Samajwadi MP Nadvi asks govt to mediate to stop war in Gaza, Ukraine

India must mediate to stop the war in Gaza and Ukraine as the country has been the biggest example of a humanitarian approach in the world, Samajwadi Party MP Maulana Mohibullah Nadvi has said.

In an interaction with PTI editors at the agency's headquarters here, the imam of the Jama Masjid across the road from Parliament rued that the world had closed its eyes to the atrocities on the Palestinians in Gaza.

Making a strong case for India to intervene to stop the war in Gaza, Nadvi said, "The way in which we should have stood up for the oppressed (we haven't), like (Mahatma) Gandhi ji, (Jawaharlal) Nehru ji, (Maulana Abul Kalam) Azad were the first people to say that wherever there is oppression, we will stand up against it.

"We stood up against it in South Africa. Gandhi ji, in fact, had said that just like every Indian born in India has a right on India, similarly every Arab born in Palestine has a right on Palestine," the Samajwadi Party MP told PTI.

Nadvi, 48, said Palestinians were made homeless as a part of a strategy and a tradition has been started of not speaking in their favour which is a "loss for the entire humanity".

"India is a great country. India should not only stop the war in Gaza by mediating but should also stop the war in Ukraine by intervening because India is the biggest example of a humanitarian approach. There is no bigger example of it than India in the world," Nadvi said.

Describing the continuing humanitarian crisis due to the Israel-Hamas conflict as "deeply concerning", India has reiterated its call for de-escalation, emphasising a peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.

At the UN, India has reiterated the call for an immediate, full and complete ceasefire, safe, timely and sustained humanitarian assistance and unrestricted access to relief and essential humanitarian services in the Gaza Strip.

It has been India's long-standing position that it supports a two-state solution, which entails the establishment of a sovereign, viable and independent state of Palestine within recognised and mutually agreed borders, living side by side with Israel in peace with due regard to the security needs of Israel.

The war in Gaza, which was sparked by Hamas' October 7 attack on southern Israel, has killed more than 38,600 people, according to the territory's Health Ministry.

The war has created a humanitarian catastrophe in the coastal Palestinian territory, displaced most of its 2.3 million population and triggered widespread hunger.

Meanwhile, almost 30 months of the Russia-Ukraine war has already cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides, including thousands of civilians.