The Russia-Ukraine conflict and Israel’s war on the terrorist group Hamas and various other extremist groups have distracted the attention from conflicts in the Indo-Mediterranean. In Afghanistan, the Taliban has completely taken over the country and has launched a diplomatic offensive to gain international acceptance. However, they have disenfranchised the female population banning women from working and studying. Female Afghan citizens find themselves locked in their houses, at the mercy of a regime which gives them no rights, not to mention religious minorities who have left the country.
It is not much better in Pakistan, Afghan refugees are being deported to the clutches of the Taliban in the middle of a harsh winter, as the world is distracted from the conflicts of the day. Violence against minority Hindus, Christians and Ahmadiyyas is on the rise as Pakistan veers from one political crisis to another.
Similar horrifying stories are being told after a regime change in Bangladesh recently saw Nobel Laureate Mohamed Yunus replace elected leader Shiekh Hasina in Dhaka. Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians are being singled out and targeted, their businesses destroyed, their leaders arrested on trumped up charges, while Yunus flies to China on the country’s independence day.
From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean, the story repeats itself in Syria, where Sunni, Muslim brotherhood inspired HTS replaced the gruesome Assad regime. Minorities including Kurds, Alawites, and Shi’as do not accept the new regime’s impositions, finding themselves dealing with a new government that they fear will be more brutal than the one it replaced. Apart from religious and ethnic minorities, it is the vulnerable groups, the women and children, that suffer the most from these radical groups seizing power. To bring the suffering of these various groups to light, a panel ‘Indo-Mediterranean: radicalization and human rights’ was organised at the United Nations in Geneva during the 58th session of the Human Rights Council on the 25th of March.
Senator Marco Dreosto, member of the Italian Senate said, “Politics has the duty to protect the most vulnerable, from persecuted Christians around the world, including the Middle East, to women and girls, who must be free from impositions that strip them of their identity, such as the full covering of the face. Defending the freedom and dignity of every individual is not just a principle but a responsibility.” While calling for the protection of ethnic and religious minorities from persecution Rahul Kumar, city parliamentary member of Frankfurt a.m., called for collective action against radicalization, a growing threat that affects communities worldwide, including in Europe. “We must act now by empowering education, strengthening democracy, and protecting those most at risk. The future and dreams of millions depend on the choices we make today”, he said.
Italian Member of Parliament, Naike Gruppioni said, “In Afghanistan, we are witnessing the return of a regime that has erased decades of women’s civil achievements in just a few months. In Iran, the repression of personal freedoms strikes with ferocity at anyone who dares to raise their voice for liberty. In Syria and Yemen, endless wars continue to devastate lives and communities. Yet, amid so much suffering, we also see courage, dignity, and resistance in the women fighting for the right to study, in the young people protesting for freedom, and in religious leaders calling for dialogue instead of violence.”, as she called for reinforcement of protection of minorities, especially women and children.
Ahmediyya-Swiss politician, Anwar Mehmood Rahman, spoke of his personal experience of discrimination and violence in Pakistan, while Erik Selle called for international institutions to be vigilant against violence against Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. “Freedom is given by God and taken away by men, liberty is a birthright but not necessarily a natural state. We cannot be complacent to subjugation of human rights either by states or ideologies”, stated Selle Konservativt, Norway’s Christian Conservative Party Leader.
“With global geopolitics in constant flux, the power vacuum created is being replaced by radical Islamic groups from Bangladesh to Syria. This does not bode well for the future of the Indo-Mediterranean, the birthplace of all modern major religions. Radicalization is also the root cause of security challenges in the world and the survivors of these conflicts bear the brunt of their trauma for life. We must, united, combat radicalization in all forms-it is our basic duty to protect all ethnic and religious minorities despite their geographies”, concluded Vas Shenoy, the moderator of the panel and the President of Glocal Cities.
