of the OIC: FromCeremonial Politics towards Politicization?. BeyondRegionalism? Regional Cooperation, regionalism & regionalization.125-138. Retrieved March 28, 2013fromhttp://www.ishtiaqahmad.com/downloads/Beyond_Regionalism.pdf

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Hussain, Syed Muzammil. The Way Out since 9/11.Imtiaz Shahid (Ed.). (2004). Contemporary Affairs.Lahore:Caravan Enterprises. 84-88.Ihsanoglu, Ekmeleddin. (2010). The Islamic World in the NewCentury: The Organization of Islamic Conference: 1969-2009,University of Tokyo Press. (2013, March 28).Retrieved from http://www.google.com/Google eBooks.

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Jair, Bakar. (2003, October 20). OIC Summit inRetrospect. Retrieved 2013, May 05 fromhttp://www.brunei-online.com/bb/mon/oct20w16.htm.

Khan. Roedad. (2004). OIC summit: What Went Wrong?.Contemporary Affairs. Lahore: Caravan Enterprise. 88-91.

Nizami. Qayyum. (2007) Jo Dekha Jo Suna. Lahore:Jahangir Book Depot.

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Taqi, Dr. Muhammad. (2011, October 27). COMMENT:Muammar al-Gaddafi: a political obituary. Daily Times.Retrieved May 23, 2013 fromhttp://archives.dailytimes.com.pk/editorial/27-Oct-2011/comment-muammar-al-gaddafi-a-political-obituary-dr-mohammad-taqi.

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The National Security Archives. (2013). CIA Confirms Role in1953 Iran Coup, Retrieved April 07, 2015 fromhttps://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB435/.The CIA uses all the tactics of removing itsunfavourable personalities by using the internalconditions and also the persons. Assassination ofBhutto and King Faisal are examples of this heinouschain. President of Allende of Chille and Bhuttowere overthrown in the same year. Government ofMosaddeq of Iran faced the same faith. SimilarlyEgypt has been playground of CIA and the rising ofrevolt against Qaddafi and now in Syria againstBashar ul Asad are recent events.

Yahya, Zubaida & Mr. Rose, (2013). Foreign Policy

during Bhutto Era. Retrieved April 07, 2015 from

http://www.slideshare.net/2ub1/foreign-policy-

during-bhutto-era.

ANNEXURE

OIC LEADERSHIP 39

The Kings, Heads of State and Government and the

Representatives of the Islamic countries and

organizations proclaimed: 1. The conviction that

their common faith is an indissoluble bond between

their peoples: that the solidarity of the Islamic

peoples is based, not on hostility towards any other

human communities nor on distinctions of race and

culture, but on the positive and eternal precepts of

equality, fraternity and dignity of man, freedom

from discrimination and exploitation and struggle

against oppression and injustice:

2. Their identification with the joint struggle of

the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America for

social and economic progress and prosperity of all

nations of the world.

3. Their desire that their endeavours in promoting

world based on freedom and social justice will be

imbued with the spirit of amicability and

OIC LEADERSHIP 40

cooperation with other faiths, in accordance with

the tenets of Islam.

4. Their determination to preserve and promote

solidarity among Muslim countries, to respect each

other's independence and territorial integrity, to

refrain from interference in each other's internal

affairs, to resolve their differences through

peaceful means in a fraternal spirit and wherever

possible to utilize the mediatory influence or good

offices of fraternal Muslim State or States for such

resolution.

5. Their appreciation of the heroic role played by

the frontline States and the Palestinian resistance

in the Ramazan war as well as of the Arab effort and

Muslim solidarity which became more prominent at

that decisive stage.

6. Their appreciation for the activities of the

Islamic Conference and its Secretariat which will

continue to be the vehicle for their dedication in

OIC LEADERSHIP 41

promoting close and fraternal co-operation among

themselves and in their other joint endeavours.

http://www.oic-oci.org/english/is/2/2nd-is-sum.htm,

“Declaration of Lahore”, accessed on May 09, 2013.