Open Wounds and a Manufactured Stalemate in Syria

In more than three years of conflict, around 100,000 people have been killed in Syria, according to UN estimates. Since August 2012, an average of 170 Syrians are killed everyday. As cynical statistics and incredulous figures become a daily reality, the truth is lost amid confusion and the competing narratives of Superpower games.

Bashar al-Assad is without any doubt a dictator and a tyrant with a proven family history of using extreme and cruel violence against any form of dissent. Those opposed to him in the region, primarily the big brother of Gulf monarchies Saudi Arabia, and to a lesser extent Qatar, are not much different. Its international opponents, led by the Unites States, have a proven efficiency in manipulating revolutions and dictating democracies. Its backers Russia and China habitually use 'sovereignty' as an excuse to protect their interests in the region via model of a scaringly efficient and ruthless state-capitalism. In the backdrop looms large the bitterness of Saudi Arabia at an increasingly powerful Iran, Assad's closest and most pro-active ally.

As Syria descends further into chaos and anarchy, this is a good time to sit down and look at some hard facts, informed by the geopolitics of past history and present turmoil in the Middle East region.

In January of 2011, Syria saw the beginning of peaceful protest calling for democratic reforms. These protests turned into a civil uprising against the government of Bashar al-Assad. By May of 2011, news began pouring in of the Assad regime using military force against the peaceful protestors. In July, a group of defectors from the Syrian military formed the Free Syrian Army to support the uprising against the Syrian government, with the stated aim of overthrowing the Assad regime.

During this period, the West was preoccupied with an increasingly messy situation in Libya, and for months the atrocities of Assad were tactically ignored while the once-peaceful uprising in Syria turned to other options.

What has followed may cynically be called an elaborate farce, but it is a glaring testament to the failure of world institutions meant to maintain peace. It proves once again that platforms like the UN are little more than instruments of power games among the world's elite.

There have been countless meetings, “Friends of Syria” conferences, councils and coalitions in an endless diplomatic exercise that has yielded precisely no results on the ground. The Syrian National Council, which was formed with much fanfare to lead the revolutionaries, has been reduced to a platform for tussles among allies promoting their personal interests. Its first president Moaz al-Khatib, a popular and simple man who was Imam of the famous Umayyad mosque, resigned within five months. He alleged interferences by foreign powers and their indifference to Syrian sufferings as the reason for his inability to continue.

With international pressure building and the Americans openly speaking of arming the opposition, it seems that President Assad's departure is truly a matter of time. Even his backers China and Russia have spoken of exploring options 'beyond Assad'. President Obama may even employ his effective strategy of non-visible warfare (using covert forces and unmanned drones) to finally tilt the balance. But only at the right time.

As of now, the West is playing for time with pointless meetings and discussions which are little more than photo-ops. At the same time, backroom negotiations are in progress among the various “allies” of both sides to this conflict, figuring out ways to share the spoils of this war and the stake of each in the configuration of a post-Assad Syria. A sure pointer to this is the way in which both US and Russia are pushing for the 'Geneva Conference' with both Assad and the rebels at the same table. It gives credence to the opinion that slowly but surely we are seeing an aligning of powerful interests.

Syria has unwittingly become the laboratory case for evolving new paradigms of conflict-resolution (read interest-management) in a new, multipolar world.

Meanwhile, fanatics and extremists have been armed to fight against and for the Assad regime, while sectarian tensions are being built up and ruthlessly manipulated in the run up to the formation of a new Syrian state, where the tried and tested formula of divide-and-rule will again be used by the new colonial forces to promote their interests.

A few days back, UN Secretary General called for both sides to respect the holy month of Ramadan and call a humanitarian ceasefire. If indeed a deal has been struck, the offer will be accepted. If not, the carefully manufactured stalemate will continue as long as an agreement is reached, and in the meantime Syrians will pay for it with their blood day after day after day....

Egyptian Military Coup

Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected President of Egypt was ousted by a military coup on 3rd of July, 2013 painted as a reaction of the Army after witnessing that there was a second Tahrir "spring" involving protesters against Morsi's rule on various grounds and demanding his resignation. 

I will not analyze the whole pre & post coup events in detail but would like to share some points which will hopefully make my viewpoint somewhat clear.

1. On 30 June 2013, mass protests erupted across Egypt calling for the President's resignation, following severe fuel shortages and electricity outages that evidence shows were orchestrated by Mubarak-era Egyptian elites with the intention of causing a coup. (Mubarak Era people wanted ouster of Morsi)

2. The anti-Morsi demonstrators on the streets welcomed Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's decision overthrowing Morsi with celebrations and lifting posters for the General el-Sisi and chanting "The Army and the People are one hand", supporting General el-Sisi didn't stop at that but also reached the social networks as thousands of Egyptians changed their profile pictures to the picture of el-Sisi while others started campaigns requesting Al-Sisi to be given the field marshal military rank while others hoped him to nominate in the next presidential elections. (El-Sisi has very good relations with USA & Israel & its interesting that protestors were supporting the same army that they wanted to oust earlier).

3. From January 2013 the Al-Nour party (MB party's ally) gradually distanced itself from Mohammad Morsi's Brotherhood government, and came to join the opposition in the July 2013 coup which ousted Morsi. (Al-Nour has strong ties with Saudi Arabia which in turn has good relations with USA).

4. On 24 July, during a speech at a military parade, General el-Sisi called for mass demonstrations to grant his forces a “mandate” to crack down on “terrorism”. This was seen as contradicting the military’s pledges to hand over power to civilians after removing Mr. Morsi and as an indication for an imminent crackdown against Islamists. (Muslim Brotherhood will face repressions in future).

5. Pro-Morsi demonstrators (non-violent till now) are killed & the new government says that these protestors will be cleared "legally". (why dual standards for Pro & Anti Morsi camps).

References 

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/11/world/middleeast/improvements-in-egypt-suggest-a-campaign-that-undermined-morsi.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1

2. http://counterjihadreport.com/2013/07/15/egypts-morsi-gone-military-brings-hope-not-coup/

3. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/07/egypt-salafist-al-nour-party

4. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/world/middleeast/egypt.html

5. http://www.ibtimes.com/egypt-pro-morsi-demonstrators-stand-firm-despite-deadly-raids-1361923

Further Reading

On Muslim brotherhood http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Brotherhood & their website www.ikhwanweb.com

Tariq Ramadan's analysis of these events http://www.tariqramadan.com/spip.php?article12927&lang=en

Coup or No Coup ? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/25/obama-egypt_n_3653775.html

& http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57595668/egypt-coup-or-not-a-coup/

- Ameen Ahmad, BE Electrical Engineerng

Justice Hanged : A take on Afzal Guru's execution

On 9th February 2013, at about 8 o’ clock in the morning in Delhi’s Tihar jail complex, India’s Criminal Justice system was hanged and buried.

Afzal Guru’s case is the typical example of how mighty concepts like ‘justice’ and the ‘rule of the law’ do not apply in cases where powerful interests find them inconvenient. While being tried for conspiracy against the state – one of the most serious crimes in any country – Afzal Guru had no real legal representation, the State had no witnesses that could directly implicate him in the crime and all evidence against him was purely circumstantial and based on flimsy grounds. The limit of irregularities was such that there were two different versions presented by the State even regarding his arrest, but none of these were questioned in court.

On these grounds, no court in a civilised nation could have held him guilty, let alone sentence him to death. Even the Supreme Court, while confirming his death sentence, remarked that there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him, but “collective conscience” demands that he be hanged.

It was truly disheartening to see the guardian of our constitution give to demands of the mob and ignore the law. What was even more sickening was the fact that his death was met with jubilation and followed by celebration in large parts of the country.

Don’t get us wrong. We are not inciting anyone against the State, we do not want to be anti-India. But what are we supposed to understand from all this? That anyone can be hanged to cover up for the State’s incompetence? That the law is going to be guided by cheap politics? That anyone from us could be made the next Afzal Guru?

The only one who terrorizes us today is the State, not some fictitious “Terrorist” outfit. We can be arrested anytime, detained for any period of time, and convicted of any crime at the whim and mercy of the State. To many who are thus oppressed by the state, be it a suspected “Jihadi” or an alleged “Naxalite”, the real National Security Threat is the State.

We know this is an emotional outburst, but we are feeling emotional. We are hurt and angry and distressed and afraid for we are oppressed by the very forces which are made to protect us.

We remain citizens of this country, we shall continue to call on the institutions made to protect us, we shall continue to struggle with all the just means and tools, but in times like this se are forced to ask: Is it worth it?

- By Fawaz Shaheen (B.A.LLB)

The Political Process in AMU

                This brief note seeks to examine the political  process as it operates among the students in AMU, with special reference to the AMUSU elections.

                What we shall seek to analyze here is the mode of political organization, the language and issues of politics and the purpose of political action.

Political Organization

         There are no political parties or formally  organized political groups in AMU. Political organization is almost exclusively on the basis of regional affiliations, coupled with personal friendships. Occasionally sectarian differences such as Shia-Sunni or Barelvi-Deobandi do come into play, but are rarely divorced of regional considerations.

Some prominent collectives, or ‘lobbies’ as they are called in AMU, are Bihar, Bengal, Azamgarh, Ghazipur, GBS (Gonda-Basti-Siddharthanagar) and various cities of Western U.P. like Sambhal and Saharanpur.

            The basis of these collectives is a sense of regional pride and the impulse to protect and further the interests of students hailing from the particular region that the collective represents.

Being non-ideological however, these collectives are quite flexible and include many students (and non-students) from other regions that become part of their activities due to personal friendships, relationships, or long association with people who identify themselves with the collective.

Structure and Leadership

                These collectives mostly do not have any formal structures (except perhaps Bengal, which has a semi-formal functional “Bengal Association”), and are  often broken up into factions which are identified by prominent ‘seniors’,  that is, those who have spent many years in AMU and ‘given time’ to the collective.

              Apart from seniority, leadership is based on personality cult and a rustic form of charismatic politics. Since the contest for political space or personal differences among students of different regions often erupts into violent encounters, proficiency in violence is a strong factor in assuming leadership roles.

Role of Teachers in political organisation

            The involvement of teachers too cannot be ignored, and often it is teachers hailing from a particular region who direct the political activities of their co-regional students.

            Teachers play a key role in recruiting new students to these collectives, and in protecting students from the consequences of illegal action. It is also not uncommon for teachers to encourage even violent conflicts to further their interests in the university.

The language of Politics and its issues

             The language of politics is largely chauvinistic and adversarial. It is devoid of any central or underlying idea and its gravitas is nostalgic rhetoric full of allusions to past glory, both real and imagined.

          The most common adversary is the Administration, the much-denounced intezamia, but it changes depending on the issue and can  include anyone from the RSS to Central and State governments and political rivals.

            The issues which are raised are mostly university-related. National and international topics which have emotional appeal (such as  communal riots or Palestine) are also agitated upon, but from a very  narrow Milli perspective.

Purpose of Political Action

                  In the absence of greater ideas, the purpose political action is limited to grabbing power, and enjoying the consequent privileges.

           For the more ambitious, the Students Union is a platform which helps them join an established political party from a position of strength, thus getting a head-start in their political careers.

                For others, getting elected is a way to earn some quick money. This is done either by stealing from the sizeable Union budget or by disrupting University administration and forcing them to favour paying  clients.

                    For supporters of the candidate, it is about the pride of getting ‘their’ candidate elected, and thereafter sharing in the fruits of power. The candidate is also  expected to get them out of trouble, if the need arises.

                  The common student only expects that their  representatives speak for them and that too on very local issues. Some of these issues may be very legitimate, such as helping out with bureaucratic red-tape, while   others may not be so much so, such as problems with attendance.

All in all, the real expectations from politics are not very high, and are essentially located in a very local and often self-centred context.

Contesting Elections

Selection of candidate

          The norm is that when elections are announced, each  regional collective or “lobby” holds a “General Body  Meeting”, in which it decides upon a candidate. In some cases, a lobby may not field its own candidate but decide to make a “pact” with another lobby and support their candidate. Often it also happens that different factions within a lobby may field or support separate candidates.

The “General Candidate”

            There is also the case of the “General Candidate”, that is, a candidate with supposedly no roots in any one lobby. Such a candidate seeks the support of different lobbies, or power groups within the lobbies.

Campaigning

               The point of the campaign is to hype the name of the candidate, to spread it in every corner of the campus. This is done primarily by posters, banners and flexes. The posters rarely have any creative content or send across an idea or even list an issue. The only content is the candidate’s name and a catchy slogan.

                   Since all candidates are in reality unknown entities to most of the campus, the challenge is to get maximum number of people to just remember the name.

Another important component is the rallies, which are mostly bike-rallies. Prevailing common sense is that the bigger the rallies, the greater the hype. Added to this are the various gimmicks and political stunts that candidates engage in to get media attention and publicity. Pamphlets highlighting personal achievements of candidates are also common.

                   The topics of discussion are mostly centred on the strength of the rallies, the visibility of posters and the controversies around the person of the candidate. The campaigning of every candidate follows more or less these same methods, with only minor alterations and differences in strength.

Role of teachers in election process

Teachers play a vital role in the selection of candidates. It is common in AMU when taking of different candidates to talk of the teachers backing them.

This backing mostly follows regional lines, but has no set rules. One of the criterion  of course, is the amount of use the candidate can be to the teacher or group of teachers. But primary motivation is mostly regional pride.

- Fawaz Shaheen, B.A.LLB

  

Letter to the President of the Palestinian National Authority

Appeal for Unity of the Palestinian Resistance, from sisters and brothers in Aligarh Muslim University

To,

Mahmud Abbas,

President, Palestinian Authority (P.A.)



By the Grace of Almighty Allah, the people of Palestine and their Resistance have won twin victories in the past one month. While the besieged people of Gaza successfully countered the death-mail from Israel and forced them to a truce, the Palestinian cause gained further recognition at the United Nations. We congratulate Palestine on this twin victory.

Today, world opinion is also changing and people around the world are coming out to speak in favour of the Palestinian struggle. The realistic demands of the cause, that is, a viable State based on 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital and the right of Palestinians to return being guaranteed, is being recognised the world over as the standard for a solution.

However, the thing that pains us most is the disunity and infighting within the Palestinian Resistance. Both Fatah and Hamas are legitimate representatives of Palestinian people and have repeatedly shown their commitment to the Palestinian Cause by their ceaseless struggle and sacrifice. Both are freedom fighters and have our support, respect and admiration. The present moment is the best to bridge the divide and come together for Palestine. Let the past be past, and the future with a Palestinian State our goal.

We cannot forget that Israeli missiles have not stopped destroying Palestinian homes, nor have the Zionist settlers stopped their theft of Palestinian land.


Therefore, in all humility we request the Palestinian factions to come together and strengthen the Resistance. We also request Mahmud Abbas, as President of the PA and leader of Fatah, to come forward and invite Hamas to form a National Unity Government so that the Struggle for a Palestinian State can be carried out with all the justice it deserves.

Report of the Programme on the issue of Palestine

The Aligarh Activists Society called for Unity and Reconciliation among the Palestinian parties Fatah and Hamas in a letter handed over to the Minister Counsel of Palestine in a function here in Kennedy Auditorium on Sunday.

The AAS had organised a Symposium on "Palestine: Occupation, War Crimes and Demand for Sovereignty". The Chief Guest was His Excellency Saleh Asad Saleh Muhammad, the Minister Counsel from Palestine Embassy.

The other speakers were Professor Mirza Asmer Beg, Department of Political Science and Dr. Arshi Khan, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science.

Prof. Beg spoke on the recent developments in Palestine. He stated that the present aim of Israel and its allies is to isolate Iran. Israel is aiming to divert the attention of the world towards other issues, while they make settlements on Palestine and try finishing it off completely.

Dr. Arshi Khan spoke on the historical background of the Palestinian crisis. He said, Israel was created illegally, with active support from Britain and its other allies. The issue of Palestine is not a Muslim-Jew issue,rather it is an issue of self-determination, the right of the Palestinian people to be governed by themselves.

The Chief Guest of the event, His Excellency, Saleh Asad Saleh Muhammad, Minister Counsel  Embassy of Palestine, stated that he was honoured to be at the Aligarh Muslim University. He said that the Indian Government has always been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. He opined that Palestine is an occupied territory  and the occupiers will have to leave it,sooner or later.

The AAS handed over a letter to His Excellency addressed to President of P.A. Mahmud Abbas in which they called for unity among the Palestinian resistance and urged Mahmud Abbas to invite Hamas for a National Unity Government so that the struggle for Palestine can be taken forward.

Aligarh Activists' Society : Pictures of the Programme Held at Department of Islamic Studies

Here are the snapshots of the seminar organised by Aligarh Activists' Society on "Concept of Human Rights in Islam" held on 27th September, 2012 at Conference Hall, Department of Islamic Studies, A.M.U.

An Appeal to all stakeholders of AMU

This is with regard to the latest decision from the honourable Vice Chancellor of AMU to separate the Women’s College Union from the main students’ Union. AMU being a campus which provides freedom of opinion to everyone, a variety of opinions may exist in the campus regarding the relative merits and demerits of the decision. Everybody has the right to agree or disagree with it and freely express their point of view IN A MODEST WAY.

However some people at the campus relate this division of Unions to religion, which in no way has been a party to the decision. These people unnecessarily bring Religion into a matter that is purely administrative in nature.  They try to create a religion based debate and start maligning the people with other opinion on an issue which in no way has any religious foundation.

In this regard we request one and all to understand the nature of this decision and stop giving heed to any such defective opinion that drags religion into this issue.  Let there be no baseless arguments and any wastage of time, and that would be for the greater good of the campus. This is an administrative issue and needs to be dealt with in that way.

We request everyone in the campus to respect the opinion of every other person, regardless of it being contrary to your own opinion. We request everyone to desist from labeling others with abusive tags and join hands to create a healthy environment for free and modest discussions at the campus.

Students’ Islamic Organisation of India(SIO)
Students of AMU
Muslim Students’Organisation(MSO)                              
Aligarh Activists’ Society(AAS)
AMU Discussion Forum(ADF)