April 6th 2003

The Iraq War of 2003 is a continuation of what used to be called “The Great Game (1) (2)”. In the 19th Century India was the prize, the UK lead actor or hero while Russia was seen as the villain. Oil has supplanted India and the UK is no longer lead actor. That role has devolved upon the USA. Blair plays Sancho Panza to Bush’s Don Quixote but any role at all is better than none. The Hindustani saying is that the thief forced to give up stealing does not give up being crooked and indulges himself by sleight of hand trickery

Choar Choari sey jaaey pur heyraapheyree sey naheen chooktaa applies.

For the rulers of the USA and the UK the world continues to be divided between East and West or “We and “They”. The bonds between the USA and UK are much stronger than those between the USA and its allies of long standing such as Pakistan.

The cause lies in a self image or perception which is erroneous. The USA and the UK make themselves out to be “civilised” which makes them duty bound to deliver the benefits of “civilisation” to the rest of the world. This is despite the USA being the only nation in the world to have used the atom bomb in war.

The other question is not politics at all but economics and the profit motive. Which means the “Wells of Power” or “oil”. If Iraq were not oil rich would it still be necessary to “civilise” it with immediate effect?

This resurrected version of the “White Man’s Burden” would be the joke of the 21st Century were it not for calamity being visited upon the people of Iraq and the danger posed for the remains of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization. These sites are important for the history of all humanity. There is, besides, concern for the sites considered sacred and holy by Shi”ite Islam. The soil of Najaf and Karbala is sacred [Khaak ey Paak] and forms part of the ritual in the daily offering of prayer (Namaaz) by Shi’ite Muslims all over India Pakistan and Bangladesh. This sacred earth is imported from Iraq and a pellet placed where the head meets the ground when lowered in prostration to the Almighty.

There is also anxiety about the graves of Indians Pakistanis and Bangladeshis buried in the sacred cities. Shiites with resources used to arrange to have their remains interred in Iraq after their deaths. The violence inherent in war (such as bombing) could obliterate the many sites of burial where Indian Pakistani and Bangladeshis are interred.

It is hoped that countries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh will not be bamboozled browbeaten or beguiled into helping the USA and UK in this or any other war. The Indians including Gandhiji helped the war effort in 1914-18 in the hope that victory would make the grateful for help Brits improve the lot of the Indians. Alas! this was not to be. The British lived up to their image of “Perfidious Albion” and turned upon the giver of help in time of need quite viciously after they had achieved victory.

We can revisit the scene in 1918/1919.

The Great War 1914-1918 was over. Germany had been convincingly beaten. France had been bled dry. Russia was torn apart by the 1917 Revolution and the Turkish Empire was crumbling. Britain was the most powerful nation in the world. Something like what the USA is today. Only much more so as the superiority claimed was on the basis of race.

The contribution made by India to the war effort in 1914-1918 was substantial as can be seen from the figures of army recruitment. 700,000 men were raised in India to fight for the British of whom 120,000 became casualties. The War fund was subscribed to generously and a hundred thousand pounds sterling collected for the fund to buy aircraft.

The victory in war had Sir Michael O’Dwyer, Lt Governor of the Punjab issue a proclamation to state

“I desire to acknowledge … the unfaltering spirit of loyalty and sacrifice which the Punjab has shown throughout the struggle, even in the days of gloom and anxiety”.
“The Punjab has sent nearly four hundred thousands of her sons to fight the battles for the King-Emperor.”
“In France and in Belgium, in Africa and in Persia and above all in Egypt, Palestine Syria and Mesopotamia, those men have bravely upheld the proud traditions of their province, successfully protected the frontiers of India, and have borne a gallant part in the achievement of final victory”.
“The Punjab will ever cherish the memory of those who have fought and fallen; it will welcome back with honour those that return; and it will not forget those at home, who, though they could not share the dangers of war, helped to secure the peace of the Province, to maintain the flow of recruits to our forces in the field and to succour the wounded and the suffering
“I am proud that the Punjab during my term of office has so ably fulfilled its duty

(signed M.F.O’Dwyer )

This message appeared in the Victory number of the official Punjab government publication the Hakk published in English Urdu and Gurmukhi on 16th November 1918

By April 1919 the British under the direction of the same Michael O”Dwyer were mowing down unarmed masses by firing at them on the ground and bombing them from aeroplanes purchased by subscriptions raised by Punjabis.

We shall return to this time of treachery in another column.