Alliance should work to counter the ideology to which these terrorist organisations subscribe to justify their cause
JUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA: I watched closely the general reaction and public perception towards the proposed 34-nation alliance to fight the menace of terrorism. Apparently, the target is to build a military alliance to face a common enemy — but who is this common enemy? Is it the Islamic State (IS)? This terrorist organisation expanded in a matter of months right in front of our eyes and no one could do anything about it. Conflicting interests led to a stalemate and that’s why it is now operating as a full-fledged ‘state’.
As of now, the IS has already been facing a ‘forced’ coalition of Western and Muslim countries with disparate centres of foreign policies. Though air bombardment has limited IS capabilities to expand, until boots are on ground, it is not going to be eliminated for good. After burning its fingers in Afghanistan and in other Middle Eastern misadventures, the West has not committed any ground forces. Therefore, it’s the duty of regional powers to take over the task. It may not be practical for this proposed 34-nation alliance that includes Malaysia, Turkey and Nigeria in its ranks, to fight this regional war. However, the front on which this alliance should work is to counter the ideology to which these terrorist organisations subscribe to justify their cause. Al Qaeda might have been defeated, but we are now facing an even bigger danger from the IS. If the ideology it espouses is not defeated, another outfit will take over the mantle of darkness from the IS in the future. Terrorists can be gunned down, but their ideology cannot be wiped out by force alone. For that, work needs to be done on an alternative narrative to bring people together, and not to exclude them based on their religions, sects or schools of thought. This 34-nation alliance needs to work on the curriculum being taught in our schools and seminaries. It has to find out why our youth, regardless of whether educated from seminaries or schools, are turning towards extremism. Every nation has to share its experiences with others on how it’s fighting the war on a nefarious ideology.
With material resources, you may buy highly technical equipment that the West is desperate to sell to Muslim countries, but you can’t defeat ideology just by employing high-tech weaponry. For that, educationists, religious scholars, jurists and intellectuals have to work together. We need to turn our energies towards the real enemy — the ideology of hatred, which leads to extremism. As said, prevention is better than cure; it takes time but it is everlasting.
Masood Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2015.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
