As this is written the Muslims are fighting wars for liberation/survival in Palestine and Kashmir. But three of the largest Muslim countries that could have helped fight these wars — Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia — are in the grip of political crises.
The irony is that the crisis in all these countries has no internal cause or popular base, the crises have been engineered by their erstwhile American friends.
The governments of the three countries are much too eager to please the US even though the Americans themselves do not know what they want and why. They do not need to defy America or stand up to it, they need to ignore it and focus on meeting the » challenge on their doorstep. (DV March 16, 2001, p.22: “Western Mischief in Indonesia” and DV April 16, 2001, p.11: “Christian takeover of Muslim Indonesia”).
Madness in Turkey: Turkey has a popular political party with a popular agenda. It was called the Rifah Party, then the Fazilat Party and now all its members in the parliament sit as independents after the Supreme Court in Turkey outlawed it because it does not meet the requirements of its “secular” constitution.
The problem in Turkey is that its armed forces have appointed themselves custodians of such an absurd view of secularism which sees piety, modesty and adherence to Islamic beliefs and practice as a threat to the state. Such an interpretation of secularism would ‘? be held unlawfully in the USA or any country of West Europe. But Turkey is encouraged to persist in the absurdity.
IMF-engineered crisis: Fortunately, Turkey does not have an external enemy, and its internal crisis has been engineered entirely by the IMF. Ironically, it makes the return of Rifah back to power inevitable. The Army leadership has to think how far it would go and how long it could defy the will of the people. Turkey does not want help, nor does it want to extend any help to- the Muslim ummah. 1t would change by itself in its own time.
Pakistan is a formidable fortress of Islam. It is a nuclear power, it has large and well equipped, battle-tested modern armed forces comparable to the best in the world. it is the neighbour of two Islamic revolutions — in Iran and Afghanistan — and is host to jihad in Kashmir.
It is also the neighbour of India — a country whose upper caste rulers are ready and willing to engage in genocide of Muslims inside India and subversion and invasion of neighbouring countries. Having become a “strategic partner” of the USA and an overt ally of Israel, it would be the cutting edge of any instrument deployed against Islam and Muslims in the coming years. Pakistan is more than a match for India militarily, but its system and leadership have proved io be unequal to the task. Pakistan needs visionary leadership and wherewithal of resisting economic subversion by the IMF and political subversion by India. There are no real impediments in the way of Pakistan being transformed from being a problem to becoming an important part of the solution of the problems of the Muslim ummah.
Christian role in Indonesia: Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world. Their numbers are estimated to be around 250 million. Over 30 years of Suharto rule, the country made rapid economic progress. But the politico-economic culture it developed was based on victimisation of the Chinese enterprises and encouraging Hindu enterprises and Christians in the government including the armed forces.
While the Muslim elite grew wealth by corruption, viable enterprises remained in foreign hands. All the levers of real power — economic as well as military — are in foreign or secular hands.
President Wahid is a US protege and his constitutional heir, Vice-President Sukarnoputri, is even more so.
Indonesia is in a real mess. With all departments of the government thoroughly infiltrated by Americans, itis completely paralysed. The country is disintegrating rapidly even though it is essentially a rich country that has no external enemy. Like in Pakistan, all it needs is to accept and operate Islam as the basis of its national solidarity.
While Turkey will resolve its situation itself, Indonesia needs the Muslim world to hold its hand. Pakistan has the potential to affect the outcome of both wars and resolve its own problems as well as that of Indonesia.
The problem of Pakistan is the opposite of that of Turkey. Pakistan is an Islamic Republic, but it does not have the like of a Rifah Party. Islam is the basis of {he national solidarity of Pakistan but it is different to I Iran, Afghanistan or Sudan. Pakistan was established as a post imperial Islamic state founded on Tauheed — the operating principles of which are Freedom, Equality and Solidarity. But Pakistan lost its way and became apologetic about its purpose and mission.
Mischief in democracy: The Western democratic revolution, heralded by the French Revolution, was founded on similar values — Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. But these were not suitable as props for the practise of imperialism and colonialism. Over time, secularism and democracy came to be held as the foundation of Western civilisation’and sold as fundamental and universal values.
We need to resist the subversive influence of Western culture ‘and recognise that Islamic political culture continues to be pure and loyal to its foundation of freedom, equality and solidarity. We should resurrect pride in our polity and reject the subversion pedaled as party political democracy.
