Recounting the memories of Yasser Arafat and the ‘impossible’ task of clicking his pictures

The PLO leader had come to India in March 1983 to attend a six-day summit of non-aligned heads of states. All heads of states were housed in the government-run Ashoka Hotel in Chanakyapuri. During the conference, the hotel was turned into a fortress, and no one was allowed near it

Picture Talk/By NK Sareen

In March 1983, a six-day 7th summit conference of non-aligned heads of states was organised at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi under the chairmanship of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, then prime minister of India, in which more than a hundred heads of states came to participate. The late Yasser Arafat was one of them. He was the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), an organisation founded in 1964 with the purpose of Arab unity and the liberation of Palestine.

Mrs Gandhi apparently had a personal liking and a good rapport with Arafat. She supported his cause for a Palestinian state, so the PLO chief received a good reception among the other heads of states.

All the heads of states were housed in the government-run Ashoka Hotel in Chanakyapuri. During the conference the hotel was turned into a fortress, and no one was allowed near it. Even accredited journalists were discouraged from approaching any head of state in the hotel for any interviews. They were told to attend their respective press conferences or to listen to their speeches or speak to any particular head of state only during their presence at Vigyan Bhawan, the venue of the summit.

All accredited cameramen were also instructed to follow the same guidelines. There were no private TV channels back then and very few – only a select few camera persons from the print media – were allowed.

While the Government of India had provided security to all the heads of state, Yasser Arafat was allowed to travel with his own personal security, which he had brought along with him. The PLO chief was always surrounded by four to six big, tall, burly security guys, so isolating him from them for any individual pictures was next to impossible.

Though Yasser Arafat was variously referred to as a “terrorist”, “a man on a mission for a Palestinian state”, “a druggist” etc., and was on the hit list of many a spy agency around the world, my fellow journalists had told me that I must get his individual pictures, as he may get shot or become a very important head of state soon.

It must have been the second or third day of the summit when I saw an Indian girl talking to Arafat. I also noticed that she seemed to have an easy access to him. As soon as Arafat left, I approached her, hoping she might be of some help to me to get his individual pictures. She had an elder sister as I came to know later. Her father was an ambassador who was posted in Palestine for many years; they had business interests there, and Arafat was like a family friend to them. She also told me that Arafat was leaving India the day after, early in the morning, and that he wouldn’t be coming to Vigyan Bhawan again. She also made clear to me that I had no option left but to go to his suite at Ashoka to get his pictures, and she was willing to take me there the next day.

So, the next day I met her at the appointed time and place. She introduced me to her elder sister as well, and we all three went to the Ashoka Hotel in their car. I was surprised that at the Ashoka there was no security check for the sisters, and I was also let in without any security check.

Without any hassle, we all went straight to Arafat’s room and had a warm welcome. I let Arafat remain seated on his chair and asked his personal security guards to move away from him while I clicked many pictures, sitting across from him, 3 feet away, on another chair, including the close-up of Arafat reproduced here, which is part of the exclusive collection of pictures of Yasser Arafat I clicked that day. I thanked both the sisters for their help. They came to drop me back at the IENS building and became good friends. The younger and more beautiful sister also came to me for some personal pictures.

In this column, ‘Picture Talk’, veteran photo journalist NK Sareen, a former Photo Editor at Expanse International and a writer, shines light on some of the pictures of personalities he has clicked over the years, with a touch of nostalgia. The views expressed here are the author’s own and The News Porter bears no responsibility for the same.