Covid19 calls for rethink on international politics
By Javeed Bin Nabi
The world is going through worst and unprecedented times. Perhaps, it would not be wrong to say that after the World War-II this is the first time when the whole world is on the edge, grappling with COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has shook and shattered the global economy, markets have crashed and millions of people are without jobs. Without a grain of doubt, the world is facing the biggest, rather the worst catastrophe. It is reported that more than one lakh human lives have been lost and two million around the world inflicted by the deadly COVID-19, which was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization past month. More-importantly, according to reports, more than 4,00,000 people have thus far also recovered from the lethal virus globally.
The first cases of COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province in December last year. Within no time, the virus spread out like a wildfire and virtually blew away the entire world. From the mighty USA to Italy, France to Russia, more and more countries are going for lockdown as a means to stave off the spread of baffling virus.
The pandemic has brought the humanity to knees both physically and economically — acting as an invisible global enemy which knows no geographical frontiers, markers of class, caste, ethnicity or the much-discussed nationalism. The novel virus is treating all “-isms” and people belonging to varied backgrounds, faiths and beliefs alike. It is posing the biggest threat to even the mighty and developed nations, who otherwise never cease to boast about their military might and technological superiority. Under these horrific circumstances, the small states which are caught in the throes of protracted conflicts, makes them more vulnerable to the novel disease.
Call for peace
Given their vulnerability, the United Nations Secretary General Antinio Gueterio called for an immediate “Global Ceasefire” to beat the disease. He said “it is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and forces together on the true fight of our lives”. The UN chief called on warring parties to pull back from the brink of ongoing conflicts and hostilities. “Put mistrust and animosity aside and silence the guns, stop the artillery and end the strikes.”
This indeed is a major development coming out from the UN to combat the deadly contagion collectively and save the world from another disaster and disrupter. Here, I believe that the world will not bear the two sharp-edged swords at a single time. There indeed is need to silence the guns for the cause of humanity. A call from Secretary General will pave the way for various international organizations and other world donors to reach-out to various post-colonial, underdeveloped and developing countries including the millions of displaced refugees with a humanitarian aid and other medical facilities.
The post-colonial and the other conflict-ridden countries will be worst hit of the pandemic. However, during the continuous air strikes and the blazing gunships, it will not be possible for any international humanitarian organizations and other NGOs working for peace to reach-out to the people in the worst hit war-torn countries like Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Afghanistan, Burma and elsewhere. In these troubled countries, the war has uprooted and killed millions and has become a daily disruptor.
Frederic Wehrey, author of “The Burning Shores: Inside the Battle for the New Libya” wrote in the New York Times: “The spread of the novel coronavirus will have a devastating effect on the Middle East’s communities of refugees and migrants. The pandemic may also bring into focus the legitimacy and governance deficit of increasingly troubled Middle Eastern regimes.”
Interestingly, a call for global peace was endorsed by more than 70 countries so far including the eleven war-torn countries like Philippines, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Colombia, Syria, and Ukraine, which undoubtedly is a way forward to save more and more human lives across the globe. It will also play a significant role in those conflict-ridden countries where hospitals and other healthcare facilities have been disrupted in airstrikes and continued fighting between the warring parties including their western and eastern allies.
The call for ceasefire was also backed by peace ambassadors cum Nobel laureates like Malala Yousafzai, Charlize Theron and a world-known novelists Paulo Coelho with many other world celebrities.
History bears the witness that ceasefire offers some kind of thaw, or in other words, a short lived de-escalation process between the warring parties. It sometimes also helps in building a long road for a political dialogue. While talking about the immediate need of ceasefire, UN Secretary General in his poignant article in ‘The Guardian’ strongly argued for “unity and the collective action to face-down the COVID-19 pandemic and its shattering consequences around the world.”
Meanwhile, it has become a tough task for both the Secretary General in particular and the United Nations in general to maintain a full coordination and equilibrium between the countries when the suspicion is continuously mounting about the use of bio-weapon by the People’s Republic of China to become a “new” hegemon in the world politics. But there are others who are of the view that it was USA who did it for trying to contain the rising economy of China.
Conclusion
Like elsewhere, in Kashmir too many lives have been lost to the COVID-19 and large number of people continue to get infected with each passing day. Being responsible members of the United Nations, India and Pakistan also need to heed UN chief’s call for an immediate ceasefire on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC). Government of India should also announce an immediate ceasefire with the militant groups in troubled Kashmir.
In the last two weeks also, more than 20 lives were lost to guns from both sides in Kashmir. Saving human lives in these tough times must be the priority of both the state and non-state actors. We must remember that the ceasefire agreements are the first milestone for crafting a peace deal and sometimes they end-up with a mutually agreed political dialogue and peace. Let the warring parties not lose the opportunity. It is time to break the chain of both contagion transmission and the cycle of killings. Let peace and better sense prevail.
(Author is Post-Graduate in International Relations, from IUST Awantipora, Kashmir)
