KOSOVO FREEDOM: GUIDANCE OR WARNING?
Abdul Ruff
Global Politician
April 8 2008
NY
On 17 February 2008, the Serbian Southern province of Kosovo in
South-eastern Europe declared independence from Republic of Serbia and
proclaimed itself new Republic of Kosovo . New Republic of Kosovo was
later recognized by few sovereign states, mainly the USA. Kosovo now
has to become a member of the EU, the UN, OSCE, IOC, IMF, and many
other vital world bodies. Kosovo will remain a sovereign nation and
a part of UN very soon. This should show to the world that seeking
legitimate independence or "secessionism" or separatism", to use the
expression in vogue from colonial and imperialist powers, is a noble
cause and has to be respected by the world. And Republic of Kosovo
is certainly not a mistake, a reality a fact and necessity.
Kosovo will never be a part of Serbia again.
True, the 2008 declaration of independence by Kosovo, has added another
feather in the cap of nations demanding freedom nations that face
serious problem of freedom fighting people/nations. Nine years ago,
the international community, led by NATO, acted to end brutal attacks
by Serbs on the Kosovo Albanian population. This timely international
intervention ended the violence, leading to a United Nations Security
Council decision to suspend Belgrade ‘s governance and place Kosovo
under interim UN administration. Since that time Kosovo has built its
own democratic institutions separate from Belgrade ‘s control. Kosovo
population got back its right to offer prayers. Many nations across
the globe have already recognized Kosovo. And Kosovo will reaffirm
faith in fundamental human rights and International Law, as well as
in the United Nations.
Last year, UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari developed a plan to
build a democratic and multi-ethnic Kosovo and recommended Kosovo
be independent, subject to a period of international supervision. In
light of the conflicts of the 1990s, independence was the only viable
option to promote stability in the region. The USA and many European
nations support the Ahtisaari Plan and will work with its international
partners to help implement it and help Kosovo join the UN and other
international bodies of political and economic importance.
In its promotion of independent Kosovo , USA is clear about its policy:
it all depends on the merits of the nations seeking independence. The
United States has formally recognized Kosovo as a sovereign and
independent state. "We congratulate the people of Kosovo on this
historic occasion" President Bush said.
President Bush has responded affirmatively to a request from Kosovo to
establish diplomatic relations between the two countries to reaffirm
the special ties of friendship that have linked together the people
of the USA and Kosovo. USA welcomed the commitments Kosovo made in
its declaration of independence to implement the Ahtisaari Plan, to
embrace multi-ethnicity as a fundamental principle of good governance,
and to welcome a period of international supervision.
"The United States takes this opportunity to reaffirm our friendship
with Serbia , an ally during two world wars. We invite Serbia’s
leaders to work together with the United States and our partners
to accomplish shared goals, such as the protection of the rights,
security, culture and livelihood of the Serb community in Kosovo",
a US spokesperson said.
However, a few countries, fearing similar backlashes on their own
turfs have criticized the Kosovo independence, fearing backlash on
their terrains. Also those demanding sovereignty or re-independence
have been equally joyous and worried at the event. Worried, because,
they feared that the colonial powers determined to retain the colonies
at any cost might resort to further aggressive or deadly tactical
measures to pressurize the colonized to remain within the holds,
calm and obedient.
FREEDOM SPOTS
Creation of new nations based on religion and redrawing national
boundaries of several states had started after the First World War.
After the Second World Order, the Big Powers assumed this task as a
matter of international policing privilege.
In every zone where conflicts have been on for self-determination,
there have been a lot of blood-letting and destruction and the state
sponsored terrorist forces evade human rights without hindrances
and ignoring the warnings from the international community and
organizations.
Major zones of turmoil are: Middle East where Palestinians fight
for their own homeland under Israeli occupation; Kashmiri patriots
struggle for getting back their country under Indian occupation
and genocides since 1947; Russia, where the Chechen patriots wage
a long re-independence war with Russian terrorist forces; China,
where Tibetans struggle for a nation of their own, but the Buddhist
spiritual leader Dalai Lama, as a tactical step has asked China, a
veto powered UNSC member, for autonomy and more religious freedoms
(the present attack by Chinese forces on Tibetans indicates that
Beijing does not think of granting freedom for Tibetans); Sri Lanka
where Tamils are waging a long war for a separate nation; to mention
the most important ones.
The decisions like that of India to support their people in their
demand for separate nations in another country have only complicated
the lives of non-ethnic people in every country and many country
countries like USA have become more strict with their immigration
policy causing enormous problems for people seeking livelihood
elsewhere..
CATEGORIES
There could be several categories of freedom fighting nations/peoples
around the world. But not all of these countries are colonizers.
Particularly those nations that have colonized other less powerful
nations in the past are worried a lot.
The first category of nations/peoples that seek independence are the
offspring, i.e., those that have lived together for a long period of
time, may be centuries, contributed to the growth and development
of the county, but felt marginalized by the major community of the
country, denied their legitimate share in resources, freedom in all
respects, leading to serious differences and resultant tensions in
the country. Pakistan and Bangladesh , for example, emerged on this
basis. Kosovo was a part of Serbia , the successor state of Yugoslavia
that has already Balkanized into several independent states, but
Kosovo was denied independence by Serbia for a long time.
This type of freedom movement has been a logical development of human
relations in every country and this trend would continue for ever,
creating more and more nations as the globalization progresses further.
Soviet Union was another example in this type of nations. Michael
Gorbachev, the last Soviet President, voluntarily granted independence
in 1987 to all 15 constituent republics that formed the then Soviet
Union , accepting utter failure in making the Soviet state into a
functional communist multi-nation. Successful October revolution in
1917 led to the unification of several neighboring nations into Soviet
Russia that culminated into the establishment of USSR by the end of
the World War II by 1945 and set the background for the so-called Cold
War afterwards. However, while granting independence to 15 republics,
nations like Chechnya, annexed by Imperial Russian in the past,
were not granted are-independence mainly because it was then a part
of Russian Republic and the Nobel Laureate from Russia Gorbachev
expected, perhaps still expects, that Russia, the successor sate of
USSR to grant freedom to the needy nations. He expressed his views in
an article published in The Bangladesh Today recently that Russia was
also under foreign occupation for nearly 300 years which clearly shows
the nations Russia annexed and kept under its control could be given
freedom. The first Russian president Boris Yeltsin let the Chechens
and other freedom seekers with hopes to be free soon, but later,
incapacitated, he let the military decide the matter which led to
wars with Chechnya , killing thousands of innocent people. President
Putin used military to "settle the scores’ with Chechens, but he once
said if Chechens want independence "this is not the way to ask for
independence", i.e., they must give up violence and counter-terrorism
for freedom from the Kremlin.
The second category includes nations, annexed by colonial powers
and kept under their custody, and the strong powers refuse to grant
re-independence. India and many other third world nations that got
freedom form UK belong to this category. Kashmir is striving for
independence on this basis. These peoples have lost their sovereignty
to their neighbors who annexed the land and keep on expanding o or
terrorizing the inhabitants. Kashmiris and Chechens are waging along
struggle for re-independence. This type of movements should occupy
the top priority of world bodies for quick resolution, though every
nation seeking self-determination has to be meritoriously considered
in their favor.
There is yet another, third, category of nations that settled down and
depend on the host countries for sustenance, as in Indians in UK ,
Sri Lanka , Singapore and Malaysia . There are peoples/nations that
once went to another county to earn their livelihood and gradually
settled down there over a long period, demanding more powers and rights
and have finally claimed separate nations. There are many blocks of
Indians living abroad for decades now and demanding separate states
for themselves by dividing the host countries.
Indians in Sri Lanka fit well here. Here India , economically
better-off now, should, in stead of fueling more explosive situations,
try to make alternative settlement arrangements in India itself.
VOICES OF CONCERN
But one of the worst hit by Kosovo has been India for another reason:
India had annexed tactfully its neighboring Kashmir in 1947 and even
since then the Kashmiris have been demanding re-independence. Now India
says by supporting Kosovo US has probably seeded another poison-tree
that might lead to the Third World War.
The country that vehemently opposes the Kosovo freedom and threatens
with severe punitive action is Russia . Russia which opposes Kosovo’s
independence because of its own trouble spots in several parts of
Russia , particularly in Chechnya , hopes if European members of NATO
suspend their membership and decide that the US should withdraw her
military forces from Europe, the US will be very vulnerable. Many
argue that the Chechens, Dagestanis and Ingusetians should also have
solid international support to breakaway from Russia . But, however,
Russia has indicated that the Kosovo principle can be applied to
Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh of Georgia and Armenia ,
as Moscow supports them. These regions are already trying to merge
with Russia . They might as well declare unilateral independence.
Russian concerns have been echoed by China , Indonesia and Sri Lanka
. China criticized Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia
while Taiwan welcomed it. China is worried about similar action by
Taiwan , which has recognized Kosovo. China is also concerned about
its western Xinziang area, where Uyghur Muslim rebels are fighting a
‘liberation war’ for over three decades. The Tibet issue too has the
potential of troubling Beijing again. Indonesia has already lost East
Timor and is worried about the Aceh province, where rebels want to
secede from the mainland regime. Thailand is involved in fighting the
Muslim minorities in the three southern provinces, saying that the
so-called International Islamic Jihad is patronizing the Thai Muslims.
Another Asian nation that feels threatened by the Kosovo move is
Sri Lanka , not because it colonized any neighboring nations, but
because the Indian Tamils led by LTTE who have settled down there for
decades are demanding a separate nation for themselves. Naturally India
supports separatist war by Tamils in Sri Lanka for a separate Tamil
nation that would exist along with India Sri Lankan Muslims say they
can derive no inspiration whatever from Kosovo’s independence. They
can gain in no way from the break-up of the island which under sever
threat from climate change.
Scotland, a constituent of UK and the homeland of UK premier Brown,
has been clambering for independence for quite some time now. UK is
concerned about Scotland ‘s determined efforts to cede from UK .
However, Britain has not made any comments on the issue.
KOSOVO – A SPECIAL CASE
Arab Nations expressed the hope the establishment of Palestine would
become a reality soon. Similar aspirations were echoed by Kashmiri
people as well as the Tibetans whereas the Chechens voice, suppressed
badly inside Russia , is not heard .
Sensing disquiet across the world, the USA has said Kosovo is an
exclusive issue and no parallels could be drawn on the basis of Kosovo
example. World wide, there are several types of freedom fighting
groups and depending on the nature of their demand and struggle USA
would support or oppose their claim. This is a clear indication that
the United States would not aid, abet or support any armed group,
movement or non-state player to forcibly, for fun sake, breakaway to
declare independent territory in any recognized nation.
Ideally, each nation/people demanding independence could be granted if
that serves the legitimate interests of the new nation concerned, if
created. USA strongly believes that Kosovo makes a special and unique
case and that the situation that existed Kosovo to gain independence
does not exist anywhere in the world today. While supporting the
independence of Kosovo , USA categorically stated that the Congress
recognized the situation led to the freedom of Kosovo was unique to
its territory and that it cannot be substituted in other situations
anywhere in the world. "The unusual combination of factors found in
the Kosovo situation (including the context of Yugoslavia ‘s breakup,
the history of ethnic cleansing and crimes against civilians in Kosovo,
and the extended period of UN administration) are not found elsewhere
and therefore make Kosovo a special case. Kosovo cannot be seen as
a precedent for any other situation in the world today.
INDIAN DOUBLE-STANDARDS
Even after the collapse of many colonialist and imperialist powers
world wide last century, India that became free in 1947 began
entertaining colonial empire ambitions by annexing Kashmir . During
the last two decades alone India has killed over 90,00 Kashmiri
patriots in after militarizing Kashmir . It dreams of acquiring
the areas from Afghanistan and Myanmar . Nepal , Bhutan and Sikkim
are now considered safe and by using Indian living in Sri Lanka ,
New Delhi aims to split Sri Lanka and add one part into its future
territory. On the one hand, New Delhi doesn’t take a final decision
to let Kashmiris have their sovereign back, and on the other, it also
encourages a separate country by splitting Sri Lanka .
India, as one of the contemporary imperialist nations having
alien nations, like Kashmir , under its custody, has developed
cold feet a Kosovo declaration mainly because the Western powers
spearhead the Kosovo cause and Kosovo is predominantly of Albanian
Muslims. That also signals follow-up action in India as well. In the
habit of linking Islam and Muslim with so-called fundamentalism,
terrorism and cross-border terrorism, India aims at US support
and guidance. India always thought it has USA in its pocket along
with the nuclear deal thanks to its grand auspicious of "terrorism"
plank. It is under this illusion that New Delhi let its intelligence
agencies work under the dictates of USA , ostensibly to coordinate
efforts to track the so-called "terrorists". Indian hopes for coming
closer to USA and the West on the pretext of combating terrorism,
have been proved short-lived.
Indian hegemonic strategists want to keep Kashmir under its military
boots. Kosovo has written new international laws for all the simmering
separatist movements. The government of India has so far remained
silent about the Kosovo developments basically out of fear that any
opposing statement would erode its ‘secular’ image, annoy its targeted
vote banks and displease its supposed friends in the comity of Muslim
nations. The very threat tone in its statement that Kosovo would lead
to World War II betrays the its democratic and Non-Aligned credentials
the real format of its foreign policy of using war threats.
Many Indians ho make fortunes by churning out anti-Islamic and
anti-Pakistani and anti-Kashmiri stuff regularly that Indian media
wholeheartedly promote and uphold, ask India to stridently oppose
unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo, while under UN
administration. India is worried that Kosovo is free now and want to
openly support Russia and China in the UN and ask Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon to explain to the world body as to how the US and allies
could bury the UN mandate and agree to the creation of another nation
on ethno-religious considerations.
India, a close ally of USSR developed bad breathing because not only
the Kashmiris were already demanding re-independence, some states
within India also glamor for independence. But India does not want
to grant re-independence to Kashmiris to self-determination and
independent rule. Hence Kosovo created a jerk in New Delhi .
Countries like India exist as nations as all ethno-religious and
linguistic sub-nationalities, but not have mutually agreed to make
it a nation-state, rising above narrow considerations. Every state
within India has a right to cede. Kashmir was an independent country
until 1947. Wanting to keep Kashmir in its Union , India says that
Pakistan continues to incite and abate sections of "misdirected
Kashmiri" and mainland Muslims for seceding from India . The Kashmir
Media Service (February 20, 2008), a pro-independence website, quoted
the pro-liberation leaders like Syed Ali Geelani and Shabbir Ahmad
Shah of the All Party Hurriyat Conference and chairman of Jammu and
Kashmir Liberation Front Muhammad Yasin Malik as saying that the
sacrifices of the Kashmiris would not be allowed to go waste. They
cited Kosovo as a ray of hope and urged the international community
to resolve the Kashmir dispute.
When the earlier secular democrat, Nehru could hurriedly bring
almost every singly Hindus from Pakistan in 1947 and resettle them in
India, mainly in Delhi state , thereby creating a strong anti-Muslim
political outfit in the capital, he refused to show the same concern
and affection to Indians living in Sri Lanka and other nations. India
continues to use various yardsticks to measure welfare of Diaspora
abroad, immigration policies and democracy.
AN OBSERVATION
UN, founded by replacing the then less effective League of Nations soon
after the devastating World War II, is supposed to play a proactive
role in such crucial issues like independence and immigration, but
it has over years become a forum for nations to finalize trades,
especially in weapons and technology and is busy with determining the
commissions package in the deals. As a legitimate world body to oversee
peaceful resolution of freedom movements UN has totally failed to do
any thing positive and let the explosive freedom struggles explode
by themselves resulting in constant genocides and destruction. Veto
power assigned to select nations has been proved detrimental to the
cause of genuine freedom seekers. UN and other related forums have
refused to mediate honestly for peaceful settlements, by involving
the stake-holders in every conflict. As a result, many regions remain
highly volatile and explosive.
Under these mischievous circumstances, decision of Kosovo patriots,
encouraged by USA and a few European nations, to declare independence
voluntarily is indeed remarkable. More broadly, every nation that seeks
freedom could be allowed to be free, if they are capable of independent
existence. But those who seek independence and freedom should also
ask themselves if they really require independence and for what.
Gaining and enjoying freedom and independence from the oppressive
rulers is accepted as the rightful action and the oppressed people
need to be encouraged to set independence without precipitating
matters further. However, the colonial and imperialist powers would
continue to resist even though they know they would lose eventually
in stopping the freedom loving peoples form gaining independence.
That has been the message from human history for countries, including
India and Russia . India is now cash rich and can support its Diaspora
living abroad in many positive ways, instead of fueling crises.
Kosovo may be a tiny territory but in the great game of oil politics
it holds great importance. US knows that Kosovo does not have oil
but its location is strategic as the trans-Balkan pipeline – known
as AMBO pipeline, reportedly being built at a cost of 1.1 billion
dollar by US builder and operator company, the US-registered Albanian
Macedonian Bulgarian Oil Corporation will pass through it in due
course. The pipeline would pump Caspian oil from the Bulgarian port
of Burgas via Macedonia to the Albanian port of Vlora , for transport
to European countries and the United States . Kosovo is lucky to have
the USA and Europe on its side and it will achieve its legitimate
objectives and goals with their help. Looking from the economic side,
the United States would shoulder additional expenses over Kosovo. But
Kosovo is for many years in deficit, and there is not much that the
US can take from Kosovo which Europe does not want. Europe also would
support Kosovo to emerge stronger in the years to come.
Practice of Islam in real faith and spirit demands the Muslims in
Kosovo to regain and imbibe the Islamic values. Independence could
offer the Kosovo enough strength to practice their religion freely.
There can be no doubt that the Kosovo Muslims could not so practice
their religion as members of a Serbian state that kills Muslims
in Kosovo, but now they can practice their religion without let or
hindrance. However, only when they are recognized by the UN and other
world bodies Kosovo can pursue their legitimate economic and security
interests in a sustained manner. One hopes, with the support of the
USA that has already recognized Kosovo as an independent country
and asked them to open their embassy in Washington, they will emerge
stronger as a nation belonging to UN and EU and other world bodies.
UN cannot sit idle but has to guide and support similar freedom
seeking nations to achieve their legitimate goals with lesser
difficulties. Meanwhile there should be a global debate on the scenario
of freedom movement to decide about the relevance of each freedom
fighting nation. Colonialism has undergone changes over decades but
still its vestiges are visible in many corners of globe.
It is time every country gives up its colonial ambitions, if any,
and hang-overs. Countries like India that have annexed alien nations
and continue to be engaged in genocide and destruction of the occupied
nations must return sovereignty to them and should never to interfere
in their internal affairs. World must rise to the civilized path of
freeing nations from continued subjugation and oppression.