Editorial

The Western coalition’s ‘war of independence of Iraq’ is going nowhere.


It is now amply clear that President Bush’s administration would like to keep the war going until his term expires in 2008 so as to avoid the blame for a defeat.  And the Democrats too are loathe to demand a withdrawal because that would lend the Republicans a handle against them in the year of Presidential elections which they seem to be currently winning. So Iraq has to remain occupied, vandalized, and burn till the ‘civilized’ Americans choose a new incumbent for the White House. 


More than two-thirds of the British troops have already gone home. Of the other multinational forces, barely 6,000 remain in Iraq. Their numbers are bound to dwindle. Of course, the American casualties i.e., 66 men in August, were the least. But that could be achieved mainly with the help of creation of Israeli style ‘Green zones’ and by raising walls around sensitive areas.  Civilians, including women and children, continue to die at the hands of the US armed forces and irregulars and mercenaries a la ‘Blackwater’. Yet the report of General David Petreaus, commander of the US forces in Iraq, paints a rosy picture reporting progress in all sectors.


Most of US successes listed by Petreaus are illusory and self-deluding.  Guerilla wars are not fought for territory, but for hearts of the people. This important lesson from the Vietnam War has been forgotten by the Pentagon. The US is nowhere close to impressing the Iraqis. Nour Al-Maliki regime hardly fits the bill for a sovereign administration. Coalition nullifies his authority at the drop of a hat. An occupied territory with the occupier lending all the encouragement to divisive forces, could hardly be expected to exercise sovereignty. The country has turned into decrepit and dangerous territory, riven by ethnic and religious tension.  The American invasion has destroyed the fragile equilibrium between Sunnis, Shias and Kurds which the Saddam Hussein’s regime had been successful in building and holding for decades. Americans may keep up the pretence of winning the war in Iraq.  But the reality is that it has seriously destabilized a country that was in the process of welding into a nation. Neo-cons who hurled the US Administration into a misadventure in the pursuit of protecting its stooge i.e., Israel, have been proved wrong. They never took into account the complex dynamics of history, geography, ethnicity. American entry into Iraq was by its own volition, but exit would not be so.  Cost of descent of Iraq into violent sectarianism will have to be borne by the entire region.  One wonders if regional players other than Iran are looking into post-American future of Iraq.

The 3.5 per cent exclusive quota in the reservation category of Most Backward Classes for Muslims and Christians in Tamil Nadu fulfills a longstanding demand of the two communities. The fact that the bill for quota for two minority communities received the support from all political parties in the Assembly is indeed a much more satisfying aspect. However the credit for pushing the bill to fruition goes much more to Chief Minister Karunanidhi who has been in the forefront of ensuring social justice for all underprivileged classes in the southern state.


Tamil Nadu’s pioneering effort in enabling the backward classes to claim their legitimate share in the power structure has always been worthy of emulation. But for the Justice Party and social movements like Dravida Kazhgam, the state would not have been what it is today, a beacon of hope for the Dalit masses. The latest enactment takes the campaign still forward in roping in the downtrodden among the minorities into the race for social equality.


It is long since Muslims and Christians were declared socially and educationally backward in Tamil Nadu. Clubbed as they were with more enterprising groups from the among majority community, they hardly stood a chance to claim their share in the pie. Presence of a few extraordinarily successful business magnates in cities among the two communities often provided a misleading picture of the communities. Ownership of a few well-managed professional colleges also worked to the disadvantage of the community. It often conveyed an exaggerated assessment of their weight and share. However, the fact remained that vast majority of the Muslim and Christian masses were immersed deep in penury and drudgery. Legislatures and executive hardly ever reflected their numbers.


Provision of a quota is the most substantial advance in the situation of two communities. The NGOs would need to ensure that their share in the vital institutions of power does not go abegging for want of adequate numbers appearing for the competitive examination. The Muslim community would have to shed its lethargy in matters of primary education. Pursuit of petty businesses or overseas menial jobs have knocked off higher education and competitive exams from their list of priorities. Studies suggest that Muslims do not fill majority of seats in their own professional colleges, let alone figuring handsomely in government and mainstream institutions.


Now that the quota ensures numbers, the community would have to see that aspiring students get help from peripheral institutions such as hostels, libraries, book banks, scholarship endowments and common facilities centres such as cyber centres to climb up the ladder of opportunities. Unfortunately, the cities like Chennai seem to offer more facilities for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims than the seekers of degrees and knowledge.