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Can IOR-ARC promote economic co-operation in the Indian Ocean rim countries?
By D. L. Mendis
Director/BCISThe structures and processes for promoting economic co-operation in trade and investment among the Indian Ocean Rim Countries is being established under the umbrella of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation (IOR-ARC) (hereinafter referred to as "Regional Association"). It is an heterogeneous Regional Association consisting of fourteen (14) memberstates. It is tripartite in structure comprising Governments, a Business Forum (IORBF) and an Academic Group (IORAG) and by this structure it provides an opportunity for state and non-state actors to play an effective role in promoting economic co-operation predominantly in trade and investment.
This Regional Association is not a preferential trading bloc such as EU, NAFTA, MERCOSUR, SAARC or ASEAN but resembles to some extent the APEC Model. In terms of the IOR-ARC Charter it is an Association established by member-states for promoting economic co-operation without preferential trading obligations. This structure is sometimes referred to an "open regionalism". It cannot therefore offend the WTO principles, institutions or processes in promoting such economic co-operation. Hence, any economic co-operation under the Charter must be designed to equip its member-states to meet the challenges of globalization and liberalization in the multilateral trading system.
The focus of this short paper is to analyse the structures and processes established for promoting co-operation in this Regional Association and the role of Governments, IGO’s and NGO’s. It also attempts to evaluate the efficacy of such structures and processes in relation to global challenges. In Parts II and III of this paper a practical approach is taken to deal with issues relating to structures and processes established for promoting co-operation in trade, investment and promotion of tourism development in relation to the Work Program submitted to the Council of Ministers. In Part IV of this Paper, the conservation and utilization of marine resources is addressed although these matters have not loomed large in the structures and processes established by the IOR-ARC. It is indeed a lacuna which needs to be rectified, if the IOR-ARC is to play an important role in promoting trade and investment in the Indian Ocean Rim Countries.
Trade and investment
Promoting economic co-operation in trade and investment is the grundnorm of the IOR-ARC Charter. To achieve this goal, the IOR-ARC has established a Work Program in the form of an Action Plan to be designed by state and non-state actors on a voluntary basis. At present, around 20% of trade and investment take effect intra-regionally although trade intensity between the left arc and the right arc of the inverted "U" shaped land-mass of IOR-ARC (standing in a tripod comprising South Africa, India and Australia) differ substantially according to statistics.To promote economic co-operation, trade and investment, the governments of states belonging to this Regional Association must remove non tariff barriers, compile trade statistics in relation to this Regional Association, harmonize standards/accreditation, establish appropriate national institutions, structures and processes, simplify customs procedures and harmonize national legislation on trade and investment especially in relation to arbitration, sale of goods, intellectual property, anti-dumping, fiscal incentives, banking and company law. The governments also need to enter into double tax treaty arrangements with member-states to protect and facilitate trade and investment in the countries belonging to this Regional Association. It is only then it is possible for member-states to promote co-operation in trade and investment in an effective manner.
International organizations can promote co-operation in trade and investment in this Regional Association by establishing multi-country policies, programs and projects. The international organizations such as UNDP, IBRD, WTO, UNIDO can provide technical assistance to state and non-state actors for implementation of the Work Program. In appropriate circumstances, international organizations can arrange buyer-seller fares, transfer technology and expertise to enhance trade and investment opportunities.
The NGO’s such as Federation of Commerce and Industry can contribute to enhance trade and investment in this Regional Association. These NGO’s can promote trade and investment by reference to complementarities and competitiveness in the context of comparative advantage. A formation of a Regional Chamber of Trade and Industry can greatly enhance economic cooperation in IOR-ARC in this direction.
Tourism development
Tourism development is an important area to promote economic co-operation in the Indian Ocean Rim States. It is an area where collective co-operation can yield better results for Indian Ocean Rim States since the area has national parks, historic sites and famous resorts with special ambience. The Indian Ocean States have natural harbours and ports for tourist traffic especially for cruises in comparison to known destinations in the Caribbean or the Mediterranean.In the 21st Century, tourism will make huge contribution to the world economy. Tourism today employs around 204 million people worldwide and has multiplier effect on trade and investment. It constitutes 10.2 of the world gross national product. It is a leading producer of tax revenue. The Belgian based World Travel and Tourism Centre forecast between 1994 to year 2051 it will add another 144 million world wide in employment.
The governments of the IOR-ARC need to promote tourism development in a competitive and sustainable manner. The Governments can advertise the varied products with reference to the Indian Ocean in the same way as the Caribbean states advertise their products by reference to the Caribbean Sea. Indian Ocean has exotic destinations from Durban to Perth and therefore attracting visitors from outside-into the region on an "Indian Ocean Holiday Package" is not an impossibility or a dream.
International organizations such as World Tourism Organizations (WTO), World Bank and UNDP can assist the newly formed Indian Ocean Tourism Organization to promote tourism in this region with projects, policies and programs. The idea of creating niche tourism products in this region with complimentarities and competitiveness can yield profitable results to the Indian Ocean Rim States.
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) such as National Tourist Association, travel agents must also be sensitized to take a collective approach in developing tourism in this region. The development of a region-wide cruise-ship industry from destinations such as Durban to Perth can change the whole face of tourism in the Indian Ocean region. It cannot be born overnight unless effective infrastructure such as ports, resorts and new off-shore financial centres are added to the existing ones and financial products are upgraded to attract high networth individuals (HNWI) into the Indian Ocean Rim Countries from other parts of the world.
Indian Ocean marine resources
The Indian Ocean is the link that binds this Regional Association. Indian Ocean has inspired the member-states to form this Regional Association. It is an Ocean which spreads into three continents in Asia, Africa and Australia and covers 73,000,000 Square kilometers. In ancient times, the Indian Ocean has facilitated trade and commerce in countries abutting the Indian Ocean and such countries also utilized the resources of the Indian Ocean for their sustenance. Unfortunately, there is no comprehensive IOR-ARC Work Program to conserve and utilize marine resources in promoting economic co-operation.The conservation and utilization of living and non-living resources of the Indian Ocean is fundamental to economic co-operation in trade and investment. It is inextricably interwoven with trade and investment as the Indian Ocean provides ample scope for exploitation of mineral and other resources. However, there is no sustainable development in economic co-operation in this sphere without conserving the marine resources of the Indian Ocean and making the Indian Ocean a safe place for navigation and transport.
The Govemments of Indian Ocean states have an enormous task and obligation to promote cooperation in the conservation and utilization of marine resources. To-promote co-operation to conserve these resources, the governments need to implement a galaxy of multilateral treaties to which such states have become parties. These multilateral treaties include the Law of the Sea Convention 1982, Basle Convention 1989, Biodiversity Convention 1989, IMO Conventions such as Marpol 78/83, CLC Convention 1969, Fund Convention 1979 and Conventions relating to shipping and safety of life at sea. Implementation of these multilateral treaties is the best way to promote conservation of marine resources and the safety of shipping in the Indian Ocean states.
Numerous international organizations can assist member-states in this field. For instance, the Indian Ocean Marine Affairs Co-operation (IOMAC) can provide technical and scientific knowhow to the Regional Association. It can also provide assistance to member-states to implement these treaties at national level. It can also recommend institutions, structures and processes necessary to exploit and conserve marine resources in conformity with international standards.
If this approach is taken, Indian Ocean states will need to draft uniform legislation relating to marine resources especially to prevent over-fishing on the one hand and to avoid man-made disasters in maritime transport and communication on the other. It will also be beneficial for member-states to formulate contingency plans to deal with oil pollution and hazardous waste disposal in such a way to benefit the less developed states in the Regional Association.
(This is a slightly modified version of a Paper presented at an international seminar on Regional Co-operation among Indian Ocean Countries in Islamabad, Pakistan.)
Communalism: The bane of Sri Lankan politics
By Gunaseela Vitanage(Continued from Saturday)
Part II
It may come as a surprise to many to know that Vijaya, the reputed founder of the Sinhalese and the Sinhalese Kingdom was the first to have effected the inter-mingling of races in Sri Lanka and which has been going on since then. According to the Mahavamsa, King Vijaya and companians numbering 700 had obtained as their spouses maidens from Madhura in South India. It says that "the King of Madhura sent to his son-in-law in addition the maids" a thousand families of eighteen guilds" and also other gifts. Vijaya was from Vanga country in North India and belonged to the Aryan race. So were his companions. The royal Princess and others who came with her were from North India and were Dravidians by race. Since that time there had been many immigrations to Sri Lanka from both North and South India.
There were also many invasions of Northern areas in Sri Lanka and the rank and file of these armies appear to have settled down in Sri Lanka, and become loyal subjects to the Sinhalese King. Most of the Tamil Kings who conquered Pihitirata (present Northern and North-Central Provinces) and occupied it, appear to have ruled with acceptance to their Sinhalese subjects. For example, the Mahavamsa says that Sena and Guttika who ruled at Anuradhapura from 177 to 155 B.C. ruled the territory righteously (Dhammena) MHV xxi: 11), and Elara, who also ruled at Anuradhapura (145 to 101 B.C.) ruled justly and wisely administering justice impartially and equitably.
Among the 186 Kings and Queens who ruled Sri Lanka from the time Vijaya (483-445), up to the time of Sri Wickrema Rajasinha (1796-1815) there have been 20 Tamil Kings and with the sole exception of Magha (1214-1235) who had been a tyrant, the others appear to have ruled well. A majority of them had become Buddhists so that they may be acceptable to their Siinhalese subjects.
It is an incontrovertible fact of history, that during a period extending to over twenty centuries, the Sinhalese and the Tamils and later, for nearly ten centuries, Sinhalese Buddhists, Tamil Hindus and Muslim Moors lived in Sri Lanka side by side in peace and harmony and having trade and cultural relations all the time. As a matter of fact, the relations between the Sinhalese Buddhists and the Tamil Hindus have been very close. The popular Buddhism in Sri Lanka has been greatly influenced by Hinduism. There is hardly a Buddhist temple in the Island today which does not have a shrine dedicated to a Hindu God or Goddess. Of the five sections of the Annual Esala Perahera in Kandy three are dedicated to Hindu deities, Maha Vishnu, Kataragama and Pattini. The other two are dedicated to the Buddha’s Tooth Relic and to God Natha who is said to be the next Buddha-to-be (Bodhisatta). The influence of Mahayana Buddhism is evident here. Also during this period in various places in the Sinhalese Buddhist areas in the Island festivities are held in honour of various Hindu deities. During the same period the Tamil Hindus in the North and the East hold festivals in honour of the very same deities.
Sir Sarvapalli Radhakrisnan and other Hindu scholars say that modern Hinduism has been greatly influenced by Buddhism. Professor Ninian Smart, an authority on Comparative Religion, says in his book World Religions, a Dialogue that Sankaracharya the great modern Hindu reformer was accused by his critics and opponents of being a crypto-Buddhist (p. 87). According to Hinduism of the Ten Incarnations of God (avatars), the last is Buddhavatara, incarnation as the Buddha, the Enlightened One.
The Sinhalese Kings while fighting against the Tamil invaders from South India, did not show any difference in their attitude and treatment toward their Tamil subjects. For example, King Vijayabahu I (1059-1114) who fought the Tamil invaders from South India and drove them away, looked to the day to day needs of his Tamil subjects. For example, it is on record that during the Polonnaruwa period, Tamil also was an official language. It shows that the Sinhalese kings treated their Tamil subjects who were a minority group fairly and justly and without any discrimination whatsoever. Professor Senerat Paranavitana says in this connection in the Chapter on the Civilization of the Polonnaruwa Period in the University of Ceylon History of Ceylon:
"The clerks were called Ley-daru. The Panakadu inscription refers to a register of Tamil clerks. This shows that in the reign of Vijayabahu I even, a certain amount of official business was conducted in Tamil" (Vol. I, p. 545).
These Tamil clerks appear to have worked in the King’s Court itself.
King Vijayabahu I is also credited with having built a shrine dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva side by side with a temple dedicated to the Buddha, at Polonnaruwa. It is said that the ruins of these two temples are existant even today.
There also were Tamils in the Sinhalese Kings’ Army.
Mr. M. C. Sansoni, Retired Chief Justice and Presidential Commissioner appointed to inquire into the disturbances which took place in 1977, quotes in his Report, published as a Government Sessional Paper (No. VII of 1980), Quotes from an article entitled History and Eelam, written by Dr. K. R. de Silva, Professor of History, Peradeniya University, following paragraphs among others:
"But the ideal of unity can be preserved only upon a foundation of justice. Instances of discrimination on the basis of race and religion have been rare in our history — at least upto recent times. Tamils rose to high positions under Sinhalese rulers, and Sinhalese willingly accepted the Nayakkars from South India as their rulers. Sinhalese kings set up inscriptions in Tamil as well as in Sinhalese. For many centuries Sinhalese and Tamils have lived in peace and friendship side by side. However, unless justice and fairplay are assured, the idea of unity might soon be belied by the reality of division" (Sessional Paper VII of 1980, p. 63).
The World Council of Churches, an organization which represents all the Protestant Christian Churches in the world has published a document entitled Plurality, Passion and Power. It is a highly tendentious document in that it is anti-Buddhist, anti-Sinhalese and anti-Sri Lankan Government, on the one side, and pro-Tamil separatist on the other. This document has been subjected to criticism earlier in the columns of The Island. Even such a document admits that "the long-term history of Sri Lanka was characterized by a remarkable tolerance exercised by ordinary people." The WCC pamphlet says:
"The results of the conflict have been, and continue to be, traumatic for large numbers of the population, regardless of their ethnic origin. The long-term history of Sri Lanka has been characterised by a remarkable tolerance exercised by ordinary people, who have continued to practise their religious faith —Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim or Christian — in a spirit of mutual respect, in spite of spasmodic tensions and pressures arising from other sources. But constant frustration, tensions and provocations have caused a gradual erosion of the framework of goodwill and mutual respect which characterized the different communities living side by side in one small island" (p. 26).
What are the factors that helped the two communities, the Sinhalese and the Tamils to cultivate mutual goodwill mutual respect and friendly co-existence for centuries?
The first factor is the spirit of tolerance in both religions. Hinduism and Buddhism have existed side by side in India and Sri Lanka for over twenty five centuries but there had never been violent disputes or quarrels or conflicts between the two religions or instances of one religion persecuting the other. There of course have been criticisms and argumentations on both sides.
One can be tolerant in the sense of one’s enduring the views, opinion and beliefs of others purely because one cannot help it. If and when one has the power and authority, one would not hesitate to suppress them even using violence to do so. But that is not genuine tolerance. What is genuine tolerance is the unequivocal acceptance of the rights of others to hold views, opinions and beliefs contrary to one’s own and also freely to express them and to propagate them, provided, of course, that the expression of them does no exceed the bounds of propriety and decency. Criticism is necessary for judging the views and opinions of others before accepting them as true; otherwise one would be accepting them blindly.
The other factor that helped the Sinhalese and Tamils to co-exist in peace and friendship is trade and cultural relations. Neither the Tamils in the North nor the Sinhalese in the South could not be at odds because one party has to depend on the other party for their day to day needs. Neither party could have got them from India because the cost involved was prohibitive. The Sinhala names of vegetables such as Wattakka, Bandakka and fruits like Aana malu, Poovalu, Hondravalu indicate their Jaffna origin.
The situation has not changed even today despite what has been called the "ethnic conflict between the Tamils and the Sinhalese". What the ordinary Tamil man in the North, more particularly in Jaffna, wants is to sell his produce in the South and opportunity and freedom for his sons to carry on business in the South.
In an article to the Magazine LOGOS published by the Centre for Society & Religion, Ms Chandrika Kumaratunga, Vice-President of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party has written at length on the question of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. In the article entitled Peace: For What? she says inter alia:
"As recently as 1983 October during the Presidential elections when the terrorist organizations come out strongly against participation in elections 83% of the people in the Jaffna district and 84 or 86% of the people of Vavuniya district voted for the Sinhala Buddhist candidate Mr. Kobbe-kaduwa. This was in spite of a Tamil candidate — Mr. Kumar Ponnam-balam — contesting the election. The 83% and the 86% votes from Jaffna and Vavuniya were the largest votes the SLFP (Sri Lanka Freedom Party) received in the entire country. This we see as a very clear and definite proof that the Jaffna people do not want separatism and also shows their belief in the democratic process. It is also a clear vote against terrorism" (Vol: 25 No. 3, October 1986).
Ms Chandrika Kumaratunga’s inferences here are quite correct. But there are other inferences to be drawn. Would any other SLFP stalwart than Mr. Kobbekaduwa got even half the votes Mr. Kobbekaduwa got in Jaffna and Vavuniya? One doubts! The Jaffna and Vavuniya Tamils voted for Mr. Kobbekaduwa in gratitude to the help he had done them as the Minister of Agriculture in Mrs. Bandaranaike’s Government. There is yet another inference to be drawn. That is that the ordinary Tamils are not communalists.
Neither are the Sinhalese communalists nor chauvinists nor ultra-nationalists. Throughout the ages with extremely rare exceptions, the Sinhalese Buddhists have not only exercised the genuine type of tolerance in their relations with other ethnic religious groups, not only co-existed with them on friendly terms, but also gone to their help whenever they were in trouble or distress.
Sir Paul E. Pieris, Civil Servant, Judge, historian and Christian by religion, in his book Ceylon and the Portuguese speaks highly of the spirit of tolerance of the Sinhalese. He says:
"It is indeed, the boast of the Sinhalese that force has never been employed where reason alone should prevail. No Hypatia has stained their country with her blood; no Smithfield has darkened their serene sky with its murky clouds. Buddhism alone of the great religions Asia had produced, has displayed a real spirit of tolerance. Temples have been erected to Hindu deities by monarchs who were upholders of the Dhamma. Buddhist temples still provide for the religious exercise of the Mohammedans living in the villages belonging to them" (p. 70).
Dr. A. M. Yusuf, in the chapter on Ceylon and Arab Trade in the University of Ceylon History of Ceylon speaks highly of the tolerance and the magnanimity of the Sinhalese:
"The establishment of the Arab trade community was fruition of private enterprise initiated without any backing of arms of any kind, and fostered with the ardent patronage of local sovereigns.
These international traders were highly welcome as an important factor in the economic prosperity of maritime states. And the Arab authors record that the Court of Ceylon was particularly noted for its tolerance and magnanimity shown to all diverse religions" (Vol. II, pp 705, 706).
Sir Arthur Ranasinha of the Ceylon Civil Service and a former Governor of the Central Bank and Christian by religion says in his Report on the Census of 1946 as the then Superintendent of Census that "in Ceylon race consciousness did not manifest itself in bitter antagonism due to the influence of Buddhism". He says:
"One may, indeed, maintain with Arthur Keith tha.t race consciousness is innate in man, that it is, in fact a part of nature’s machinery in its great business of evolution. The qualities which are manifested in every-day life as ‘racial spirit’ are in reality an ancient and essential part of nature’s creational machinery.
"It is fortunate, however, that in Ceylon race consciousness, like caste consciousness, has manifested itself mainly in some degree of immobility in social relationships, and not in a bitter antagonism blinding are against a reasoned consideration of common interest. This may be the result of the tolerant spirit of its predominant religion, Buddhism, which taught that no man was by birth an outcast or a Brahmin, but that deed made the one or the other - a spirit which seems to have influenced many of its kings, like Rajasinha II in modern times. Whatever may be the cause of this tolerance, it is an undoubted advantage in the building-up of as incipient ‘nation’, of a new type which may be called ‘Ceylonese’ that there exists between the various ‘races’ of Ceylon a spirit of co-operation and comradeship, as Keith expressed it ‘The stronger the spirit of mutual service within a tribe a people, or a race, the more able does that tribe, people or race become to take a place in the sun" (Census of Ceylon 1946, Vol I, Part I, General Report, pp, 150, 151).
The Rev. Fr. S. G. Perera, S. J., says in his Historical Sketches (Ceylon Church History).
"It must be said to the credit of the Ceylon Buddhists and to the confusion of Europeans, that the Sinhalese were remarkably free from anti-Christian prejudices till European Theosophists came on the scene."
The Rev. Father, however, is not correct in saying that it was after the coming of European Theosophists that the Buddhists of Sri Lanka became imbued with anti-Christian prejudices. The Theosophists certainly were no party to the creation of anti-Christian or any other anti-feelings. If any anti-Christian feelings existed among the Buddhists it was solely due to the ‘Anti-Sermon on the Mount’, of the three Christian Imperial Powers, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British in Sri Lanka.
As a matter of fact, it was after reading an account of the debate between the Buddhists and Christians in 1873 at Panadura, that Col. Henry S. Olcott, the President of the Theosophical Society in America came to Sri Lanka in 1888. He studied Buddhism, became a Buddhist and with the assistance of Anagarika Dharmapala enthused the Buddhists, organized them and founded a number of English schools for the education of Buddhist children. Until this time English education was the monopoly of the Protestant Christian Missionaries, and they had, as a matter of policy, kept out the Sinhala Buddhists, the Tamil Hindus (excepting of course, the caste Hindus of Jaffna) and the Muslims, that is more than 95 per cent of the population, from English education during the entire century when English was the language of the administration, of the Court and of trade and commerce.
H. R. H. Perera in his pamplet entitled Buddhism in Ceylon its Past and its Present tells the story of how and why the Buddhist-Christian controversies took place in the 1870s and how they led to the coming of Col. Henry S. Olcott and other Europeans who helped the Buddhists to save their religion from the Christian missionary stranglehold: He says:
"Apart from the Christianization carried out in the schools, these missionary bodies sought conversion by distributing books and pamphlets which criticised and ridiculed the Buddhist religion and sang the praises of Christianity. For this purpose the missionaries themselves studied the doctrines of Buddhism and the Buddhist literature and also the Sinhalese language, thus enabling them to write tracts in Sinhalese attacking Buddhism and extolling the virtues of Christianity. Christian preachers went about from village to village distributing these books and pamplets and denouncing Buddhism and exhibiting the supremacy and the divine origin of Christianity" (p. 68).
It was this challenge that the young monk Migettuwatte Gunananda met. He had studied the Bible, both the Old and the New Testaments and came to realize that they were "human, all too human" documents. There were at least four debates between the Buddhists and the Christians, and at the final debate held at Panadura in 1873 and Christians had to admit defeat.
It is after reading an account of this debate that Col. Henry S. Olcott and other European theosophist came in his wake to Sri Lanka and helped the Buddhist in establishing English schools for their children.
(Continued tomorrow)
Islamic and Western civilisation on a collision course
By Siddiq Ghouse(Continued from yesterday)
The world is witnessing a clash of civilisations between the West and Islam. While the intellectual in the West are looking for spiritual solace to Islam as it is fast spreading out there, the forces that control the destiny of the West are preparing to take up cudgels. These forces are only interested in the produce of the Muslim world especially oil, and not in the least concerned about the welfare of the Muslim masses. Would they the so called ‘champions of human rights’ if their concerns are humanitarian impose sanctions on the Iraqi people, so that thousands of children perish on the pretext that they wish to punish Saddam Hussain? Why are sanctions mainly on Islamic countries like Libya, Sudan, Iraq, Iran and the newest member of the club Pakistan?
The claim to tolerance, human rights, of the West is a myth. Western civilisation is essence based and has been based for a long time on the inequality of man. The old idea that ‘the world is Rome and the rest are slaves’ still exist, although its crude connotation have been in many cases been suppressed or refined. In the West the white man, not man is king of the universe although sometimes superficially some positions are given to the coloured like the present U.N. Secretary General’s post. We all are aware that he cannot act independently without the backing of the U. N. Security Council which is dominated by the veto powers of the white man’s domain. When history is written, or news are presented through the western TV channels there is a heavy bias towards the West.
In the West there is a great deal of talk about freedom of thought; but it disappears when the West confronts anything connected with Islam. The attitude of certain so called reputed Western writers on Islam and Islamic affairs whether past or present are often coloured by such prejudices and makes these works unacademic and unscientific. The period when Islamic civilisation was at its prime, is referred to as the ‘dark ages’, and credit if rarely given by Western historians to the great achievements of the Muslim scientists, philosophers of yore. There is a concerted move to separate Islamic thought from the sociological, economic and other practical aspects of the Muslims. If any country wishes to implement the Islamic Sharia (Islamic Law) there is a hue raised to the effect that these laws are barbaric, inhuman not taking into consideration that countries that have implemented it have found it to be resoundingly successful in combating crime, corruption and many other vices . Introduction of the materialistic culture of the West into the Islamic countries is one of the aims of the West, together with all the immoral values added to it like, nightclubs, liqour bars, gambling, free intermingling of the sexes, usurious institutions, which erodes the religious, moral and cultural values of the Muslims.
One could rightly ask who is to blame if the Muslim countries open their doors to such destructive schemes, are they so powerless to stop it? It is the elite groups in the Muslim countries who do not resist such ‘invasions’ on the contrary they connive and invite the invaders. These groups wield so much power that any opposition is silenced, and the masses have to grudgingly grin and bear. There are no voices to take up these causes, as the powerful international media is on the same side of the fence as those elite groups. Voices raised in protest are given a ‘fundamentalist’ tag by the international media, so much so that in recent times the word fundamentalism has crept into dictionaries to connote as referring to fanatics, or people who wish to go back to the middle ages, but on the contrary if the same people were to surrender and implement the materialistic ‘fundamentalism’ of the West, they are given a clean fable and called ‘modernists’. On the other hand Muslim writers of recent past unfortunately have not in the same scale raised voices against the introduction of Western values, some have even condoned it much to the glee of the perpetrators. The silver line on the dark clouds is that some writers like the late Syed Qutb, Kalim Siddiqui, Zafar Bangash have risen to the occasion and stood up in support of these dissenting voices, there appears to be many more in the pipeline which appears good for the future for the re-emergence of Islam to the centre stage of the world, to take up the call of the underprivileged, the oppressed people just as our Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) did.
(Concluded)
