The “Civilized” World Responsible for Human Tragedies.
By: Shafique-ur-Rehman Shakir
Everywhere there are corpses — innocent bodies drenched in blood, crushed pieces of human flesh, and mutilated faces. Flames are raining down from the sky, and the earth appears red with blood. What exactly is happening? The so-called civilized world of the twenty-first century, which claims progress, human freedom, and fundamental rights — are all these atrocities being committed in the name of human welfare and peace, or in the name of religion?
A few slaves of greed and lust have turned the world into a living hell. Like hungry vultures, they are after the financial and economic resources of weak nations and helpless countries. They keep trying to deceive the world by claiming that they want to eliminate threats, grant freedom to enslaved nations, bring prosperity to humanity, and secure basic rights for the oppressed. But in reality, they are first-class liars, deceitful and manipulative. They are international swindlers who continue filling their own pockets while entertaining people with melodious tunes and inspiring slogans.
In name, they present themselves as champions of democracy and guardians of human rights, but in pursuit of their economic and financial interests they turn innocent children into orphans and the disabled, make women widows, and leave the elderly crippled in every corner of the world. If one carefully studies their history and reviews their dark deeds, it becomes clear that they are among the most cruel and merciless forces in the world. Under the pretext of granting freedom to oppressed nations, they have always subjugated weaker nations through oppression and brutality.
What did they do in Libya? What happened in Iraq and Afghanistan? What kinds of suffering and torment did they inflict in Syria and Lebanon? How have they treated Yemen and Somalia? What has become of Venezuela and Ukraine? All of this is evident before the world. The massacre committed in Palestine is still unforgettable. And now they claim to be liberating the people of Iran!
In this so-called civilized and cultured world, there is no one to stop them or teach them a lesson. All global institutions are under their control, because these institutions themselves depend on their support. How, then, can they ever be held accountable?
The issue is not only about Trump. In reality, the mindset and psychology of all these powerful and greedy rulers are the same, and their attitudes and behavior are identical. They consider themselves the masters of the world and treat their own wishes and decisions as if they were the global constitution and universal law.
One of the biggest concerns troubling the world today is how to stop the millions of refugees entering their countries. According to an estimate, about 300,000 refugees travel to Europe every year, most of them from the Middle East and African countries. From a human-rights perspective, the fact that millions of people are forced to leave their homes and wander from place to place is a very serious issue, yet the so-called civilized world has turned a blind eye to it.
Why has this problem become so severe? The main reason, it is said, is the constant interference by Western countries in weaker states to serve their own ugly interests. As a result of such policies, efforts to redraw the geographical boundaries of those countries have intensified. The so-called rebellion movements against the ruling governments, the wars and civil conflicts within those countries, and the strengthening of terrorist organizations there — all appear to be part of a long strategic plan.
One must also ask: whenever a political government supported by the people barely begins its work, why do the same countries that claim to be champions of democracy try to overthrow it through rebellion? The outcome of such disgraceful actions is obvious: genuine political forces representing the people are pushed into isolation, while terrorists and extremists fill the vacuum. Alternatively, governments come into existence that represent not the sentiments of their own people but the political, social, and commercial interests of Western countries — governments that even fire bullets at their own citizens to protect those interests.
Get Shafique Rehman Shakir’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
What can be the fate of such societies? Naturally, feelings of deprivation and hatred increase, violence spreads in society, and people begin to suffocate in their own countries. As a result, millions are forced to leave their homelands and seek refuge elsewhere. If the so-called civilized countries truly understood the suffering and torment these refugees endure, they would not seal their borders against these helpless and confused human beings.
In the past, such a situation occurred in many parts of Cambodia when the United States dropped carpet bombs on innocent people. Today, similar situations are unfolding in Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. People who have lost everything, who are merely trying to save their lives and the lives of their children, searching for food and shelter — closing the doors of supposedly civilized nations on them is such an inhumane and cruel act that humanity itself bows its head in shame.
The great hypocrisy and double standards of those global powers — who preach human rights and moral ideals to the Third World day and night — are worthy of endless condemnation. Yet they express concern about the refugee crisis with such innocence as if they had no idea whose seeds produced this disastrous harvest.
Within just a few years, nearly two million Syrian refugees have been struggling in the small country of Lebanon alone. Hundreds of thousands more Syrians are suffering in Iraq, Jordan, and Turkey. Likewise, millions of refugees from North and Central Africa are heading directly toward Europe. At times, it seems as though all of humanity has been forced into migration.
Perhaps Western societies do not realize that behind their dreams of a bright future, the lamps of countless lives in Asia and Africa are being extinguished. Beneath the grand palaces of their luxury lie the buried bodies of millions of innocent people.
Western interference in other countries is not a new phenomenon. At one time in Congo, a conspiracy was orchestrated against the government of a great popular leader, Patrice Lumumba, and he was assassinated. The same happened in Iran in 1953, Indonesia in 1965, and Chile in 1973. Not very long ago, in 1995, they created chaos in Rwanda and Uganda — toppling governments and putting millions of innocent people to death.
Today, the refugee crisis from Congo is one of the greatest tragedies in the world. These refugees, scattered across different countries, are forced to live lives worse than animals, far from the attention of media and newspapers. No one sees the helplessness on their faces or analyzes their shattered dreams. In the eyes of Europe they are merely refugees, but in reality they are the terrifying image of humanity’s cruelty toward humanity.
They are being crushed, sobbing, crying, and looted, and ultimately they die in agony. They are raped, threatened, and terrorized. No one speaks about their basic rights, nor does anyone demand compensation for them. It is estimated that since 1995 nearly ten million of these helpless people in Congo have died.
Similarly, Western countries show little concern for Somali refugees. The rulers of the Western world, who lecture countries like ours about democracy, freedom of expression, and human rights, will perhaps one day admit that the hellish world we see today is not designed by anyone else but by themselves. Together with their puppet rulers in other countries, they have built this system — and they alone bear responsibility for these great tragedies of humanity.
The writer is a Hyderabad based educationist. He may be approached at
