Trump cannot bring peace!

The Iran-US conflict has opened cleavages in the current world order. However, there is no attempt to stitch it. All the behavior of political leadership across the world defies any articulation. It is neither traditional nor modern. It only displays irresponsibility and arrogance, and has acquired a pattern. It sticks to selfish motives and openly acts against humanity. There is no remorse about the killings of innocent people, including women, children and elders. What Gaza has witnessed in Palestine is being repeated in Iran.

The killing of 160 school girls in Minab is an example. The US or Israel tried to play innocent by terming the attack as a missed target. No one believed it. This is something that assures us of the common wisdom.

All the propaganda to demonise Iranians has failed. Since antiquity, Humanity has functioned on its own logic and set limits to barbarism. Even in medieval days, the killing of women and children was considered cowardice.

International conventions also prohibit it. It is a crime to kill civilians and is liable to prosecution. It has been done by a country that has been claiming the status of moral police, the US. The actions of Gulf countries show how wisdom prevails and restrains one's behavior. They are not retaliating against the Iranian attacks of missiles and drones. Indeed, people of these countries do not want to fight on the side of Israel and the USA. But, is there any need to go along with the sentiment of the common people? They are not democracies. They are monarchies, that too with colonial roots. There is no compulsion for them to listen to the people.

The opposite is true for Israel and the USA. There is overwhelming opposition to the war in these countries. The main opposition leader of Israel is accusing the Netanyahu regime of sending soldiers without any strategy. The language may not appeal to us as it sounds like a conditional endorsement of war. Keeping in view the communalization of the Israeli society and state, the statement must be taken as an opposition to war. There is significant opposition to war in the country.

The voice of reason has a space in an otherwise militaristic country. Israel is not a monarchy, nor is it an authoritarian state. Despite this fact, the democratic system is in a fragile state. There is complete media censorship. People do not know how many people have died from Iranian missiles.

The Islamic regime of Iran gives every bit of information about war devastation and casualties, and the democratic government of Israel deprives its citizens of every piece of information. Does it not compel us to analyse the sort of affair?

The USA shows the same thing, but in a different way. Here, the Congress, the media, and the judiciary, every organ of democracy, are active and vocal. Trump does not hesitate to express his irritation with the defiant media, yet he has to answer their questions. His ministers cannot skip the questions of the lawmakers. But do we see any sign of human concern in the behaviour of the USA when it comes to military interventions or trade deals?

The USA never cares how many die or face famines due to its military or business pursuits. Doesn't it mean that democracy is not a guarantee for the human behavior of nations? It needs more than this. It requires unwavering faith in the future of mankind and boundless compassion.

We also suffer from a similar disease. We have all institutions, including parliament, judiciary and a free media. However, none of it is functional. The Prime Minister never addresses a press conference, hardly briefs the opposition or the parliament on important issues.

The judiciary also hardly gives any judgment that stops the executive or the institutions under its control from acting as per its wishes. The rights organizations rate India’s democracy among the worst-performing countries. The USA does not behave democratically in the international arena despite being a vibrant democracy. The people of America oppose war, but the state goes to war. We also show similar behavior with a dysfunctional democracy. It means the quality of democracy does not matter in situations that threaten the well-being of the world. Does it need deeper commitments on the part of institutions towards the larger interests of humanity?

Who are the people coming in the way? Who has ensured that no institution should function humanely? They have hijacked or made institutions redundant, from local bodies to the United Nations. When they talk of Gaza, dying people do not occupy any place in their discourse.

When they talk of Iran, they forget about the girls of Minab. They talk of sea, sky and land. Only oil, gas and other energy resources attract them. The fact is that they represent the interests of few. They represent the interests of transnational business entities.

Can they ensure a peaceful world? Can they free us from war? No. They cannot. No one should hope that Trump could be compelled to rational behavior. He represents the interests of the rich. His ultranationalist slogan of Make America Great Again is only to mobilize people to promote the interests of the arms industry and oil companies. American democracy cannot stop him from doing so.

In India, the same interests are guiding our foreign policy. The Prime Minister’s visit to Israel marks the departure from non-alignment to a rightward shift towards the USA. How can a fragile democracy like India force its leadership to go another way? We have seen that the Prime Minister did not attend the All-Party Meeting. His statement in Parliament was so brief.

If we want a radical change in our approach towards other nations, we will have to transform our way of looking at things. Mahatma Gandhi can only guide us. No democracy can take you to the right path unless your commitment in humanity is total.

(The author is a senior journalist. He has experience of working with leading newspapers and electronic media including Deccan Herald, Sunday Guardian, Navbharat Times and Dainik Bhaskar. He writes on politics, society, environment and economy)