THE DARFUR TRAGEDY : THE ISLAMIC WORLD NEEDS TO SPEAK OUT LOUDLY
Pakistan Link, Abubakr G. Shaikh
New California Media, CA
May 15 2006
The blood-thirsty and the much feared Sudanese militia, known as
Janjawed, has been trained by the Sudanese army with the explicit
purpose of ridding Darfur villages of black Muslims. They race their
camels and machinegun- mounted trucks through the villages, shooting
indiscriminately at the helpless and unarmed villagers. These barbarous
butchers are aided helicopter gunships to maximize the terror and
mayhem so that none could dare to return. Men, women and children
are virtually mowed down without mercy. When the mayhem is complete,
the victims’ bodies are dismembered, sprayed with oil and burnt
alongside their huts. The livestock and young women are spared to
be taken away as the war booty. The women are routinely kidnapped,
raped and enslaved as serfs and domestic servants. They tend the
farms and cattle of the brown skinned Arabs and satisfy their lust
and give birth to the Arab progeny to replace the black population.
Slavery is an ugly blot on the Islamic faith. Despite the immense
compassion shown by the holy Prophet, peace be upon him, for the
oppressed, poor and children, it is an irony that slavery is still part
of the Sharia. The glorious Qur’an says: “O mankind We have created you
from a single male and a female and made you into nations and tribes
that you may know one another. Verily the most honorable in you in the
sight of Allah is that who has At-Taqwa (pious and righteous person)
who fear Allah much and love Allah much.”(49.13).
Color, creed or caste, does not distinguish a person from the other
in Islam and given that all people are born equal how could slavery
be justified?
The Darfurians have a valid claim on their sacred lands from where
they are being consistently and systematically uprooted. They are the
original natives, not the Arabs whose forefathers came to the region
with a noble cause: delivering the message of peace and not to rule or
drive the Darfurians away from their homelands .They were received
well by their hosts and they in turn served them well. However,
their descendents have followed a path of savagery, prejudice and
hate, breaking every rule of civility, all principles of humanity,
and the basic tenets of Islam.
The merciless genocide has gone on unchecked for the past two years
and while the actual death toll is difficult to estimate, close to
200,000 innocent people have been butchered in this worst scenario
of ethnic cleansing according to some sources – the biggest carnage
after Rwanda and Bosnia. More than two millions have been rendered
homeless. Milovesic must have been wondering in his grave what did
he do to deserve the Hague trial! The United Nations’ duplicity and
double standards are also evident from the fact that it actively got
involved in East Timur and Sudan’s other conflict based on religion
with its southern region whereas in this conflict based on color
prejudice there are no signs of urgency on the part of the world
body. The world remains cool and impassive because of global oil
interests tainted with the blood of the innocent Darfurians.
In their quest to complete the annihilation of black Muslins,
Sudan’s army supported by its notorious militia, continues to chase
and attack refugee camps inside the neighboring country Chad. Sudan
is also accused by the president of Chad to be actively involved
in its nefarious activities to destabilize his regime by providing
aid to rebels to instigate a revolt in Chad. The aim is to install
a proxy government, which in collaboration with Sudan, will wipe out
the entire black Muslim population of Darfur. The only crime of these
unfortunate and helpless people is the color of their skin and their
Islamic faith, Islam, whose basic tenets call for eradication of all
kind of prejudices.
How much longer can they endure and keep their faith in Islam?
Perhaps they must already be thinking of other options for their
survival while the Islamic world remains unmoved. Its silence and
indifference is staggering. The catastrophe is of a colossal nature,
but it has not moved the hearts of 1.2 billion Muslims of the world
who only recently reacted violently to the much less critical issue
of the cartoon controversy. The entire Muslim community from one
end of the globe to the other, erupted in furor, over-reacting to
the controversy in a manner that seemed to suggest that Islam was in
eminent danger. The irrational behavior led to many deaths of innocent
citizens, loss of property and revenue, and contra-productive results
in the form of severe criticism on the conduct of Muslims by the
international press. However, not a single protest march took place
on the massacre and carnage of 200,000 Muslims at the hand of fellow
Muslims in Darfur.
One wonders about the priorities of the Ummah. The Qur’an is very
specific on resolving disputes and making reconciliation between two
Islamic factions. Allah has ordained: “And if two parties or groups
among the believers fall into fighting ,then make peace between them
both and if one of them rebels against the other then fight you against
the one that which rebels till it complies with the command of Allah
then if it complies then make reconciliation between them justly and
be equitable”(49: 9,10) Every big fire starts with a small spark, each
movement is the brainchild of an individual and eventually transforms
into a revolution, every hurricane develops from the buildup of winds
and waves.
Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times columnist and champion of the
oppressed people around the world, has tirelessly raised awareness
on the Darfur genocide in the past two years. The spark now seems
to have developed into a sizeable flame. Here in the United States,
with the steady involvement of the common people, religious leaders,
organizations, human rights activists, college and universities
students – the flame is getting larger every day. In contrast tothe
Muslim world’s apathy, the Jewish, Evangelical, Armenian and human
rights organizations are in the forefront of building alliances,
pressure and lobbying groups to get the administration involved in
ending the genocide in Darfur. I had counted more than 60 nationwide
Jewish organizations’ names which sponsored a full-page protest in the
Columbus Dispatch, the leading newspaper of Ohio on the insensitivity
of the Bush administration to the Darfur genocide. I am sure similar
protest ads must have appeared in all major newspapers nationwide. The
Jews’ sensitivity reflects their having suffered the worst genocide
in human history. This movement is gathering momentum and now has
reached colleges and universities, churches and synagogues. These
groups also arranged a million march to Capital Hill. No name of
any Muslim organization appeared in the protest march nor any public
statements appeared on the subject in any newspaper.
Some hopes have started to build as there are indications that
president Bush might take an initiative to involve UN troops in
Darfur yet nothing concrete has emerged so far. Meanwhile, Sudan
has successfully persuaded South Africa to stay for six more months
in Darfur and delay in handing over charge to the UN. What sinister
motive is behind this move is not clear yet.
One regrets the snail-pace response of the UN and the confounding
apathy of the Muslim world to the unfolding tragedy.