Ashfaq S Mehdi
The Syrian uprising which was inspired by the Arab spring began with peaceful protests against Bashar Al Assad’s regime and after repressive crackdown by the Syrian Army had escalated into a Sunni-Shiite conflict. It’s interesting that both sides, in order to validate their cause would not admit. More than 93,000 people both Sunnis and Shias have already been killed and a million and half of the 20 million population of Syria are displaced mostly to Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey.
Syria is ruled by the Alawites, a sect of Shias who are less than 13% of total population and majority in the military leadership are Alawites. There are ominous signs that the whole region is being sucked into this sectarian war. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey along with most of the nations of the west are backing the rebels (Free Syrian Army) while Iran, Hizbullah of Lebanon along with Russia are with the regime. Thousands of Shias from neighboring Lebanon and Iraq have moved into Syria as religious duty to fight for Bashar Al Assad and a large number of Sunnis from other countries are fighting alongside the rebels against Assad’s regime. European Union on the insistence of UK and France lifted the arms embargo on the rebels and United States as big policy change, has announced that it will now directly supply arms to the rebels.
Sunni’s are name calling Shias and vice versa. The Egyptian Islamic theologian Yousef Al Qardawi based in Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt have urged Sunnis to fight against Bashar Al Assad and likewise Hassan Nasrallah is inciting Shias to fight.
The fighting in Syria is spilling over to neighboring countries. Sunni-Shiite clashes are spreading across Lebanon with infighting being reported in the city of Sidon and Tripoli. May was the bloodiest month in Iraq and 2012 was the worst year in the history of Pakistan for sectarian violence.
The victory for either side will come at a price. The people in Syria will pay the price in blood, tears, destruction and economic hardships for years to come. And there are forces in the world that will profit at their expense by selling arms and making political gains. The violent behavior of Muslims is simply sickening and disgusting.