-By Dr. Hafeez Ur Rahman
While the world holds the G20 international meet with the theme, ‘One Family, One Earth, One Future, reiterated by UN Secretary-General António, the theme of peace is always shattered. The 19th and 20th centuries were indisputably the worst periods where world powers exercised and institutionalized the path of division and hatred which culminated to worse proportions in the 21st century. The messages of peace seem to be crumbling with the onset of the war in Gaza costing the lives of over 18, 000 people including men, women and children within a span of two months and over 46000 wounded.
The recent death of Henry Kissinger at the age of 100 who was America’s former United States secretary of state and national security advisor under the presidential administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford had the world recalling his” accomplishments” with his unparalleled level of control on the global stage. He was the mastermind behind most of the brutal wars conducted by the USA. He worked behind the scenes to cut the peace talks of Vietnam to enable a war that took 3.8 million Vietnamese lives, President Nixon and Henry Kissinger unleashed 100,000 tons of bombs on a third neutral innocent party Cambodia, which had the equivalence of five Hiroshimas. This senseless carpet bombing was done to get Vietnam to the bargaining table, tried to destroy Chile, and supported Pakistan’s genocide of the people of Bangladesh. Meddling in world affairs and bringing down nations to control nations has destabilized nations. He shaped US foreign policy during some of the most important Cold War years. Since the end of the Cold War on 26 December 1991, the United States has been the world’s biggest weapons dealer, accounting for about 40 percent of all arms exports yearly.
The United States has provided Israel with $158 billion in bilateral assistance and missile defense funding to date evident that the USA does not want peace in the Middle East. Hamas’ brutal murder of 1400 Israelis sparked off rage from Israel to take revenge. The world watches as mute spectators ignoring Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres’ desperate appeals for a ceasefire.
America’s actions are causing reactions: The Muslim World is urging its friends and allies to refrain from purchasing US treasury bonds and conducting trade transactions, particularly in oil, using the US dollar. As a result, the US government may find itself compelled to offer increasingly higher interest rates to attract investors for its debt, given the mounting concerns about the possibility of a US government bankruptcy. This move towards de-dollarization and the shift to a Multicurrency Mercantilism model is gaining momentum, especially in the context of ongoing conflicts. An increasing number of nations, ranging from Brazil to countries in Southeast Asia are advocating for a different currency to use for trading other than the U.S. dollar.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak from Britain wrote of Kissnger, “Henry had a great affinity for and understanding of the UK, with many friends and admirers here. He was a titan of international diplomacy who led a remarkable life.” Britain playing their divide and rule policy which they did during the Colonial era. Their colonial empire built generations included India, China and different Asian nations, Africa, large areas of North America, Australia, New Zealand and also parts of Central and South America. Kissenger’s politics thrived on senseless bombing to weaken America’s opponents while Britain adopting colonization extracting all their resources and crumbing those countries in turn.
One rare peace negation Kissinger did was to normalize relations between the USA and China, a crucial moment in China’s history to agree to engage with the West. In 1971, he secretly visited Beijing to broker that deal. While he was disliked by the Oriental nations his major role in bombing Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, killing millions, China oblivious to this views him as a hero. China continues to loom over Asia as a threat to many countries. China’s hegemony of four hundred years of East Asian domination in the meantime weakened other Asian countries. Holding the world under its economic grip, China is manufacturing everything from needles to aircraft. Today, China is the world’s largest manufacturing economy and exporter of goods, the world’s fastest-growing consumer market and second-largest importer of goods.
While Gaza is staggering under constant bombing, the truce broken as Israel claimed Hamas broke a deal, trouble is brewing. Unfortunately, using the Kissinger policy of carpet bombing is turning Gaza into ruins. Israel was created on the foundations of their faith but turned aggressive by the politically motivated Zionists. Today the world watches in horror while 16,000s civilians, men, women and children have been killed in the recent two-month war between Hamas and Israel. Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu calling the Israelis the people of the light, and Palestinians, the people of darkness saying how light shall triumph over darkness reveals his religious extremism to justify the killing of thousands of innocent civilians and children. Nations that define themselves under a religious tag often turn out to be violent because they justify most of their actions based on superstitions or some kind of ideology which can turn out to be deceptive, losing rationality and human compassion. All extremists’ movements are plunging people into darkness in many areas.
Nixon and Kissinger had their own ambitions to support Pakistan, an American ally that was secretly helping to bring about their historic opening to China, and the West played their divide and rule power games between India and Pakistan, transforming Pakistan into a terrorist hub that would inflict great damage to India.
President Richard Nixon was in conversation with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger shortly after Pakistan initiated simultaneous attacks leading to India’s declaration of war. In 1971, amid the Indo-Pakistani War, the Soviet Union (Russia) bolstered India with military aid and a treaty of peace, friendship, and cooperation with India, supplying crucial military equipment and assistance. This backing played a pivotal role in India’s triumph over Pakistan in the conflict.
Two years ago, I had the opportunity to attend a geopolitical international conference in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia. I found it intriguing that the majority of Muslims there adhere to the moderate path of Islam, rooted in the Naqshbandi Sufi order and the Hanafi Maturidi school of thought. During discussions, they voiced concerns about the potential security threat posed by their Afghan neighbors following the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan. They worried about the growing influence of Wahhabism, Salafism, and Tablighi Jamaat in their region, fearing that these ideologies could seep into their countries, jeopardizing their peaceful coexistence and moderate beliefs.
Even in India, more than 80% Muslims are following the same Hanafi and Sufi school of thought rejecting any kind of extremism endorsing peaceful coexistence and tolerance.
Given India’s location, deep cultural connections and ancient longstanding relationships with Russia and Central Asia, the commendable initiative by the Government of India, led by the Honorable NSA, to create a forum with Central Asia is a remarkable stride toward the future trade and security of these nations, – a brilliant move in fortifying ties with Central Asia. Nations such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and others are now collaboratively charting a course of peace, trade and cooperation.
Four major forces are destabilizing world peace and security and these are the United States holding the world’s biggest weapon lobby which has enabled the bombing of nations down to rubble; China’s hegemony of trade and economy for over four hundred years in the East Asian regions, crippling economies; Britain’s colonial game of divide and rule which has stolen all resources from other nations, weakening them; and radical political Islamic extremism fueled by literature that has sparked off violent movements.
To live and let live – Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam has been practiced in India for over 5000 years – with a core essential principle of The World is One Family as demonstrated during the G-20 Summit hosted by India, a motto handpicked by Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Islam also declares, “The creation is the family of God” (Hadith) – “Al-Khalqu Ayalullah” in Arabic in the Hadith affirming that all Muslims and non-Muslims to be one family. This ethos has become a cornerstone of India’s diplomatic vocabulary which can stabilize the world, curb wars, bring peace and make a better tomorrow for the coming generations.
(Dr. Hafeez Ur Rahman is an Islamic scholar, author, public speaker and founder president of Sufi Peace Foundation New Delhi).