By the time you would be reading this article, the sensation related to 9/11 would have probably died down. However it is the same brouhaha and the hullabaloo about 9/11, even after a decade, that has compelled me to write this article. With the beginning of the month of September, news and articles started to pour in from across the globe expressing solidarity with the families of the victims of 9/11 and paying condolences to the deceased. Indeed the attack on the USA, on 9/11 was something strange and horrific, which the entire world will never forget and which has completely and irreversibly changed the world we live in, as immediately after the attack the so-called “war of terror” was unleashed by the then Bush administration to avenge the attack.
However there is one question that is lurking in my grey matter ever since I have been watching news or reading newspapers and magazines. Is it the only attack that we need to look at and pay our commiserations to?, is it the only event where innocents have died?, is it the only terrorist attack that needs to be repeatedly condemned day in and day out?
I fail to fathom as to why it is only the 9/11 that is being talked about in the media, whether electronic or print?, why are we oblivious to the other atrocities that have been inflicted upon the people before and even after 9/11?, why is it that even ten years after the incident it is still talked about with the same zeal? However the daily inhumane and utterly preposterous treatment that people in humungous numbers across the globe face is under the wraps?
But before I delve deeper into the subject, I would like to make it very clear that I am not trivializing the deaths of the 3000 people who died in the boorish act. I do not, by any means, want to say that 3000 is something that can be sidelined or condoned. As if I do this, I would be going against the kernel of Islam which considers human life very sacred and precious. The Noble Qur’ān, in a very clear cut manner, describes its stand on human life when it says:
“If anyone killed a person not in retaliation of murder, or (and) to spread mischief in the land – it would be as if he killed all mankind, and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind” (The Holy Qur’ān – 5:32)
NO REGARD FOR HUMAN LIVES
9/11 is not the only paradigm of the insensitiveness towards human life. Before 9/11 and after it, the lives of human beings have always been considered trivial, which could be taken cold-heartedly without even giving a second thought. The Vietnam War, which the US fought to dominate the world, killed more than a million people, including 2-3 lakh Cambodians and Laotians each. And the diabolical “agent orange” affected 3 million Vietnamese, which included 1,50,000 children. According to the report by John Pilger, 6 lakh children in Iraq died because of the sanctions put by the Big Daddy, the USA.
The killing of the innocent women and children and the devastation of the countries, which quite sophisticatedly has been given the sobriquet “war on terror”, itself has taken myriad number of human lives. The brutal air attacks that plundered Iraq and Afghanistan are exemplary to the atrocities that happened after the 9/11, in which countless numbers of people died, just to satiate the ego of the USA. Now, again a question comes into mind is that, isn’t it irrational, insensitive and incongruous to maim lakhs of innocuous and innocent people just on the pretext of getting one man? How justifiable was it to unleash such a ferocious war and then pillage the country and then leave its citizens in a state of distress, fear, insecurity and hunger.
It was the USA that took the uncouth decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan on August 6, 1945, which devastated the country and left scores of dead. And the effect of the bomb rose many folds after, as it led to many biological changes in the Japanese, with which they coped for quite a long time. There is no dearth of atrocities that have been meted out to the innocent people of the world and counting only the events of the 20th century in itself would be a formidable task. But my point here is that why the other attacks and wars that have taken place in the history are treated casually, whereas the 9/11 has become a global event, where the whole world is joining hands and coming forward to condemn it. However it should be noted that 9/11 was nothing in comparison to the wars that have been fought, which were quite larger in magnitude and killed not thousands and lakhs, but millions and millions of innocent people.
VALUES BLOWN INTO
SMITHEREENS
The invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan opened another door for the USA to persecute the innocents, but this time it was tinged with psychological and mental torment. The Abu Graib Jail, in Iraq rose to international fame when the news of torture committed by the military police personnel of the US Army together with additional US governmental agencies hit the newspapers. And how deplorable and painful it is that even after the news of the ruthless and devilish treatment of the prisoners was released, the mighty United States of America that has a habit of plundering any country and attacking it by dropping atomic bombs and chemical weapons, did nothing. All the humanitarian values, principles, morals, ethics and ethos were blown into smithereens and took the back seat.
Similar treatment was and is being meted out to the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. Most of the prisoners in Guantanamo have been implicated in wrong cases and there are plenty of them who have been picked up just on the grounds of mere suspicion, without any charge against them.
The American intervention in Iraq, left everyone vulnerable, be it women or children. According to the report published on August 27, 2011, by Inter Press Service media agency, there are Iraqi girls who are held without their will, to cater exclusively to the sexual needs of US soldiers stationed at an airport base in the country.
Hence this “war on terror” within a decade, has changed everything: it has changed the humanitarian values, it has changed the principles, it has changed the perception of human life, which otherwise was considered to be something precious.
In the above two paragraphs I have mentioned only those major atrocities that the US has inflicted upon the innocents post World War II. The list of barbarism by the US is endless and honestly it would be impossible to even name the brutal acts of the US in such a short article.
UNCLE SAM, THE BIG DADDY
The whole world governments have now become the mouth-piece of the US government. All across the globe, whether willingly or unwillingly, the diktats of the US are being followed. The reason for this bias lies in the fact that today the USA is the Big Bully. The notion of “are you with us or against us” has made the other choice unthinkable, as no one would dare to go against the super power of the world.
No one could dare to question and account the US for the countries it has destroyed, no one is asking as to why peace is still an alien concept in Iraq, even after several years of American intervention or I would rather say American invasion, why is it that no one asked for the photographs of dead Osama, why the story proposed by the Americans was considered to be something divine.
It is in fact ludicrous to believe that a country which itself has extremely bloody history and has its hands soaked with blood of the innocents will bring the much needed peace to the world. All the interventions or rather invasions that the US did were uncannily related to its ulterior motives, mainly acquisition of wealth. The latest example of the hidden agenda of the US can be seen in the Arab spring, where US nodded for using force on Gaddafi, whereas it did absolutely opposite of it in Bahrain, however the masses of both the countries were demanding the same thing.
Once again I extend my commiserations to the families of the deceased in the 9/11 attack and express my full sympathy for the victims. I again repeat that I do not and I cannot treat the attack on 9/11 as something insignificant, however the point that I only wanted to make is that why the hue and cry is only for the 9/11 victims, why not the same is done for the others as well, who faced the brunt of the avarice of the US itself. The Holy Qur’ān however says:
“O you who believe! Stand out firmly for Allah and be just witnesses and let not the enmity and hatred of others make you avoid justice. Be just: that is nearer to piety, and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is Well-Acquainted with what you do” (The Holy Qur’ān – 5:8)
Let us be just in condemning everything that severs the bond of humanity and brotherhood.