Planet Earth has survived many wars between nations. We have had the World Wars I and II. We have long feared the possibility of the Third World War. While we dread and contemplate the next possible war and where it will take place and between which nations, we have quietly slipped into something new; a war of beliefs that empowers an individual or group of individuals.
It is not the same as war between different faiths. We have had plenty of those too. This is a totally different type of war. It is the future of all wars. This is the war of an individual or a group of individuals within a certain belief system or, when it suits its members, these individuals may belong to two or more belief systems. I would like to term this new kind of war as 'Personal War', very much like the PCs or personal computers.
This phenomenon is very similar to how the silicon chip has advanced and empowered every individual to carry in his pocket a device that packs the power of several super computers of the last century and more.
In exactly the same fashion, individuals or group use all the fire power readily available, soft and hard, to give vent to the perceived frustrations and misery that they are facing. For the moment, we see many groups in action, from Somalia to Sri Lanka but we have seen some individuals too. Surely, you remember the horrors at Columbine High School in Colorado (15 dead), Red Lake High School in Minnesota (10 dead) and the latest at the Amish school in tiny Nickel Mines, Pa., USA.
I consider the pirates of Somalia one good example. They empowered themselves in the absence of an effective government in the country. Taleban are another example of an empowered group of individuals left to fend for themselves by the Americans after the Soviet Union collapsed. Kashmiri freedom fighters went from simple peace loving folks to gun-toting warriors -- yet another example of the British stupidity when deciding the future of people of the subcontinent. The opposition in Thailand is one more good example. I don't want to go into Africa since this narrative will become too long. Yes, I can see many in existance all around the world and many more to come sooner than you think.
The governments of the world may be busy going after terrorists and the likes of Al Qaida but in the end, it will be a case of too little too late. If the governments of the developed world wouldn't hesitate to bail out the likes of Wall Street for trillions of dollars, may be they can spare a thought for the individual after all. In my opinion, it will be quantum leap in the right direction. A genuine new world order is the need of the hour that addresses the individual and bails him or her out and not cold corporates like Citicorp, AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. After accepting the cold cash and gotten bailed out, what is the first thing Citigroup does, sack 53,000 employees worldwide. More individuals, more frustrations. More ticking time bombs.
Not until the governments of the world go back to 'of the people, for the people, by the people' we will see more conflicts around the world. We have seen more of it and we will see an increase of many folds if the corporate governance is not put second to individual welfare. I am not advocating a welfare state exactly but it has to be individual first. Otherwise, mind is the most powerful weapon -- now and forever.
It was an AK-47, grenade and RDX attack in Mumbai last week but tomorrow it will be a nuclear option that some empowered individual or group will exercise to settle scores. Are we ready for that? My answer to that question is as good as yours.
I have lost a lot of my published and unpublished work over the years to diaries, computer hard drives and, lately, to memory sticks. It seems only appropriate to find a home for my work on the world wide web for friends to see where was I going with my thoughts, when I am finally gone! You will see some samples of my shairi as well. -- A. Salahuddin
1 comment:
Post a Comment