We know how to retaliate

Death upon death in Lebanon Tuesday as in one stroke suicide bombers hit Iran and Hizbullah in the Shia district of Janah, southern Beirut, writes amal !krumah

The site of e"plosions near the Iranian embassy in Beirut #photo$ %euters& 20-11-2013 The Shia factor in the Levantine body politic is increasingly metamorphosing into a dangerous debacle. The Lebanese news media do not agree on much. But they have been almost at one in condemning the suicide bomb blast that rocked the predominantly Shia suburb of anah in southern Beirut. !s !l"!hram Weekly went to press# it became apparent that the death toll was no less than $% and fast rising. Lebanese &ealth 'inister !li &assan (hali declared that the e)plosions also wounded more than *+% people. ,nitial reactions insinuated that -ihadist and takfiri .fundamentalist/ Sunni militias# both Lebanese and Syrian# were behind the anah suicide bombings that occurred Tuesday morning. These groups have targeted &i0bullah strongholds in recent months in what several observers believe to be retaliation by Sunni 'uslim militant ,slamists for &i0bullahs role in Syrias civil war. 1et many such Sunni militant groups refuted the allegations and condemned the attacks. Both ,ran and &i0bullah suspect a more militarily sagacious and politically savvy foe. ,n short# ,srael.

Speaking to &i0bullahs !l"'anar T2# !mbassador 3ha0anfar 4oknabadi# the ,ranian chief envoy to Lebanon# pointedly identified the ,ranian cultural attach5 Sheikh ,brahim !nsari as having been one of the victims of the blast. 4oknabadi noted that !nsari only took his post in Lebanon a month ago and was overseeing all regional Levantine cultural activities# including Syria. 'ere coincidence6 &i0bullah has emerged as a key ally in the Syrian civil war. ,ndeed# &i0bullah officials have publicly boasted that without &i0bullah military backing# the regime of Syrian 7resident Bashar !l"!ssad would not last for two hours. 8We tell those who carried out the attack that you cannot break our fighting spirit#9 &i0bullah parliamentarian !li 'akdad told !l"'ayadeen television channel. 8We know who committed this atrocious act. We got the message and we know who sent it and we know how to retaliate#9 'akdad threatened in what many observers believe was a reference to ,srael. !mbassador 4oknabadi insinuated that ,srael and ,sraeli agents in Lebanon were behind the blasts. 8Whoever carried out the suicide bomb blasts was acting on ,sraeli instructions#9 he said. The mid"morning blasts in anah sent shockwaves across Lebanon. :ot only is the neighbourhood a stronghold of &i0bullah# it also houses several key embassies beyond that of ,ran# including (uwait and several other diplomatic missions. The three"floor ,ranian diplomatic mission in Beirut was severely damaged. !nd many of the victims# dead and in-ured# were innocent bystanders. ;ven though anah district is in predominantly poor and deprived southern Beirut# it is a relatively wealthy neighbourhood where richer Shia Lebanese# Syrians and ,ranians reside. &i0bullahs !l"4asoul !l"!a0am &ospital immediately put out a call for people to donate blood. ,t is reported that thousands obliged# lining up in front of the hospital. 'any of the in-ured were !sian and !frican domestic workers# cooks and street cleaners and drivers working for local Shia families. Were Tuesdays twin blasts in anah a tragic blunder by anti"Shia 'uslim 0ealots# a cynical and calculating blow by the ,sraelis# or a conspiracy of both to undermine the power and prestige of both &i0bullah and ,ran6 <ntil recently some would have suspected a different kind of conspiracy= one carried out by militias intent on spilling over the Syrian civil war into Lebanon. Thousands of Sunni 'uslim miscreants# militant Levantines both Syrian and Lebanese# are now residing in Lebanon. !nd with both the ,ranians and &i0bullah intensifying military operations inside Syria# tipping the balance in favour of !l"!ssad# his Sunni 'uslim opponents have reason to bring the battle elsewhere. >or now# the Lebanese motto appears to be= Lets stick together. ,s that feasible under these circumstances6 7erhaps only if there is a consensus that ,srael is the culprit. The dilemma for the perpetrators of this heinous crime that rocked anah is that they may be damned if they keep silent# and damned if they speak out and admit their guilt. ,f it turns out to be the ,sraelis who masterminded or e)ecuted the anah tragedy# most certainly no one# friend or foe# would think that they performed the political e?uivalent of a clever -udo move. :either ,ran nor &i0bullah would be in the least terrorised# or deterred. ,f anything# the battle"hardened allies will strike back with vengeance.

Why secularism must increasingly matte r

A Lebanese man runs in front of a burned car at the scene where two explosions struck near the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, Nov. !, "# $ In fact, secularism must increasin%ly matter in the purported world of democracy if societies are to be spared murderous inter&reli%ious violence and bloody disinte%ration. In 'outh Asia, India has done well to obli%ate the state to maintain an e(ui&distance amon% the country)s reli%ious communities. Increasin% sectarian and reli%ion&based violence sweepin% the developin% world in particular should emphasi*e afresh the need to keep politics and reli%ion separate in the affairs of states. Althou%h debates are rife on democracy and its stren%ths, not enou%h effort has %one in worldwide, apparently, to the essential task of hi%hli%htin% the crucial importance of secularism to the effective functionin% of a democratic polity. 'ecularism, essentially, refers to the separation of politics and reli%ion. +e have ,ust had a stunnin% reminder of the monstrous harm sectarianism could do, from Lebanon, where a bomb blast in close proximity to the Iranian embassy in Beirut has killed over "# people and wounded scores of others. -his bloody happenin% is seen as a spill&over from the 'hia& 'unni reli%ious friction currently reportedly sava%in% nei%hbourin% 'yria. As could be %athered, the Bashar Al&Assad administration in 'yria is seen as 'hia&oriented, while the current armed opposition to the %overnment is described as bein% lar%ely 'unni in identity. 'ince the 'hia and 'unni sects are spread almost all over the Islamic world, it should not come as a surprise if any friction between these sects in one country shows a tendency of spreadin% to nei%hbourin% states, as is seen in the cases of 'yria and Lebanon. .owever, it is not only the /iddle

East which is do%%ed by reli%ion&based friction. It is, of course, also bedevilin% 'outh Asia, includin% 'ri Lanka. In some parts of the /iddle Eastern theatre, violence unleashed a%ainst 0hristians testifies further to the %rave dama%e reli%ion&inspired violence does to the values of reli%ious tolerance and peaceful co&existence amon% communities. It is not news any lon%er that reli%ious friction is also seriously affectin% social peace in /yanmar, which is takin% some steady steps alon% the path of democratic development. An acid test of /yanmar)s emer%in% democratic credentials would be its ability to separate politics from reli%ion. In other words, secularism should be seen as inte%ral to democracy. In fact, secularism must increasin%ly matter in the purported world of democracy if societies are to be spared murderous inter&reli%ious violence and bloody disinte%ration. In 'outh Asia, India has done well to obli%ate the state to maintain an e(ui&distance amon% the country)s reli%ious communities. In other words, the Indian state cannot identify itself with this or that reli%ion, includin%, of course, the ma,ority reli%ion. 1akistan is fast %ainin% %round as an important democracy in this re%ion and it is hoped that she too would increasin%ly traverse the path of reli%ious inclusivity. -he seeds of reli%ious disaffection are also sown when the state associates itself very closely with this or that reli%ion. In a thrivin% democracy, the state does not see itself as bein% obli%ed to take upon itself the task of upholdin% the interests of any specific reli%ion. In flourishin% democracies, reli%ions too are %iven the opportunity of takin% root and %rowin% but the responsibility of dispensin% the affairs of these reli%ions devolves on institutions and bodies pertainin% to these reli%ions, which are usually left alone by the state. Admittedly, makin% secularism flourish is no easy task. 2reat Britain is considered one of the world)s foremost democracies, but until (uite recently, she had to %rapple seemin%ly unsuccessfully with the Northern Ireland problem which saw two 0hristian denominations in the province violently pittin% themselves a%ainst each other for, primarily, %overnance powers. It took decades of conflict resolution efforts in Northern Ireland before finally a power&sharin% arran%ement of sorts between the main reli%ious communities was shored&up in the province with the help of the British central administration. 3i%ht now, this power&sharin% deal is holdin%.

2enerally, it is deprivation of numerous kinds within states which %ive rise to the emer%ence of identity politics. 3eli%ion&based politics is one species of identity politics and it should be clear that it is the perception amon% members of a reli%ious or cultural %roup that they are deprived in some way or another that compels them to take to politics, includin% violent politics. -his occurred, for example, amon% Northern Ireland)s 3oman 0atholic community. Numerous deprivations suffered by communities make it easy for opportunistic politicians to mobili*e these communities behind them with the promise that these problems will be redressed if they are voted to power. 'uch situations also set the sta%e for keen and bitter competition amon% communities to ascend the seats of power. A dire conse(uence of these tendencies is inter&communal friction and social disinte%ration. -hese processes are speeded&up when community leaders take to militant politics on reali*in% that their non&violent campai%ns are not brin%in% the re(uired dividends. Needless to say, these tendencies have taken hold in numerous parts of the developin% world today, includin% the /iddle East and 'outh Asia. 4iolent separatist campai%ns are a lo%ical outcome of these disinte%rative tendencies. Apparently, 5democratic discourse) worldwide has not focused on some of these cardinal issues at the heart of the democratic system, over the decades. -oday, on account of the vast ma,ority of states claimin% to be democratic, the analyst could be excused takin% on himself the task of prescribin% to these states what needs to be done to speed&up democratic development. +hile the 6N has done well to institute conventions enshrinin% people)s ri%hts to 1eace and 7evelopment, an effort also needs to be made by the world community to link democracy with secularism. Ideally, what we need to understand by development is %rowth plus e(uity. It is the failure to achieve this that leads to deprivations of numerous kinds, which in turn breed identity politics. 'o, one of the surest means of bluntin% the appeal of identity politics is the usherin% of %rowth with e(uity. .owever, it is also vitally important that the above paradi%m is linked with secularism or the ideal of keepin% politics and reli%ion separate. It is the inability to do the latter which has enabled the power&hun%ry to send societies down the path of disinte%ration and break&up by championin% divisive sectarian and reli%ion&based political campai%ns. -hese ideals cannot be reali*ed by the world community in a hurry nor would they be found to be palatable by many. But the world needs to be%in

somewhere in terms of awareness&raisin% and international or%ani*ations, such as the 6N, cannot afford to dra% their feet on these (uestions.