By Manzoorul Haque, New Age Islam
12 June 2012
This is the voice of an individual – just an individual. I am using the internet to reach all of you as individuals. If you feel that as an individual you too have a voice, do not fail to forward this piece to your friends everywhere.
I have a liking for colorful butterflies and birds. Even the sweet smell of flower elates me. A good dish of food makes me crave for it. A humorous piece of art sends me reeling with laughter. I can even enjoy a tragedy in a play because it is not a part of the real life. Yet I am not happy!
For me ‘human life’ is the greatest source of joy, but this very fact keeps tearing my heart asunder because of the regularity of its destruction. I just look at a little baby and I rejoice to see how life springs forth. Then, every move of a toddler is a feast to the eyes. Through myriad risks of the surroundings, a full-blown human personality is born – why? Only to be destroyed grotesquely by a human act of violence? Perhaps - not. Perhaps there is a strong case for peace. The world today has reached this stage after passing through immense vagaries of nature and divisive historical conflicts. The humanity though is one. If there is to be one world of human beings, the first area of unity must be to shun violence. Who will create this unity? The governments? But the preoccupation of governments is war, not peace. We the people have empowered them to do everything that is destructive. Once empowered, they do only, what they are designed to do.
Nevertheless, I hope individuals exist. Individuals must assert their existence and to begin with, individuals must have a voice separate from their governments. The public life must not completely overshadow the private life. Internet is a good medium for this to happen because other media may not strictly promote individual’s voice.
Today we are standing at a critical juncture of history. International politics of the state-system has brought us to a flashpoint that could lead to immense destruction of human lives. As individuals, we feel, we have no say, which may be the harsh truth. Yet for an individual, it is worth trying.
The international politics of the past several decades or may be of centuries is reaching a crescendo which may be very close to us on the time scale. The artificially created standoff between Iran and the West and the desire of the West to change rulers in the Muslim majority states as per their liking, may lead to civil wars in Muslim countries to bring untold miseries and deaths. We have reached a crossroad in Syria from where it is possible to take a turn today. Tomorrow it may be too late!
Saudi Arabia and its ruling elites have the steering in their hands to change the course of events for a U-turn. Just for their own survival and prosperity and for the survival and prosperity of their kith and kin, the rulers of Saudi Arabia are putting the world to a great jeopardy by not making the right move. It is therefore urgent for the people of the world to tell them that we know that you can do it and still you are not doing it. The massacres in Syria can be stopped today, if Saudi Arabia representing the Arab League desires. All that the Saudi has to do is to ask Russia and Iran, both, to sit with them and find a solution by talking to the ruling as well as opposition leaders of Syria.
Sure enough, Russia will love it and may get the authorization of European community to go ahead. Most surely, USA will boycott this move because this has the potential of solving the Syria problem and at the same time dwarfing USA in its hegemonic activities. Equally, sure enough, USA will not be able to do anything and will simply sulk, because China’s solid support is with Russian initiative and leadership over the issue. This is a historic opportunity to reverse the unilateralism of US in international affairs. People of US themselves will not suffer any loss because they hardly gain anything from US adventures overseas. The US ventures overseas – both of business and military types have become completely anti-people, that is, anti-US common man.
I hope the liberal media of the world like BBC and CNN etc will take up this cause on behalf of the peoples of the world and not restrict themselves to showing clippings of skeletons and blood, while making soft humanitarian announcements that some of the scenes will be disturbing for the viewers.
Who is an individual? : Every single person who is pitted against two or more persons is an individual. It’s not a question of physical strength alone; it’s also a question of resources and circumstances. Two persons have four eyes, four ears, four hands and four legs - sufficient to overwhelm an individual, if there is no system to protect the individual. Every one of us is thus a potential individual.
Manzoorul Haque is an advocate based in Patna. He occasionally writes for ‘New Age Islam’.
URL: http://newageislam.com/islam-and-politics/manzoorul-haque,-new-age-islam/voice-of-an-individual--an-appeal-to-saudi-arabia/d/7604