By: Hem Raj Jain
When Muslims of Asia & Africa were suffering (from (Myanmar, Kashmir, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran to Iraq, Syria Palestine/Israel, Yemen, Libya etc) or even Hindus (Kashmiri Pandits) in India, the people thought that the leader of free world the USA is racially prejudiced but when Ukrainians started suffering during on-going war with Russia then people started thinking that no it is not the case because the USA is equally apathetic towards the suffering of the white Europeans too. But this is a naive & wrong conclusion. The Ukrainians like Russian are Slavic people hence they (traditionally as per proper Europeans) are second class people in comparison to first class people, the white proper Europeans (the ruling elite in the USA is the descendant of these White proper Europeans). Ofcourse these second class people of Ukraine are better than third class people of Asia who are better than the fourth class people of Africa (blacks) in the eyes of the USA. This is the reason that after admitting that ‘sanctions never deter’ President Biden has chalked-out a lengthy program for ‘solving’ the Ukraine crisis whereas the industrial military complex of the West will continue to make huge money out of the Ukraine crisis while Ukrainians will keep-on dying, bleeding and suffering.
In contemporary human-rights-friendly world when about 25 % of Ukraine (of about 45 million population) has already been converted either to internally or externally displaced persons (refugees) due to the Russia-Ukraine war, the following statement of NATO without putting any boots on ground in the interest of providing immediate relief to suffering Ukrainians, is meaningless, irresponsible, ineffective and mischievous to say the least – “[We call on Russia to engage constructively incredible negotiations with Ukraine to achieve concrete results, starting with a sustainable ceasefire and moving towards a complete withdrawal of its troops from Ukrainian territory. We reaffirm our unwavering support for the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders extending to its territorial waters. We have trained Ukraine’s armed forces, strengthening their military capabilities and capacities and enhancing their resilience. NATO Allies have stepped up their support and will continue to provide further political and practical support to Ukraine as it continues to defend itself. We call on all states, including the People’s Republic of China (PRC), to uphold the international order including the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, as enshrined in the UN Charter, to abstain from supporting Russia’s war effort in any way, and to refrain from any action that helps Russia circumvent sanctions. We are concerned by recent public comments by PRC officials and call on China to cease amplifying the Kremlin’s false narratives, in particular on the war and on NATO and to promote a peaceful resolution to the conflict]”.
India can better understand this situation by taking an example from its neighbourhood. The USA through the UN has created 193 countries most of which can’t defend their independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity without the support of the UN. For example if tomorrow China invades Bhutan or Nepal then would the USA ask Bhutan or Nepal alone, to fight China, with the arms and ammunition provided by the West led by the USA.
The problems of the West & NATO led by the USA (in helping the Ukrainians) are quite understandable. During World War I & II the West (USA, UK, France etc) could win because Russia & USSR (led by Russia) and colonies of the West gave most of lives & blood for it. But during on-going Ukraine war the colonies of the West (including India which gave about two million soldiers & others during each of World War I & II) are independent countries (hence not helping the West militarily) and the West itself (including the USA & UK which are signatories to ‘Budapest Memorandum’) is not prepared to give lives & Blood for it which naturally has given military advantage to Russia.
But it has created a serious problem for the rest of the world because mankind has always needed a ruler/political authority (for peace, prosperity and justice) and will need it in future too and in this age of globalization there will be only one political authority (unipolar world). Now the existing global political order has been demolished by Russia with the help of China by invading Ukraine despite the ‘Budapest Memorandum’. This does not mean that Russia + China would succeed in establishing an alternate global political order. During the late 17th to early 19th century Marathas in India won many battles against the Mughal Empire and destroyed it but failed to provide an alternate empire in India. On the contrary, during the 1857 uprising against the British (through the East India Company) empire the Marathas chose the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar as their leader in the first’ war for Indian independence’.
Therefore, India (which is showing dangerous ambivalence during ongoing Russo-Ukraine war) should be careful and should think of ditching the USA only if Russia (plus China) is prepared to establish an alternate global political order.
In other words, India (of about 1.4 billion people) which constitutionally has practiced secular democracy since its independence in 1947 should keep in mind that despite racial prejudices and gross injustices and human rights violations on the part of the leader of the free world the USA, when no country (or alliance of countries) is coming forward to provide an alternate global uni-polar political model (without which contemporary world can’t do) then it is better rather safe to remain on the right side of the USA. Otherwise the ruling elite of the USA is also as vindictive & ruthless as any other such people (only with a slight difference that it is more polished).
No-doubt there is no other country in the present world than India which is in deep trouble due to the Russo-Ukraine war. India certainly wants to be on the side of ‘liberal Western democracy’ against ‘authoritarian Chinese democracy’ but due to foolishness of India itself it has so far not solved its border disputes with China and Pakistan (though these could have been easily resolved by ‘UN-Judicial commission’ for resolving Indo-China border legal disputes and by plebiscites in J&K and Balochistan and by ‘dual citizenship’ to about 160 million forcibly displaced Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims during partition as has been mentioned in my many previous articles). Hence India thinks that in case India goes against the interests of China & Russia during on-going Russo-Ukraine war then they can instigate Pakistan to snatch Kashmir militarily from India which will be catastrophic for India.
This fear of India has further increased due to Islamabad declaration of the OIC (where China was present) and where even Saudi Arabia, UAE etc (which were earlier supporting India on Kashmir) jointly said on Wednesday that – “[We renew unwavering solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir and express full support for their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the OIC, and the wishes of the Kashmiri people. We condemn massive violations of their human rights in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). We reiterate rejection of India’s illegal and unilateral actions since August 5, 2019 aimed at altering the demographic composition of the occupied territory, suppressing the realization of the inalienable right of self-determination of the Kashmiris, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, and international law including the 4th Geneva Convention. We declare that the final settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions is indispensable for durable peace in South Asia. We reiterate our call on India to: (a) reverse its unilateral and illegal measures instituted since 5th August 2019; (b) cease its oppression and human rights violations against the Kashmiris in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir; (c) halt and reverse attempts to alter the demographic structure and to redraw electoral constituencies in IIOJK; and (d) take concrete and meaningful steps for full implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir. We express grave concern over the violation of Pakistan’s airspace, threat to passenger aircraft and dangers to peace and security in South Asia arising from the launch of supersonic missile on 9 March 2022 by India. We call on India to fully abide by international law and norms of responsible State behaviour and conduct a joint probe with Pakistan to accurately establish facts]”.
But this is precisely such a difficult situation where the role of leadership is required. Whether Indian political leadership will be able to provide such enlightened and wise leadership to India during the ongoing Russo-Ukraine war, will be watched with great interest by the entire mankind. (The writer is the author of ‘Betrayal of Americanism’ based in Shakopee, MN, USA & can be reached at +91-7353541252 Mo: +1-9524911507)
