Khalid Saleem
THERE is no use living in the past; it has no future in it! Thus goes the saying. Things being as they are; this saying may be much more relevant today when mankind finds itself in a bind. The one inexplicable positive facet of the ongoing Corona-virus Pandemic may be that one comes across so many persons looking at the past in a positive light. One has lately come across many people who were once constantly cribbing about the past and who now fondly recall the ‘good old days’. One supposes it has something to do with the fickleness of human nature. One little jolt by Mother Nature has had the effect of turning the whole ‘world order’ upside down. It may be a good time to have a good, hard look over the shoulder. So here goes!
The world once again finds itself in a state of sixes and sevens. Time may be ripe to pause and ponder as to where the world and humankind are headed. Looking back, our blessed planet was passing through an extremely difficult, nay critical, phase. Talk all around was of belligerence, not peace; of bigotry, not tolerance. War, which was once regarded by sages as the last resort, was being peddled as a quick-fix solution for all ‘ills’. Human life, shorn of all its dignity and sanctity, never appeared so cheap.
There came a time when a wanton act of terror turned the entire World Order on its head. By hindsight it is now becoming clear that it need not have been so. The irrational response of the great world leaders over the past several –pre-Pandemic – years indicated that people who mattered had played right into the hands of the enemy they had set out to curb? After all, what can ‘terrorists’ have hoped to achieve through their desperate acts, but to create panic and ‘terror’? A dispassionate look back would indicate that this is precisely what the perpetrators of ‘nine-eleven’ managed to achieve, thanks to the ham-handed reaction of the leaders of the so-called “free world”. And now, once again, all and sundry appear to have been caught on the wrong foot by Mother Nature.
What is needed is introspection, research and a calculated and measured response betimes. If we look at the gut reaction of those who matter, things hardly measure up. The world today would be in much better shape had the response of the ‘free world’ been different from what it was. Given the state of affairs the world is in today, it would hardly help matters if one were to apportion blame. What would be worse is if this exercise were designed to give it a racial or religious label. None of the known religions or races condone wanton violence. All uphold the sanctity of human life; all advocate justice and righteousness. It is the greed of man, not his creed that is to blame. The fault lies not in the stars but in Man’s rapaciousness.
The time may be opportune for the elders of the world to join heads together to devise an integrated plan to root out the ills from the world. In the unlikely event of this happening, the elders might well come to the conclusion that the remedy does not lie in the declared ‘war on terror’. War against an unseen and unknown enemy can only lead into a blind alley. Let the world not delude itself. Who knows the path that the powers-that-be had chosen might well have been the very one their ‘enemy’ wanted them to adopt!
Instead, should consideration not have been given to creating a universal ‘coalition for peace’? After all, what has the world reaction wrought so far? How many terrorists have been put out of business? And what about the innocents killed as ‘collateral damage’? If anything, the ‘war on terror’ has given birth to the vicious doctrine of pre-emption thereby giving open license to fiefdoms around the world to fulfil their own petty agendas. What is more, the resulting tension has spawned fresh genres of terrorists when and where they are least expected. It may not be too late to make amends. All that is needed is for the right-thinking people of all nations to turn their minds to positive and constructive thoughts. Negative thinking will not take us anywhere. Prudence demands that if one has dug oneself into a deep pit, it is time to stop digging; there is no other alternative. If nature spares mankind from the worst of the pandemic, it may still not be too late.
Time is ripe for the elders of the earth to rise up and be counted. It is time to pause and ponder as to what has gone wrong with the world all of a sudden. For one thing, why have all the right-thinking people on this blessed planet lost their power of eloquence? Why don’t they put their heads together and devise ways and means to help create a climate favourable to world peace and tranquillity rather than take ill-conceived, half-baked measures that invite instant and destructive retaliation? The need of the hour is to take a long term view of the situation and to devise and promote a road map that will make this world an altogether safer and more livable place for the generations to come. Should ‘the peoples of the United Nations’ not be concerned about the legacy that they will bequeath to the coming generations? It does not behoove the powers that be to opt to ignore the future of our blessed planet in favour of ephemeral gains in the short run. Surely, our children and their children deserve better! Or, is one talking out of turn?
— The writer is a former Ambassador and former Assistant Secretary General of OIC.
