A war that changed the world

Source: RUSI.com

It just started like that. It probably always starts like that.

You thought it was never going to happen but found columns of tanks heading into the border zones. You thought it was just intimidation, but it broke into a full-fledged battle.

It may have started as the manifestation of the megalomania of an autocrat. Still, like every war, it has irreversibly changed lives for the worse and destroyed a country beyond recovery. The Russian dictator has pushed entire Europe, along with his nation, into a spiral of death, misery, and destruction. He is on a collision course with the West and has lost all sense of rationality. And perhaps, some of its global impact might even have been conscious on his part.

Apart from destroying the lives of thousands of Ukrainian families and even more individuals, the war has essentially shaken, if not altered, the liberal economic order. The biggest triumph of Western liberal democracies has been its financial and economic system at least, which had bound the rival authoritarian powers such as Russia and China, and to some degree, even Iran. Partially by shutting Russia out of the NIFT system, the West has contributed to that polarization itself.

Source: DW/Anatoli Stepanov/AFP

The war has also disrupted parts of the global supply chain and resulted in an imbalance of energy supply, with Europe barred from Russian gas, much to the chagrin of Germany. And as we exit 2022, while Russia has expressed its intention to enter negotiations to end the war for the first time, which is not a surprise considering how terribly it went for them, there is hardly an end in sight. It continues to impact our lives hundreds of miles away in the shape of economic ruin.

Here, it is important to acknowledge the sheer evil of the shameful foreign policies of India and Pakistan in this entire episode. Both countries refused to call out Russia for its disastrous war crimes and failed to stand with Ukraine. Apart from ignoring Ukraine altogether, the countries resorted to completely ignoring the plight of the Ukrainian people in their UN voting record. What is worse, Pakistan’s idiotic leader Imran Khan was standing right next to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin the day he was sending tanks into the Donbas region of Ukraine. Even today, Pakistan is prioritizing “Russian crude oil” that it will probably never get over Ukraine.

However, the war has truly given the Ukrainian people and the world a hero in Volodymyr Zelensky, whose leadership is still the embodiment of Ukrainians fighting hard for their existence and freedom even 9 months after the brutal Russian attack. As of this date, the United States has provided the Ukrainian forces with Patriot anti-missile defense system to stand some chance against the barrage of Russian missiles systematically targeting Ukrainian civilian and cultural centers.

It is shocking how Russia has practically gained nothing except destroying the lives and livelihood of millions of Ukrainian. Apart from gratifying the ego of yet another destructive and warmongering European dictator, the Russians are continuing with their stalemated fight against Ukraine. They are desperately looking for face-saving that is not going to be easy to come by.

The world must come together to stand up for the Ukrainian people and discourage Russia’s reckless warmongering. All people must urge their nations to take a stand but especially Pakistani conservatives and progressives should give up their cynical world-view and pressure their government to take a stand to discourage Russia from continuing with the war.

They are already losing the war anyway.

A Victory for Hateful Ideologues

Source: Al-Jazeera

Perhaps the most toxic idea that I have learned about as a native Indian is the Two-Nation Theory. To most Hindu and Pakistani nationalists, communal violence in India is a great ideological victory. A vindication of their convictions. A “Thank You Jinnah” or “Hail Savarkar” moment. None of the communal violence that you see in India is a coincidence. The Indian Right Wing, dominated by Savarkar’s Hindutva philosophy, a reactionary cultural nationalist movement that largely sees Islam or any “foreign” faith as a threat to the “Indic civilization,” had been patiently building the popular support for a Hindu nationalist rule. It would have gone

The week following Shivratri and Delhi’s election with Aam Aadmi Party getting a sweeping victory was perhaps the bloodiest in North Eastern Delhi in living memory. The “Hindu retaliation” was in response to the street protests of the Muslim community in North-Eastern Delhi in the wake of the passage of the controversial CAA or Citizen Amendment Act, which singles out Muslims as a community. The retaliation particularly erupted after an angry speech by local BJP leader Kapil Mishra who warned of consequences for protesters blocking those neighborhoods in the capital. At least 30 people lost their lives, mostly Muslims, as a result, except dozens getting injured and losing their homes and businesses.

I recall that no too long ago, I used to have heated discussions with my fellow citizens in Pakistan about the Indian secularism and the BJP being a theocratic, fundamentalist political party. Even though I still believe India is a secular democracy as of this date, I do confess that I have to reconsider my stance on Narendra Modi’s and Amit Shah’s BJP. I do believe that the BJP is not any different from a dangerous theocratic party such as the Jamaat-e-Islami and the TLP in Pakistan. The supporters of these hate groups are potential murderers of their opponents and are very dangerous people indeed.

This is not just a matter of opinion anymore, it has become an almost verifiable fact with plenty of evidence on social media. Examine the commentary of any pro-Hindutva or even a moderate BJP supporter and you will find an openly Islamophobic and malicious intention to purge India of anything that does not fit their view of what is supposed to be Hindu patriotism. They have successfully otherized a minority, Muslims, and convinced their followers that they are an oppressed majority persecuted by Muslims whose faith is a constant existential threat to them. Here are only a few specimens but you can literally follow them to read and watch such bile at just about any time of the day.

Sir this is not about Amit Shah or BJP. It is about Defending Dharma in the only country Hindus can call their own. And Dharma here is not religion. And my call is only about my personal commitment. If anyone agrees they can join. https://t.co/gQltylS3eg

— R Jagannathan (@TheJaggi) February 28, 2020

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Virus asked for separate land in 1947. We gave more than enough. Yet, we allowed virus to stay here. Now enjoy

— Raj (@Raj63245195) February 26, 2020

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The blood of barbarian hordes still lives within cities of bharatmata.

— Aravind.ch (@Aravindarvy) February 26, 2020

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Saw some news channels covering @KapilMishra_IND‘s peace march… But there was some audio problem in the live broadcast….
I am told this has the full audio. 👍🏼👍🏼#DelhiGenocide2020 pic.twitter.com/89XgQ8fgnc

— Akash Banerjee (@TheDeshBhakt) February 27, 2020

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We don’t want to another Shaheen Bagh in Delhi. Thank you Kapil Mishra Ji .@KapilMishra_IND. You are a true Hindu and Indian. #ISupportKapilMishra pic.twitter.com/SisBHm188I

— Renee Lynn (@Voice_For_India) February 24, 2020

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Ab jo kuch bhi ho, Delhi has found a new leader with a spine – @KapilMishra_IND pic.twitter.com/YQNuLEFutX

— Pankaj Jangid🇮🇳🚩 (@Jangid) February 24, 2020

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That’s alright. This is their politics and they are proud of the fact but actually taking them as serious, well-meaning people reflect poorly on people who give their opinions space. I am always willing to listen to them but I wonder what many of the Muslims, especially those of the Bengali or Rohingya descent, might think about them. It is more like talking to your potential killer, you know, the kind of feeling a Pakistani Christian, Hindu, or Ahmedi might go through when speaking to a Sunni Punjabi.

In the end, Indian Hindus, and yes, largely Indian Hindus will decide how they want to see their country. Do they want to see it a bastion of theocratic nationalism that it is on the path of becoming, cornering, if not eliminating, unfavorable minorities, kind of like Pakistan, or whether it wants to be a liberal, secular democracy where each citizen has an equal chance, at least in theory. The Hindu-Muslim riots may be an ideological victory for communitarian theocrats in the subcontinent but it surely threatens the idea of the Indian Republic that gave the people of this land a hope after a dark partition.

As for Pakistanis such as myself, the death of a secular India will mean the death of a political idealism that associated us with the Indian subcontinent. With darkness all around, perhaps the American Constitution remains the only last hope for a liberal democracy if it is not consumed by partisan polarized politics in the United States.

So what if Indian democracy is dead.