Muslims targeted. Responsible who?

Has West been the soul exploiter. Are Muslims themselves responsible for the mess they are in. Did situation worsen for them catching them unawares. To this effect, reasons are many, writes Zulfikar Majid

What went wrong for the world to become such a difficult place for a Muslim to live. On introspection, it becomes very hard to find one factor entirely and absolutely responsible. Many people believe and argue that it is the Muslim world in general and the Muslim leadership in particular that has failed itself, yet they agree that the non-Muslim world did not fulfill its responsibilities either. The only major concern rather grievance of the Muslim world of the pre-cold-war times was the Palestinian conflict. The cause and the grievance was genuine which is corroborated by the fact that majority of the non-Muslim world shared the Muslim concerns with regard to Palestine. The concerns remain, although a huge support base for the cause has been lost owing to the changing world scenario where economic, military and diplomatic interests find preference over humanity and justice.

During the cold war the world was divided and polarized. The world powers were more interested in exploiting the conflicts like Palestine for their own benefits rather than solving them on the grounds of justice and humanity. America made use of the so called Mujahideen in Afghanistan to defeat the Soviet Union with the help and active support of Pakistani military and intelligence which played a pivotal role in the Taliban uprising. Before leaving the Afghans alone, the United States had the moral obligation to see to the matter that the mess of warlords was cleared and the country was set in order.

While the Afghan war was still on, it gave vent to a dormant Kashmir dispute which had already forced Hindu majority India and Muslim majority Pakistan to go to war, at least twice after their independence from the British in 1947. Kashmiris demanded right to self determination as envisaged in the UN resolutions on Kashmir which was out -rightly rejected by India. The mass uprising took a violent turn when Kashmiri youth took to arms against the Indian state in 1989. Fighting has left tens of thousands dead and raised fears that the stubborn conflict could escalate into a full-scale nuclear war. Both countries tested nuclear devices in 1998 which was the peak time of a resistance movement started by Kashmiris in late eighties.

Around one hundred thousand people have lost lives in this conflict, about one million rendered homeless, thousands of houses destroyed and thousands of men and women disabled physically or mentally. Once again the world leaders disappointed the Muslim world by giving a deaf ear to the Kashmiri people. The torture and violations of human rights inflicted on the Kashmiri Muslims generated sympathies for them all around the Muslim world, which resulted in diversion of many warriors just relieved from the Afghan war to join Kashmiris in their struggle. The appearance of the hard core warriors and fidayeen (suicide bombers) from the non-local outfits gave it a more extremist outlook.

In 2002, armies of both the nuclear powers (India and Pakistan) stared each other eye-ball to eye-ball on the borders of Kashmir after attack by some terrorists on Indian Parliament in New Delhi. Both countries mobilized more than million troops on the border and it raised fears of a nuclear catastrophe. But after mobilizing troops, both the countries realized that war was no option and a peace process started between the two before it broke down in November 2008 after ten heavily armed terrorists attacked financial capital of India Mumbai killing atleast 200 civilians. India accused Pakistani hand in the attack while the later denies it. War hysteria is on in both the countries right now.

Kashmir is the root cause of problem between India and Pakistan and has a potential to become a nuclear tussle if the conflict remains unresolved. By this time there were three burning issues for the Muslim and the non-Muslim worlds to tackle and solve; undoubtedly the Muslim world has always looked towards the West to solve its issues. The lack of unity among the Muslim nations and Muslims as a whole is evident from the war and differences between Afghan factions, the Palestinian parties and the different separatist forces in Kashmir. Apart from this the world powers have shown reluctance and sluggishness in addressing the genuine concerns of the Muslim world while being capable of doing so by sacrificing some petty national, political and diplomatic interests.

Of late new US president Barrack Hussein Obama’s statement that he would appoint a special envoy for Kashmir has rekindled hopes among Kashmiris. Kashmir conflict is giving an excuse to the extremist organizations in Pakistan and even Afghanistan to exploit the situation. One has to agree that in the short term the world had to launch a concerted effort against terrorism which it did in the form of so called War on Terror although in an exaggerated manner. But in the longer term the world powers also had the responsibility to look into the root cause of the extremist and militant outbursts, and try to eliminate them as far as possible. On the contrary a generalization was done and just struggles for freedom and human rights were termed as terrorist and extremist movements which only exacerbated the situation.

Terrorist and extremist forces need favorable conditions and moral support among their societies to thrive and flourish just as much as fish need water to survive. The world powers ensured that they keep getting this support and these favorable conditions by intimidating Muslim world for reasons that were either too insignificant or unknown. The invasion on Iraq, insults of Abu Ghraib, inhuman treatment at Guantanamo bay, silent spectatorship of Palestinian siege, ruthless bombing of Afghanistan, arm twisting of Iran and Pakistan were the realities that made the Muslim world trust the theories and notions of the extremists who at least appeared to be fighting for their concerns and shared their faith.

Slow but sure, the Muslim world lost faith in US and Europe casting serious doubts on the intentions of the world powers. It is a common notion among Muslims that the West is after the Muslim nations as it wants to control the oil reserves that they possess. They feel that the West has made excuses like war on terror and weapons of mass destruction to further its interests of controlling oil reserves or capturing strategically important locations. Many people draw parallels between the nuclear aspirations of Iran and North Korea and the difference in reactions by the US towards the two countries. Abetting Israel in mass killing of helpless Palestinians, Signing MoUs with Israel while it was still busy committing war crimes in Gaza are the realities out of which young Muslims of today draw their conclusions.

The challenge for the United States, Britain and other world powers is to win over the hearts of Muslims across the globe and exhibit that they really believe in peaceful co-existence with the Arab and the Muslim world. They need to assure the Muslim world that their genuine concerns will be resolved in a fair and neutral way. Finding the root cause of the extremist and terrorist activities/movements and giving much of their attention to address them will be the real challenge before the world powers. Whether? When? And how the West does so, will surely determine the future of this planet.

(Zulfikar Majid, a senior correspondent with Greater Kashmir is member of Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow Global Network and can be mailed at zulfikarmajid@gmail.com)