ALEPPO
Do humans really ever learn from their mistakes? Do we realize the discrepancies in the way we functioned in history, as compared to now? Or are we doomed to repeat it?
The gory details of the Battle of Aleppo have been splattered all over. In the past few weeks, we have seen heartbreaking videos of people pleading for help, of one month old babies being rescued from the rubble, of mothers wailing over dead children, of citizens heartbroken about the marred soul of their land as their city- the largest in Syria and once a commercial hub- is reduced to nothing but debris, with them trapped underneath.
The Battle has been going on since 2012, and is a part of the Syrian Civil War. Now, the city is the focal point of the conflict. While the government supported forces occupy the western parts of the city, the eastern part remains under the control of the rebel forces.
The city had served as a main base for rebel forces since just after the war began, and it became Assad’s prime target after Russia entered the war on his behalf. Pro Assad forces surrounded Aleppo in July, and cut off the supply and escape routes for the rebels (all broadly categorized as ‘terrorists’) and with Russian jets, have reduced the city to dust.
What was once a beautiful city, rich with culture and heritage, is now the worst hit city in the war. The night sky is no longer illuminated by city lights and stars; instead, you see silhouettes of smoke emanating from afar. The sounds of the daily hustle and bustle of the busy streets have now been replaced with the piercing cries of children and the threatening sounds of bombs and jets flying across the sky, as people simply await death.
This painful fall of Aleppo, unfortunately, will not mean the end of the Civil War. However, Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the Security Council on Tuesday that Aleppo will stand with the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda, the 1995 siege of Srebrenica and the 1988 gas attacks against Iraqi Kurds in Halabja and all those events in world history that “define modern evil, that stain our conscience decades later”. But to those who suffered and have been displaced and killed, these are just words.
As much as Assad must bear the brunt of what is happening, Putin’s intervention is not for absolute selfless reasons. Russia’s only eastern Mediterranean land presence is a base in Syria. Added to this is the fact that this intervention is in line with Putin’s global ambitions; that it is a global power to be reckoned with. However, he maintains throughout that this intervention comes simply from the fact that terrorism must be curtailed.
As the chaos swirls, civilians are scrambling to latch onto every single shred of hope that they can find. As Aleppo falls, the position of the rebel group weakens, and Assad has lesser reasons to pursue a political solution. It is now on the international leaders to pressurize Putin and Assad to end this war as quickly as they can, and focus fully on eradicating the Islamic State.
The senseless and ruthless massacre of the civilians is the evidence of the Syrian Civil War’s disoriented brutality. With over 400,000 dead, 1.6 million having fled the country and 6.6 million internally displaced, humanity has now been plunged into an eternal darkness and there seems to be no way out.
Writer: Divya Sethu
Editor: Diya Mathew
