My article titled, Sleeping Ummah, was published in year 2012, wherein I lamented at the lack of direction and the general impotency of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Since its formation it has achieved very little, and that opinion is generous.
Hence this article is titled, version 2.0, for today also it is failing miserably to come to the aid of the Palestinians.
Perhaps nobody is shocked or surprised at the sullen silence of the Ummah and the callous attitude of those who cry hoarse for human rights and dignity at the merciless killings of men, women and children in Gaza. All of them civilians.
The footages coming in for the last three weeks following the blitzkrieg by Hamas, has rent asunder humanity’s heart and conscience, a feeling that is now left in only a few. Loss of human life must not be celebrated, but should be mourned.
Global leadership has demonstrated that some lives are more precious than others. Human life regardless of which side it belongs to must be respected. This expectation is based on the belief that Leadership is always more humane than demonic.
Israel, which was taken by surprise and caught off guard by the independence-seeking Hamas attack, has since then relentlessly pursued the path of massacre and massive killings of the innocent civilians in Gaza by pounding bombs and regular air strikes at civilian sites.
The frenzy arising out of the hurt caused to Israel’s ‘perceived invincibility’, the blood-thirsty leadership of the state of Israel has unleashed a genocide of unimaginable proportions against the Palestinians, who have been denied their right to statehood for the last seven decades.
It is significant to note that it is not the Jews versus Muslims, it is the state of Israel that is responsible for this mass genocide and ethnic cleansing. The Jews have protested in favour of the Palestinians and their right of seeking statehood, from New York to Sydney. They have held marches and protests of meaning and value to the cause of Palestinians.
There are 57 Islamic, nay, Muslim nations, spanning from the shores of the Atlantic to the islands of Indonesia, with a collective population estimated anywhere between 1.2 to 1.5 billion people. Past the eighth century (CE), the concept of Ummah cannot be applied to the Muslims, who have disintegrated into several and different divisions.
They have killed each other. They have fragmented and divided themselves for centuries now. Most Muslims, inclusive of this writer, are Muslims in name, recognised by the ritualistic forms of worship, which they observe with dedication and commitment, but remain hopelessly shunned and devoid of the Islamic attributes that must necessarily attend their persona.
Hence, the disarray in ranks. Divided they stand. Unity is utopian to the current crop of leadership in these motley crowd of Muslim countries. The Palestinians and Kashmiris must know that they are alone.
As Pakistanis, we should have absolute clarity that there is no prevalence today of the Islamic concept of universal brotherhood. No Muslim country has broken off diplomatic relations; instead new relationships are being established to serve ‘self-interest’. To make the Muslim countries ashamed, surprisingly, two non-Muslim/non Islamic, Latin American countries, Colombia and Bolivia, have taken diplomatic action.
At least they have demonstrated that they have human blood running in their veins, and hence have value for human suffering. Not one, barring Turkey, Muslim country has said or done anything worthwhile, since Gaza has been rendered to be a killing field of the innocent women and children.
Dispassionately, there is no harm for Muslim countries to initiate dialogue with anyone for the purposes of serving their limited self-interests, but to do so, while dreaming to be a unified Ummah, is a serious deception.
An illusion harbouring on self-deceit and delusion. The dominance of economic interests prevails across the diverse and distinct 57 odd Muslim countries.
With the exception of President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye, all others have lent only muted support to the hapless population of Palestinians living in Gaza. Addressing a mammoth pro-Palestinians rally in Istanbul, he thundered, “Israel has been openly committing war crimes for 22 days, but the western leaders cannot even call on Israel for a ceasefire, let alone react to, it. We will tell the whole world that Israel is a war criminal. We are making preparations for this. We will declare Israel a war criminal.”
The only politician in our blessed country who has condemned Israeli action in uncertain terms is Senator Mushahid Hussain, who on the senate floor had this to say, “for us Palestine is part of our DNA because our founder spoke on the issue in 1947…. We are the only non-Arab country to have actually fought the war in the Middle East….
What was the cause of the 7th October? … The occupation of almost fifty years…five wars in Gaza…the destruction by bombing has reduced thirty percent of homes… unprecedented. Those who are complicit in this war…they talk about human rights but have become partners in crime”. His speech is worth listening to.
The Senator has vociferously voiced the sentiments of Pakistan. The sole voice, who speaks boldly and with conviction.
Leadership of Muslim countries has by way of criminal silence lent unconditional support to Israeli intransigence. The powers across the Atlantic, its poodle isles in the Atlantic and the entire European continent, alongside Russia, have made no serious diplomatic efforts to silence the blazing guns of Israeli army. In fact, the half-hearted resolutions calling for ceasefire in the already rendered impotent United Nations were vetoed.
Shockingly, the leadership of the West egged on Israeli government to be unrelenting in bombing the “civilians”, also known as “terrorists” by the western media. The bombardment is carried out by them regardless where their perceived targets are located; in this state of absolute lunacy, homes, hospitals, refugee camps, bunkers, etc., have not been spared.
The West gleefully runs the footages of crying children, looking for their parents, women looking for their sons and daughters, fathers consoling the surviving children of the loss of their mothers, brothers, aunts and uncles, without any sense of remorse or sympathy. Developing nations must learn that they are alone.
All sorts of moral and material support has been placed at the doorstep of Israel by the West. This is being done not surreptitiously but openly and blatantly. They make no bones about their unequivocal support to the Terrorist Government of Israel.
The leadership of Muslim countries, who owe their existence to the West, watch willingly or helplessly; one can never be sure of which of the two emotions rages in their minds but people are aghast about what causes this bankruptcy in leadership and why is there generally a deep-seated disunity among themselves.
Our Leadership and policy makers, to you, these events must provide a very serious jolt to reconsider how significantly important it is for us as a Nation to be economically strong and resilient. There are no friends - there is just an economic interest. Hamas is alone. There is a lesson of history here. Let’s look inwards and set right our sails.
The fault lines must be addressed through structural changes and reforms. Perhaps never before has the country needed a more honest, dedicated, committed and competent leadership, then now and here.
Sacrifice, in all its manifestations and formats must begin from the leadership. I rewrite the most meaningful adages of the yore to refresh their value and importance; ‘the ice melts from the top’ and’ the fish rots from the head.’
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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