By Sajjad Shaukat
Yemen
crisis cannot be seen in isolation, as it has provided the anti-Muslim
countries and lobbies with a golden chance to destabilize the Muslim World. It
is of particular attention that faced with an unending resistance in Iraq and
other volatile Islamic states, the US had planned to spark a civil war between
the Sunnis and Shias. In this context, a study of a leading think tank Rand
Corporation, titled ‘US Strategy in the Muslim World After 9/11’ was conducted
on behalf of the then US Deputy Chief of Staff for Air Force. The report of the
Rand Corporation which was released on December 27, 2004 advocated that Sunni-Shia
sectarian division and Arab-non-Arab ethnic differences should be exploited to promote
the US objectives in the Muslim World. The report of the Rand Corporation was
first implemented in Iraq where American CIA fuelled sectarian violence. In
2004, major terror-attacks were carried out against the Shias in Karbala and
Baghdad. Afterwards, a chain of Shia-Sunni clashes started between Iraqi Shias
and Sunnis, targeting each other’s mosques and religious leaders through bomb
blasts, suicide attacks etc.
After
experiment in Iraq, more deadly pattern of sectarian violence was conducted in
Pakistan As a matter of fact, by acting upon the old formula of ‘divide and
rule’, some US-led western countries including Israel and India leave no stone
unturned in creating disunity among the Muslim countries. In this regard, by
availing the international phenomena of terrorism in the aftermath of the 9/11
tragedy, some American and western lobbies have joined the Indo-Israeli lobbies,
and are collectively working in America and other European countries by
equating the “Global War on Terror” with “war on Islam” and acts of Al Qaeda
with all the Muslims. Pakistan, being the lonely atomic power in the Islamic
World irritates the eyes of the anti-Muslim entities. If India considers
Pakistan as its enemy number one, Israel also takes it and Iran in the same
sense. Recently, Tel Aviv has strongly opposed the nuclear deal between Tehran
and the US. However, all these similarities of interest have brought various
western countries—Israel and India to follow a common secret diplomacy with the
tactical support of Washington to target Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia
etc in one way or the other.
However,
in the backdrop of forced ouster of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in Yemen
and seizure of power by armed Houthi (Zaidi) militants led by Hadi’s
predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh, a joint aerial operation code named “Decisive
Storm” is being conducted by Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain,
Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan etc. The joint action has endorsement of Arab League and
support of many Muslim and Western countries. It is being highlighted that
Turkey which also considers providing logistical support to the Saudi-led operation
is reluctant to do so. Some of the
opinion makers are also suggesting Pakistan to insert It is notable that Yemen
has an area of 5, 27 829 Square Kms., and a population of 2, 3833 000. Out of
this population about 40% belong to Houthis. Yemen is largely a tribal society
with dwindling natural resources, which has contributed to rise in tribal
conflicts from time to time.
In
Yemen, no matter if you are rich or poor; you must have guns as part of
culture. Therefore, instead of shopping for food or clothes, customers prefer
to buy weapons and arms. The terrain of Yemen is mountainous with some patches
of desert and a strategically important coastline. The area is generally
acknowledged as Afghanistan of Middle East. The country is facing internal
strife since 1926. Undoubtedly, the nature of conflict in Yemen has been
socio-political. While, now it is being presented by the anti-Muslim countries
and their media as sectarian mainly because of the alleged Iranian support to
Houthis.
In
the 1962 civil war, republican revolution of Yemen was supported by seventy
thousand troops from Egypt. In that conflict, Houthis were secretly supplied
weapons by Israel to fight against the Egyptians. Since then, religio-political
movement of the Houthis took a violent shape under title of Ansarullah
(Partisans of God). It has created a space for local, regional and
extra-regional forces to play devilish politics to destabilize the Islamic
countries. Most of the Middle East countries have already been weakened by
world powers through economic sanctions, civil strife and military attacks. The
only country which has so far remained stable is Saudi Arabia.
It
is mentionable that some anti-Muslim entities are trying to create fissures in
Pak-Saudi friendship since April 10, this year when through a unanimous
resolution, Pakistan’s Parliament urged the government to stay neutral in the
Yemen conflict and refrain from getting embroiled in any military offensive due
to its drastic implications in the region. Parliament called upon “warring
factions in Yemen to resolve their differences peacefully through dialogue.”
The
resolution noted that the war in Yemen “is not sectarian in nature, but has the
potential of turning into a sectarian conflict which will have critical fallout
in the region including Pakistan. It said that in the case of “any violation of
Saudi Arabia’s territorial sovereignty and any threat to Harmain Shareefain
(Holy places), Pakistan will stand shoulder to shoulder with Saudi Arabia.” Calling
for unity among Muslim countries, the resolution urged Pakistan to play a
diplomatic role to end the crisis—also through the UN Security Council and
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) for an immediate ceasefire in
Yemen. On the same day, a corps commanders’ meeting presided over by Chief of
Army Staff Gen. Raheel Sharif expressed similar thoughts. On April 13,
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also held a high level meeting with
civil and military leaders, and reiterated Islamabad’s similar stand, mentioned
in the Parliament’s resolution. Earlier, in a meeting with the visiting Iranian
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zari, Prime Minister Sharif sated, “Besides the
loss of innocent lives, the Yemen crisis can undermine the unity of Muslim
world.”
And,
during a joint press conference in Tehran, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and Iranian counterpart explained on April 8, “We talked about Iraq,
Syria, Palestine...had a long discussion about Yemen and agreed for political
solution of the crisis…we both think war and bloodshed must stop in this area
immediately and a complete ceasefire must be established and the strikes must
stop” in Yemen. Meanwhile, same lobbies which are destabilizing the Muslim
World exploited the statement of the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign
Affairs Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash who warned Pakistan of having to pay a heavy
price for ambiguous stand—Tehran and Ankara seem to be more important to
Islamabad and than the Arab-Gulf countries—the vague stands of Pakistan and
Turkey are an absolute proof that Arab security—from Libya to Yemen—is the responsibility
of none, but Arab countries.”
Besides,
Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs, Sheikh Saleh bin Abdulaziz who visited
Pakistan termed the Parliament’s resolution as its Pakistan’s internal matter,
elaborating, “Saudi Arabia has strong ties with Islamabad, and we expect an
encouraging response from Pakistan.” While, Saudi Chief Adviser for Religious
Affairs, Dr Abdul Aziz termed the mediation talk about In fact, Islamabad has
always played a key role in unifying the Muslim world. Saudi Arabia is a brotherly
country and people of Pakistan hold them in high esteem. Pakistanis are ready
to scarify their resources for the safety, security and integrity of Saudi
Arabia. At the same time, they do not wish that Riyadh gets weakened in a
protracted war having serious consequences.
Pakistan
has suffered the cost of such wars in last three decades. Muslim World has also
seen the destruction and weakening of Iran and Iraq through such stratagem of
world powers. Hence, Pakistan’s approach to solve this issue is based on
attaining the political objectives through other than military means. Anyhow,
this does not preclude the military support to Saudi Arabia, if situation
demands. But, fact remains that the territorial make up of Yemen and the groups
involved in destabilization would embroil anti-Houthi forces in a prolonged war
which the US-led NATO powers have been experiencing in Afghanistan for 14
years. So, it will consume the military muscle of the Muslim countries.
Houthi
activists and forces of the ex-President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi supported by
the regional and extra-regional powers are exploiting the Yemen war by
projecting it as a Sunni-Shia conflict, whereas the conflict is politically
motivated. Nevertheless, Pakistan has analyzed the Yemen situation
realistically and adopted a course of action best suited to and other Muslim
states. Islamabad’s support to Riyadh is unequivocal, unflinching and
traditional. It needs to be cleared that efforts of certain quarters to create
a wedge and discontent in Pakistani society on the issue of sending forces or
assisting Saudi Arabia by projecting the conflict on sectarian lines, are bound
to fail.
Nonetheless,
taking cognizance of anti-Muslim countries which are manipulating the Yemen crisis
to destabilize the Muslim World, Pakistan and Islamic countries must endeavour
for making serious efforts in engaging the conflicting sides and resolve the
situation through diplomacy and dialogue. Media of the Muslim World should play
a mature role in diluting any divisive impression.
Sajjad
Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs
Islamic Militants,
Invisible
Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations
Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com
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