When the dust settles on all this chaos in the Middle East and the larger Muslim world, we may all be able to place the blame squarely on the Islamist groups for failing the masses longing for peace, prosperity and justice, perhaps in that order. Arab Spring was dead on arrival because Islamists could not think bigger than their narrow political and ideological interests and defiantly marched on with a winner-take-all approach to democracy. More than two decades ago, the same story repeated itself in Afghanistan. Mujahideen groups, the vast majority of them being of the Islamist flavor, were unwilling to accommodate moderate Afghans from diaspora, let alone left leaning groups untainted by violence. It got far worse when their internal power struggle turned into a circular firing squad, flattening the hitherto intact capital city of Kabul in the process and killing tens of thousands. Then, as now, Islamist leaning figures blamed outside interference and hidden hands. Today, there is a rare consensus in Afghanistan about these groups being solely responsible for the continued suffering of Afghans, a suffering that should have ended the moment the communist regime collapsed. Maybe we were wrong to expect them to be our messiahs. I cant help but look with anguish at the bottomless dark hole of Syria and the lost beacon of hope in Egypt, where two modern day Pharaohs kill and maim with impunity. Then I look at the vastly unacknowledged success stories of Turkey and Tunisia, and am left wondering what could have been. What should keep us going is a conviction that, God willing, there is light at the end of the tunnel that we cant see.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 00:21:11 +0000
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