By Fazal M. Kamal
Every generation feels that
it’s living through the worst of times. As do the ones now that are occupying
Earth for fleeting moments, as is the eternal law. In times like the present,
obviously, there are more than only a couple reasons for conditions to look as
dismal as they do. And those are mighty substantive reasons too. The ongoing
deaths and destructions are more than sufficient to make reasonable people feel
sick to the stomach, as the phrase states.
While thousands are being
killed indiscriminately---on myriad supposed causes!---and while hundreds of
thousands are rendered homeless, the world cannot but note with colossal regret
the rise to power of all sorts of megalomaniacs and demagogues with tons of
hubris, conceit and narcissism, not to mention disdain for their fellow humans.
It’s little wonder then that people are being sacrificed with disturbingly zero
compunction.
For a random instance take
the case of the governing cabal in Israel. As it persistently continues to
increase the acreage of its occupation of Palestinian property, farms and land,
it demands to be allowed the total and unencumbered freedom to do this as well
as other murderous acts and not be held accountable for its actions that not
only are illegitimate but are also in many cases in direct violation of United
Nations resolutions (for whatever they are worth).
A very recent example is a
UN resolution that has condemned the disgraceful Netanyahu administration’s
laissez faire approach to relentless land grab without the littlest concern
about the people whose land is being grabbed for what’s been called building
settlements for mostly belligerent groups of Israelis who, to begin with, have
long ago decided to equate religion with land, as bizarre as it may sound.
While being deadly
irresponsible Bibi (believe it or not, yeah, that’s how he’s known to many) has
the ugly arrogance to display immense and insane rancor. The fact, however, is
that he is, in actuality, supported by a large segment of the Israeli populace,
proving yet again that the majority isn’t always right or moral or even
rational. Nevertheless, the unfortunate reality is that, in perfect view of the
entire world, they’re getting away with murder, literally.
Another abhorrent
development is the rise and rise of a property developer in the United States
ably voted to the highest office in the land (and possibly the most powerful
oval room on the globe) mainly by a potent combination of the “rust belt” and
the “rustic belt” defying the odds. Certainly their triumph was crucially
assisted by a number of failings on the part of their adversaries, one of them
being, as has been noted by many, liberal elitism---to say nothing of the FBI
director! Perhaps so; but the ascendance of the vengeful and the hysteric in no
way augurs well for people anywhere.
This once again brings to
the fore the unsolved conundrum of whether the majority’s opinions are valid,
correct, ethical. If facts are scrutinized they tend to demonstrate that in a
large enough sampling this isn’t the case. Aside from Israel another instance
that can be cited relates to Russia---and the case is clear as sparkling
daylight. The people there plainly prefer what are known as “strongmen” maybe
because of their history. And “strongmen” everywhere have a decided weakness to
bes intolerant of any whiff of dissent.
Hence the ease with which
Mr. Putin has been so successful in cheering up another person who has a
declared preference for “strongmen,” i.e. a president-elect who can’t wait to
intervene in international matters even though there are some weeks to go
before he can tuck himself in that lofty office in the White House.
Unmistakably a master of Twitterverse with an unrestrained gusto to tweet
anytime---day, night, morning or evening. But that’s an accomplishment that
could just as well come to someone with a restricted glossary.
Given the universal nature
of the world as it exists now in social, cultural, economic and political terms,
it is to be expected that many other leaders would develop a penchant to not
merely utilize the so-called social media but also become increasingly petulant
and intolerant of opinions at variance to her or his own. To quote Indian
activist lawyer Indira Jaising, “the defining characteristic of the present
government [in India] is that it undermines the rule of law… The second attempt
to undermine the rule of law was the refusal to make appointments of judges to
the high courts on the recommendation of the Chief Justice of India… To
disregard the constitution has now become a pattern with this government.”
While talking with The Wire
about the Indian government’s actions against some of the NGOs active in human rights
and legal issues Ms. Jaising added, “Look at Teesta [Setalvad], she has been at
the receiving end of the present administration(‘s anger) for the last several
years, but it has not stopped her from pursuing the cases of the 2002 riots.
This government should understand that some of us do what we do not because we
are hired to do it or because we get money to do it, it’s not the foreign
funding which makes us speak up; it is because we believe in the work we do. In
any case, we are taking legal recourse to fight for our constitutional rights.”
Rulers with inclinations
toward total control may also look at Turkey’s President Erdogan for a better
grasp of how to intimidate and snuff the daylight out of persons he, for
reasons of his very own, cannot stand. He’s been doing a spectacular job on
that front especially following an “attempted coup” that may or may not have
been an attempted coup. But that apparently for now is irrelevant because
hundreds are being targeted because of their purported involvement and/or
support in that “incident.”
Noticeably, whatever the
color of the times (and unhappily we’ve to confess the dominant color is a very
dark gray, at best) the inclination of those in control of the state machinery
is more often than not to use it for the purpose of neutering opposition and
dissent even if these are not against the law and even if they’re enshrined in
a nation’s constitution and even if the UN with the backing of the largest
number of countries adopts a resolution. The reason for these detestable transgressions
is a simple one: when moral principles are abandoned, anything is possible,
both in individual and collective instances.
