With civil war in Syria raging on with no sign of abetment
to the bloodshed, frantic efforts are on to bring an end to genocide which is
eating into the vitals of a country which was running ‘smoothly’ under
the leadership of Dr.Bashar Al Assad, - somewhat ‘smoothly’ in the sense that in spite of
problems like poverty, corruption, unemployment and ethnic conflicts, under the
strict authoritarian rule of Dr.Assad the people are spending their days
suffering all these evils silently. They were waiting for an opportunity to let
loose their anger, rage and protests. Dr.Assad like his father Hafiz Ali Assad
is a dictator like other dictators across the world, is ruling the country with
a powerful army at his disposal. He never allowed the masses to vent their
anger and protests and such protests were nipped in the bud itself by brutal
means.
Hence the masses, though angry and discontent,
suppressed their animosity towards the Assad govt and were pulling on enduring silently.
Patience has its limits and when one reaches the nadir of their patience he/she
will dare to resist the tormentor with their backs to the wall.
While impatiently waiting for an opportunity since a
prolonged time, a God-send opportunity came their way in the form of Jasmine
Revolution in Tunisia followed by Egypt and Libya which spread like wild-fire
across North African countries. If a ruthless dictator like Col.Muammar Quadhafi
who treated Libya like his personal fiefdom for more than four decades
suppressing brutally even a small sign of protests by some groups and if a
dictator like Hosni Mubarak ruled his country for more than three decades with
a strong army at his command, none dared to take on him fearing for his/her
life, meekly suffered the widespread poverty, rampant corruption and massive
unemployment, could be fought against and ousted from their ‘thrones’ by the
might of the masses, the Syrian rebels too drawing inspiration from the fall of
two powerful dictators asked themselves why couldn’t they take on the dictator Dr.Assad
like the masses of Tunisa, Libya and Egypt. The Syrian protestors grouped under
one umbrella and began their protests in right earnest against the regime which
later turned violent, the reason being Dr.Assad’s intolerance and efforts to
brutally suppress the movement of the rebels and with the two sides unwilling
to back down, the situation aggravated with the passage of days, weeks, months,
even a year and more.
What Syria witnessed and still witnesses are
hundreds losing their lives on both sides on a daily basis and the death toll
has almost reached 30,000. Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General, UN-Arab
envoy entered the scene and formulated a six point formula, presented it before
both, but his efforts, tireless efforts so to say, turned infructuous. At last
finding no way to bring both sides around the negotiating table, as both sides
stuck to their stands Annan conceded his mission was destined to be defeated, tendered
his resignation.
Later another envoy who is a well-known mediator,
Lakhdar Brahmi has entered the scene, but nothing has been heard from him so
far.
With Russia and China on one side – (they are Syrian
Allies) – and US, Britain and France on the other side – (they are supporting
the rebels) - at loggerheads, no solution to the burning issue is in sight and the
civil war is raging on.
At a critical juncture like this, keeping with them
an ardent desire to find a lasting solution, the rulers of regional nations
Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran and Iraq have entered the scene and they are meeting
at Cairo, the Egyptian capital. Mohammed Morsi, the incumbent President of
Egypt took the initiative to bring these countries to sit around a table and
discuss the modalties to reach a permanent solution to the ongoing genocide. It
is to be noted that while Saudi Arabia, a nation with Sunni majority has come
forward to sit with Iran and Iraq, two Shia majority countries, Turkey is
taking part in the ongoing discussion in its capacity as a neighbouring nation.
Thus the four regional entities have taken the initiative to discuss Syrian imbroglio
keeping away from the five permanent members in the UN Security Council.
In a sense, regional nations coming to the fore to
arrive at a formula is a welcome step in the right direction. The five
permanent members in the Security Council have not been able to dwell on the
warring factions to make a climb down from their stated positions due to the wrangling
prevailing among themselves. Furthermore, it is the need of the neighbouring
nations, the regional powers to bring peace to their neighbouring country, thus
keeping the entire West Asia peaceful and tension-free.
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