Here are some of the recent Editorials I wrote for The Gulf Today. (Posted for my records)
Micro
posts and
mega
impacts
Twitter,
one of the most popular social networking sites, marks its eighth anniversary
this week and millions of prolific tweeters have made it an exhilarating and
powerful tool to connect with others.
Birth
anniversaries are hardly complete without a treat. To mark the celebration,
Twitter has offered a way for users to see their first tweet, and the first
tweets of others, including celebrities. By using the hashtag #FirstTweet and
Using a Tweet Tool, one can look back to find their very first Tweet — or
anyone else’s.
It is
said that heads of state of 125 countries and 139 other leading politicians
have Twitter accounts that have between them sent more than 350,000 tweets and
have almost 52 million followers.
The UAE
is one of the countries that has embraced technology and put it to productive
use. The result is reflected in the country’s amazing growth. Just recently,
the fourth annual rankings of the use of social media among world leaders
published by the Digital Policy Council revealed that His Highness Sheikh
Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE
and Ruler of Dubai, has climbed from number 10 in the Twitter world leader ranking
in 2012 to seventh spot in 2013.
Sheikh
Mohammed’s followers increased by 1.4 million over 2012 to reach 2.4 million in
2013, making the biggest climb in the Twitter rankings amongst world leaders, a
state that only denotes cultural openness and emphasises the close bond between
him and the citizens and residence of UAE.
It is not
that the service has not courted controversies. During the Arab Spring in early
2011, the number of hashtags mentioning the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt increased. The media has been
used to organise protests, sometimes referred to as "Twitter
Revolutions," which include the Egyptian revolution, Tunisian protests and
2009 Moldova civil unrest.
In a
latest development, Turkey's courts have blocked access to
Twitter days before elections. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan vowed to
"wipe out" Twitter and declared he did not care what the
international community had to say about it.
For
millions, checking the Twitter feed has become a daily ritual. Several celebrities
use the service to break news about themselves. In eight years, users have
transformed Twitter into a place to discover new ideas, make real human
connections and express themselves freely. The virtual platform has turned out
to be an effective voice of the common man at the level of leaders.
Enlightening forum on
Islam’s
peace message
It is
well known that the UAE leaves no stones unturned when it comes to promotion of
peace around the world. Abu Dhabi’s hosting of the two-day Forum for
Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies under the patronage of Foreign Minister
Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan turned out to be another admirable attempt
with that goal. The idea is to enlighten minds and encourage hearts to believe
in the principles of peace.
Sheikh
Abdullah rightly cited the main causes of sectarian wars and disputes that tear
our nations apart as the absence of a rational voice and the collapse of the
principle of respect for differences, on which humanity was built. Also, the
pseudo-learned men who take leadership and prominent positions, issuing Fatwa
and occupying high positions in different media organisations, manage to
misinform some of those who follow them and do not know better.
As the
minister himself suggested, in order for nations to get back on the right path,
the real learned religious men, who are aware of the necessities, changes and
requirements of the present age in which we live, should be at the forefront.
The
initiative was the brainchild of Shaykh Abdullah Bin Bayyah, president of The
Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, one of the world’s pre-eminent
Islamic scholars who wield enormous influence over Muslim scholars and
intellectuals from various denominations from around the world.
Four
major themes remained the focus of the forum: Humanitarian values, correcting
concepts on jihad, fatwa in a world of strife and the humanistic ethical value.
Over two days, the delegates and high-profile speakers confronted the heresies
and misunderstandings that confused ordinary Muslims and divided and devastated
societies across the Muslim world.
The forum is now added to the UAE's
record of initiatives against terrorism, which is the biggest threat to the
security of Muslim communities and their ability to achieve development for
their peoples and for peace and stability in the whole world.
The
conclave of scholars aimed at forming a unified front against the scourge of
extremist ideologies and sectarianism that has afflicted the Muslim world for decades.
Going by the enlightening exchange of ideas, the attempt was well worth the
effort. It turned out to be a landmark initiative to refute extremist
ideologies with a true understanding of Islam as a religion of wisdom,
compassion, tolerance and forbearance clearly articulated in the Holy Qur’an
and the Traditions of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).
Tit-for-tat
actions
heat up
new ‘Cold War’
US President Barack Obama’s “Mission
Isolate Russia” is gathering steam, but what major impact it would have on the
former superpower nation is a million dollar question. After emergency talks
called by Obama at The Hague, top economic powers cancelled an upcoming G8
summit in Russia, seeking to deepen Moscow's isolation over its intervention in
the Ukraine crisis. The G8 summit in Sochi in June would be replaced by a G7
meeting in Brussels, without Russian involvement.
Leaders
of the United States, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Japan and Canada have dubbed Russia's “illegal attempt to annex Crimea” a contravention of international
law. They have vowed to intensify actions, including coordinated sectoral
sanctions that will have an increasingly significant impact on the Russian
economy, if Russia continues to escalate this
situation.
The Crimea issue has plunged relations
between the West and Moscow to their lowest point since the
Cold War. Interestingly, Obama is trying to rope in China’s support. He held one-on-one
talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in The Hague. China has often sided with Russia in disputes with the West, but US
officials have been appealing to Beijing’s well-known opposition to
outside interference in other nation’s domestic affairs. While Xi called for a
political solution, he did not harden China's position towards Moscow. China’s neighbour, India, has made it clear that it will
not support any “unilateral measures” against Russian government.
Moscow does not seem to be unduly
bothered by Western actions and has initiated its own retaliatory moves.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has dismissed the decision on G8 as
"no great tragedy."
It is
becoming obvious that Western officials are now focused less on persuading
Putin to relinquish Crimea than on deterring him from seizing other parts of Ukraine.
The war
of words has reached a crescendo. The severest of the comments, incidentally,
came from a TV personality on state-controlled Rossiya 1 television, Dmitry
Kiselyov, who proclaimed, “Russia is the only country in the world
realistically capable of turning the US into radioactive ash."
Moscow may flex its muscles, but the
punch marks are already visible. The currency plunged and so did the stock
market. There is a need for constructive dialogue between Kiev and Moscow. The legitimate concerns of the
Russian minority in Ukraine should also be taken into
consideration. Any solution can only be guided by the principles that respect Ukraine’s unity, sovereignty and
territorial integrity. The conflict calls for a political solution and not
military. Edit
Yarmouk
cries for
better
attention
It is a sordid story of starvation, illness, hunger, lack of
medical aid and deaths. Besieged since July, the nearly 20,000
people in the Yarmouk Palestinian camp have endured hardships that go beyond
human imagination. Since December 2012, fighting has caused at least 140,000 Palestine refugees to flee their homes in
Yarmouk, as armed opposition groups established a presence in the area, with
government forces controlling the periphery.
The
Yarmouk camp has been sealed since July 2013, resulting in acute and widespread
deprivation, including severe malnutrition, while civilian residents are
constantly exposed to the threat of death, injuries and trauma of the armed
conflict. Many Palestine refugees in the camp have been
traumatised by what they have lived through.
The UN security council recently adopted a resolution calling on
all parties in Syria to take steps to
facilitate the efforts of the UN and other humanitarian agencies to provide
relief to civilians, including by promptly facilitating safe and unhindered
humanitarian access to populations in need of assistance in all areas under
their control.
After
fighting broke out late at night on Feb.7 forcing The UN Relief and Works
Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)
to temporarily suspend its aid deliveries, the agency has had only intermittent
access to the camp. Partial humanitarian access was granted on Jan.18 and
Feb.20 and UNRWA successfully distributed food parcels, polio vaccines and a
range of other medical supplements to civilians inside the camp.
A heart-breaking photograph released by UNRWA shows thousands of
desperate Palestinians trapped inside the camp emerging to besiege aid workers
attempting to distribute food parcels.
A UN official painted a grim picture of the situation saying, “the devastation is
unbelievable. There is not one single building that I have seen that is not an
empty shell by now.” What was even more shocking was the state of the people
inside. These were people that have not been out, that have been trapped in
there not only without food, medicines, clean water – all the basics – but also
probably completely subjected to fear.
The UN acknowledges that the level of aid is a "drop in the
ocean,” and has warned that the degradation of conditions inside the camp could
lead to the spread of diseases. There have been reports of mothers dying in
childbirth. Clearly things are not under control yet. The refugees deserve a permanent
solution and equal rights that all humans are entitled to.
Manila-MILF
accord
sets good
example
There is
no dispute that cannot be solved through constructive dialogue. This message
has been commendably proved by Manila, which has signed a historic
treaty with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) ending about 45 years of
conflict that has claimed more than 120,000 people in the country's south.
MILF
chairman Murad Ebrahim is ecstatic about the accord. He calls the Comprehensive
Agreement on Bangsamoro the crowning glory of the struggle and is convinced
that the legitimate aspirations of the Bangsamoro and the commitment of the
government of the Philippines to recognise those aspirations
are now sealed.
The
Bangsamoro refers to people who at the time of Spanish conquest and
colonisation were considered natives or original inhabitants of the southern Philippines. Their descendants and spouses
are recognised as Bangsamoro people.
The pact
makes the MILF and the government partners in a plan to create a southern
autonomous region for the Philippines' Muslim minority with locally
elected leaders by mid-2016.
As per
the pact, the MILF will gradually decommission its forces and put the weapons
"beyond use." A local police force will assume law enforcement
functions from the Philippine police and military. The Philippine government will
retain exclusive powers on defence, foreign policy, currency and citizenship
matters. A regional parliament, expected to have 50 seats, is to be elected in
conjunction with national elections in May 2016.
The
accord concludes formal negotiations that began in 2001. A cease-fire agreement had been in
place since 1997 and has been largely observed by both sides. There are about
10 million Muslims in the Philippines, roughly 10 per cent of the
population. Previous presidents, including Corazon Aquino, Aquino's mother,
tried but failed to resolve the conflict.
The
implementation of the accord will not be an easy task. A 1996 pact with the
then main rebel group did not end the fighting because fighters under its
chairman, Nur Misuari, continued to hold on to their weapons. Misuari's
followers and government forces clashed in September 2013 in Zamboanga city, killing more than
200 people.
While the
agreement in itself is a major achievement, its success will largely depend on
the performance of the peace process. The national government and the new Moro
government to be formed will have to counter four other groups, including a
breakaway faction called the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. Both the
sides will have to work hard and convince the people through progressive
developmental projects.
record on
rape
Incidents
of rapes and gang-rapes continue in India despite tightening of rules and
increasing awareness campaigns. The clear inference is that more needs to be
done by the authorities against the scourge.
The
latest victim is a 21-year-old Assamese woman who was raped by two men at a
house in Mahipalpur in Delhi. The victim had come to the city
recently. There have been other kinds of shocking rape cases. A 20-year-old
woman was raped in public by 12 men on the orders of tribal elders in a village
in Birbhum district of Bengal. The attack was a punishment for an
“unauthorised” relationship with a man from another village.
The
country reacted angrily and thousands took to the streets in protest against
rape cases in 2012 when a 23-year-old female physiotherapy intern was beaten
and gang raped in a private bus in which she was travelling with a male friend
in Delhi.
Rapists
have also targeted many innocent women from the Northeast. The targeting of
northeastern girls for sexual abuse was first highlighted when a call centre
employee from Mizoram was gang-raped in Delhi in 2005, infamously referred as
the “Dhaula Kuan gang rape case.”
In
October 2009, a 19-year-old girl from Manipur was
sexually assaulted, strangled to death and burnt at her rented apartment at
Munirka in Delhi by a PhD scholar working at the
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. The list of such crimes against
women from the Northeast goes on.
The scene
is no better in the commercial capital. According to figures from the Mumbai
police, the city registered 394 rape cases in 2013, of which 241 cases involved
minors. The corresponding number for the year 2012 is 231 rape cases — an
increase of around 71 per cent in the registration of rape cases with the
Mumbai police.
According
to 2012 statistics, New Delhi has the highest number of
rape-reports among Indian cities, while Jabalpur has the per capita incidence of
reported rapes. In 2012, 24,923 rape cases were reported across India, as per the National Crime
Records Bureau.
So much
so that the United Nations has asked India to ensure security for women.
Prison terms for rape have been stiffened, stalking made a criminal offence and
gender sensitivity programmes have been introduced for some police officers.
But these actions have not had the kind of impact anticipated and nothing much
seems to have changed on the ground.
Third
devastating year
for
Syrian children
The
number of Syrian children in need has more than doubled in the past year to 5.5
million, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), and that is
real frightening news for the international community.
As the conflict in Syria enters its fourth year, Unicef has
released a report that carries alarming details: More than twice as many
children are affected by the hostilities than were 12 months ago, and
particularly hard hit are up to a million children trapped in areas that are
under siege or that are hard to reach with humanitarian assistance due to
continued violence.
Children such as four-year-old Adnan, who fled with his family
to Lebanon, suffered facial
scarring when his home was bombed and still suffers from emotional distress.
“He cries all night,” his mother is quoted as saying. “He is scared of
everything and is afraid when we leave him, even for a second.” Unicef
estimates that there are 2 million children like Adnan in need of psychological
support or treatment.
The scars of the conflict are disgusting. In host countries, 1.2
million Syrian children are now refugees living in camps and overwhelmed host
communities, and have limited access to clean water and nutritious food. In the
past three years, Syrian children have been forced to grow up faster than any
child should, and 1 in 10 refugee children
is now working and 1 in every 5 Syrian
girls in Jordan is forced into early marriage.
The report appeals to the international community to take action
in six steps: end the violence in Syria now, grant immediate access to the
under-reached 1 million children inside Syria, protect them from exploitation
and harm, invest in their education, provide them with psychological care, and
support host communities and governments to mitigate the social and economic
impact of the conflict on families.
Cut off from aid, living in rubble and struggling to find food,
many Syrian children have been left without protection, medical care or
psychological support, and have little or no access to education. In the very
worst cases children and pregnant women have been deliberately wounded or
killed by snipers.
If 5.5 million children have had their lives devastated by the
war and the international community fails to initiate corrective action at
rapid speed, this situation will remain a blot on humanity forever. The children need to rebuild their
lives in safety with their family and friends. Time
is running out.
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