OLOF PALME – A TRIBUTE1

E. S. Reddy

[I knew Olof Palme for over two decades and he was alwayskind and generous to me - a Prime Minister to a mereinternational servant - only because he knew that I was tryingsincerely to promote international action against apartheid. (Iwas a UN Assistant-General and a long-time head of the Centreagainst Apartheid.) I happened to meet him in Stockholm onOctober 31, 1984 - the day of the assassination of IndiraGandhi - and I could see not only his sense of personal loss,but his love and concern for India. I saw him last at thePeople's Parliament against Apartheid in Stockholm a weekbefore his tragic assassination on February 28, 1986. Hewalked over to greet me and enquire about my work sinceretirement from the UN, instead of waiting for me to make acourtesy call on him and pay my respects. E. S. Reddy]

Olof Palme always reminded me of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Theywere both members of the “bourgeoisie”, who embraced andespoused democratic socialism - with compassion for the oppressedpeople and respect for their struggles for justice, as well as a visionof a New World Order, devoid of exploitation and humiliation. Theywere uncompromising in their detestation of racism, fascism andimperialism, refusing to be confined by the claustrophobia of theCold War mentality. They were aristocrats, who disdained anyattempts by the Western powers and vested interests to pressurisethem.

For many years after the Second World War, India, then a poor andweak country, played a far greater 'international role than its weightin power politics, because Pandit Nehru had a rapport with some ofthe best intellectuals of the world, espoused causes that are vital tohuman survival and progress and exercised a powerful influence onworld public opinion.

After Nehru's death, Olof Palme, leader of a small country in theWest, played a similar role. What Nehru achieved in developing theNon-Aligned Movement, encompassing the majority of humanity,Olof Palme extended within the privileged West so that peace and

1 This article was distributed by “Press Trust of India Features” and published in a number ofIndian newspapers. It is reproduced here from Mainstream, weekly, New Delhi, February 28,1987.

freedom, and rejection of war and the Cold War as the destiny ofinternational life have now a wider constituency. The Six NationSummit is one symbol of that broader unity in the cause of sanity.

Neither Nehru nor Palme was power-hungry - and Palme preferred tolose in general elections, rather than change party platforms. Neitherresented criticism. Indeed, both were self-critical and were notcarried away by the adulation of the masses. Both had as muchpatience and humility to listen and learn from intellectuals with asocial sense or leaders of the oppressed peoples as they had the urgeto persuade and preach. They were both men of rare courage, whowere most uncomfortable with security precautions, which preventedthem from mingling with the people or from carrying on private livesas they preferred.

Just as Pandit Nehru's outlook was shaped not ' only by the advance ofthe Indian national movement but also by his visits to Europe in the'twenties the 'thirties, Olof Palme's world view was influenced notonly by the evolution of social democracy in Sweden but also by hisvisits abroad, particularly to the United States and India in his youth.

Palme studied at Kenyon College in the United States in 1947-48 andthen went on a hitch-hiking tour of that country. That developed inhim an intense hatred of racism and of the stifling pressures ofMcCarthyism.

Palme's visit to India in 1953 was another great influence - as heexplained in his Indira Gandhi Memorial Lecture in January1985 -enhancing his understanding of the developing countries and of theirneed for international solidarity to overcome poverty and inequality.

As my own contact with Olof Palme was in relation to freedomstruggles in southern Africa, I would like to point to his contributionin support of those struggles.

Olof Palme showed concern over apartheid even as a student leader inthe early the 'fifties, when he donated blood to South African studentsstruggling against segregation in education.

In 1966, as a Cabinet Minister, he chaired the InternationalConference on South-West Africa (Namibia) in Oxford, an essentiallynon-governmental conference organised by the British Anti-ApartheidMovement. That Conference had a great influences in leading to theUN decision later in the year to terminate South Africa 's mandate overNamibia.

By 1968, we were anxious in the United Nations and outside topersuade the Western governments to assist the southern Africanliberation movements. Swedish and some other Social DemocraticParties were making small grants to the African National Congress ofSouth Africa, but no Western country provided governmental aid.Oliver Tambo, President of the ANC, publicly called for suchassistance during his visit to Stockholm in June 1968 at the invitationof the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid and theSwedish Social Democratic Party.

Soon after Olof Palme became the Prime Minister in 1969, theSwedish Government became the first Western government to decideon direct assistance to southern African liberation movements foreconomic, social and humanitarian purposes. Western assistance tothe liberation movements has increased enormously since then and ithas also greatly helped combat the efforts of those who sought tocomplicate the struggles against colonialism and apartheid by ColdWar approaches.

Another concern of ours was to persuade the Western governments toimpose meaningful sanctions against South Africa and that provedextremely difficult. After the Soweto massacre of June 1976, theSwedish government decided in principle to prohibit new investmentsin South Africa and to call on other governments to do so.

Going into opposition soon after, Olof Palme and the SocialDemocratic Party developed a broader package of sanctions. Swedenand other Nordic States have since been leaders among WesternStates in imposing sanctions against apartheid.

Meanwhile, in 1975, when South Africa sent its forces into Angola,taking advantage of the conflicts between three groups recognised bythe Organisation of African Unity as genuine liberation movements,much of the world was confused. The arrival of Cuban forces inAngola at the invitation of the MPLA initially added to the confusion.African States themselves were divided until early 1976. The SwedishGovernment too was unable to adopt a clear position. - At that time,Olof Palme took the unusual and courageous step of writing apersonal article in the press in order to counter any efforts to condoneSouth African aggression and condemn Cuba.

By early 1984, there was a serious crisis in southern Africa. While themovement against apartheid was rising inside South Africa, thefrontline States had become victims of pressure, blackmail andaggression by the Pretoria regime. Mozambique felt obliged to signthe “Nkomati Accord" with South Africa in March. The Pretoria

regime, pretending to espouse reform at home and peace in the region,hoped to undermine all the gains of the international campaign againstapartheid and reinforce close links with the Western Powers.

General J. N. Garba, the Nigerian Chairman of' the United NationsSpecial Committee against Apartheid and I met Olof Palme in NewYork at the beginning of April 1984 to seek his advice. He said thatthe Mozambican Government had been faced with a very difficultsituation. It deserved sympathy and support, which Sweden wouldcontinue to provide. At the same time, it would increase assistance tothe people in South Africa struggling against apartheid. The generousassistance by Sweden has been of enormous help in turning the tide inSouth Africa.

Leaders of the Frontline States made valiant efforts to preserve their unityagainst apartheid and to assist Mozambique. A meeting between the ForeignMinisters of Nordic and Frontline States in Stockholm in June, 1984 and aconference of leaders of the Socialist International, with the participation ofleaders of the Frontline States and liberation movements in Arusha inSeptember, 1984, were helpful in restoring the unity and morale of theFrontline States, and in focussing attention on international action againstapartheid. The Swedish Government, for its part, began to play a leading rolein the campaign for sanctions against South Africa.

The last major statement of Olof Palme, before his assassination was atthe Swedish People's Parliament against Apartheid, calling for sanctionsagainst South Africa and for support to ANC and SWAPO.

Olof Palme made a vital contribution to the international efforts forfreedom in South Africa, initiated by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

It was therefore, most appropriate that the Jawaharlal Nehru Award forInternational Understanding was presented to him posthumously lastmonth - to his widow. It is equally appropriate that the Palme familydecided to donate the proceeds of the award to the children of Soweto,who are not merely suffering under apartheid but are fighting heroicallyagainst it, in one of the most moving episodes in the struggle for a NewWorld Order.