Re-kindling religious bigotry
By Dr S.m. Rahman | Published: November 6, 2008- Digg
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The 1648 Treaty of Westphalia was a remarkable achievement for humanity as it was instrumental in eliminating the scourge of religious warfare, which had prevailed all through from 1511 to 1648, making the European civilisation as of it were an arena of religious bigotry, intolerance and outright barbarism culminating into beastly violence. Europe thus presented a bizarre and chaotic look, till at last human consciousness emerged that the religious conflicts only divided them with frictions mounting and with no end in sight. Peace for all religions to co-exist with each other was the collective insight which changed the entire outlook of Europe. The Treaty of Westphalia was, therefore an outcome of this realisation. Religious warfare became taboo and spirit of accommodation between different religious that became the driving force to achieve global harmony. All religions essentially strive to reinforce ethical and moral values without which the world would remain exploitative and an abode of tyranny.
Bush turned the world upside down and the spirit of the Treaty of Westphalia was thrown into the debris caused by the deadly weapons like Bunker Busters. He certainly is a regressive force which views militancy as the means to perpetuate USA's Unipolarity sequel to the death of Cold War and the defeat of the great rival, the former Soviet Union (SU), at the hands of Afghan mujahideen - now ironically labelled Terrorists.
The invasion of Afghanistan was a gross blunder which the then SU committed. Invasion of any country pre-supposes that you fully comprehend the psyche of the people, whom you wish to conquer. History is a testimony that Afghanistan is a graveyard of great powers who wielded colossal colonial domination. Great Britain invaded three times but the rugged force of the Afghanis who were otherwise impoverished in weaponry could not allow the invaders to succeed in their nefarious game. The former SU had to meet the same fate because it ignored the vital lesson of history. Without Afghanis' tough resistance, the global order could not have changed into Unipolarity. USA gained the supremacy over the world only due to the indomitable will of the Afghanis who have historical propensity not to allow any foreign invaders on their soil. No matter how poor and deprived, they would never reconcile to barter their sovereignty in lieu of any amount of wealth and prosperity that invaders typically tend to promise.
Bush cannot escape meeting the ultimate Waterloo. He made desperate overtures and manipulations to achieve some success to be able to claim that he was not a total failure after all. Before the end of his term he wanted to have some victory somewhere so that his political party - The Republican - would not be characterised as a chronic loser. Trillions of dollars have been spent in the military misadventure that he undertook by invading Iraq and Afghanistan - both intermittently. That the invasion of Iraq was a great folly is a global consensus. The political rival of Bush's party - The Democrats - made a persistent demand to withdraw forces from Iraq and bring them into Afghanistan. Now with Obama as the president let's see what happens. However, there is still a lurking hope that USA might achieve some semblance of victory in Afghanistan. No matter how many forces they may bring into Afghanistan, it will prove of no consequence, as defeat is repugnant to Afghan sensibility.
Being afraid, the NATO forces are reluctant to fight against the Taliban and wish to contain themselves within the comfort zones of the Kabul area. The Indian forces, to the tune of over 1.5 lacs are now going to operate into Afghanistan to fight USA's war, shall also encounter a terrible set-back to their hegemonic and economic ambitions tied to the imperial lust of USA, in collusion with NATO. Mullah Omar is reported to have turned down any offer of compromise, which the Allied Forces now are covertly trying through Saudi Arabia, for nothing short of withdrawal of occupation forces from the soil of Afghanistan would be acceptable.




