The Meaning of Tumultus
“When a crowd rushes into your house without declaring its intention, it is, by definition, an invasion.”
Sovereignty is a strong word to be used nowadays. We added the word ‘Sovereignty’ to our preamble to remind ourselves of our responsibilities to our nation, as well as to the international community. In an era of complicated diplomatic relations in the international scenario, some nations remain intransigent as to the effect they have while trying to restore normalcy to a nation’s government by interceding in them. Their intentions might be well-founded, but often, their methodologies need not be that efficient.
A few days back, Turkish forces decided to invade Kurdish held Syria, with the help of Syrian backed militias, which prompted stern condemnation from its Western allies. Northeastern Syria, which was one of the most peaceful regions in and around Syria, was ultimately ravaged into a battleground. The sudden withdrawal of US troops and assistance from Syria was what might have triggered the sudden incursion. While the Turkish government tries to justify its claims that its actions were done keeping national security in mind, this incursion has resulted in more harm than good. The European Union has since then condemned the invasion.
While it is true that Turkey holds the most number of Syrian refugees, a United Nations report (UNHCR/Hussein Fatemi) states that nearly 1, 80,000 people have been displaced from their home since the Turkish offensive began in Oct 9, including many who had been previously displaced from elsewhere in Syria during the country’s protracted civil war. Most fled from the area around Syria’s border with Turkey to towns further south, where they’re now finding shelter in converted schools and in the homes of friends and relatives.
When elephants fight, it’s the grass that suffers.
It’s the same scenario with these refugees. Most of the refugee camps have been concentrated around the regions of Raqqa and Hasakkah. These regions were deprived of even basic services before the UN showed up. Water is critical, and the lack of water and sanitation services effectually becomes a critical vector leading to the spread of various diseases among the people. Still, the people remain resilient and hopeful of their future.
Turkey was a country that was on relatively friendly terms with the government of Syria before the civil unrest in 2011. Since then, it has fastidiously opposed the violent crackdown of protests from the citizens, by the Basher-Al-Assad government. Since then, Turkey has served as a base for Syrian rebels, and have even helped in training Syrian rebels to form the Free Syrian Army in July 2011. Since then, they have served as a safe zone and a base of operations for the rebels. They have made repeated military interventions into Syria, but none have got so out of hand as much as this one.
India is no naïve observer when it comes to the subject of invasions. India has suffered enough in the past, to recognize what Turkey did, and has condemned the nation for its actions. The fact that Turkey was a volunteer to help Syrian refugees hand in hand, was one of the main reasons why Turkey got a lot of international backing. But these recent actions, have invited a lot of criticism as to the future agenda as well as the modus operandi utilized by this nation. It is a daunting yet necessary task to find the fine line between helping and supporting rebels, and civilians, to robbing these people of their sovereignty. As of the situation in Syria, I think it’s very good to keep humble about our ability to read the future. But if the cease-fire holds, if there’s no more fighting, we can anticipate a certain level of stability, by which people don’t have to fear if they’ll have to flee or be in the line of fire. How this is going to translate into the lives of the people is a bit more difficult. How long will people remain displaced? No idea…k
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