Human rights violations, mass killings, destruction of infrastructure as well as heritage sites; Syria has seen all that the world’s most cruel and barbaric time would shy away from. Just for a background check; the Human Rights Watch has reported that the Assad regime has created an archipelago of torture centers spearheaded by the country’s intelligence agencies, followed by the armed forces. On the other hand, the opposition groups have been accused by the United Nations for brutal offences like torture, unlawful killings, kidnapping, rape and even the use of children in dangerous roles. All of the belligerents have turned out to be blood stained.

The civil war that started in March 2011 has constantly intensified, getting even more bloody and inhumane with every passing day. How unbelievable it is to see that an uprising that started with mere protests got so violent that the daily death toll has gone up to almost 150! Only in the last month of March 2013, the country saw more than 6000 deaths –a figure rarely met by any other man made tragedy. Perilously the figure includes 298 children and 291 women who lost their lives at the hands of something they possibly didn’t start, continue or want. The figures of rebels and government soldiers were averaging the same as each other with tolls between 1400 and 1500 for each side.

Regardless of the cause, a human life is a LIFE! Many of the dead would have been the whole world to somebody. The 6000 that died in March would have left tens of thousands of mourners in grief that would last a lifetime. An even more troublesome factor in all the mayhem is how the crisis is getting brutal day by day, for instance in the first nine whole months of the uprising, death tolls were far less than 6000. The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights representatives are of the opinion that:

“If there is no solution, we think that the numbers will get worse in the coming months.”

It has been reported that the hostilities have now spread to newer parts of the country like the province of Daraa –not that the previous clashes in the major cities of Aleppo, Damascus and Homs were not brutal enough. The United Nations has reported that the estimated total count of deaths since the initialization of Syrian Crisis has topped 70,000.

My point in all this is not just to report the figures, anybody would do that; my concern is not that of Assad’s regime or the opposition, it is about the innocent children and the helpless females of a country that falls under our responsibility when it comes to Islamic duties –and human rights above that. The ever increasing tension between two parties with their own agendas –regardless of who is right and who is wrong; has spread murder, rape, kidnapping and torture throughout Syria. My concern is the child who grows up under the constant fear of a bomb that could turn his home into ashes.

I demand an end to this; even if that means throwing out every one of the pugnacious leaders that are carrying on the war along with their allies. There is a time when humanity has to be the ultimate agenda that should outweigh the rest –for Syria, that time is now.

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Energy is a basic necessity much like food and water. Countries are dependent on those resources for economic growth. Unfortunately Pakistan faces a major energy crisis in natural gas, power and oil. Power surges and blackouts seem to continue as usual and this has been going on for 5 years now. Power outages usually last 10 –12 hours a day in the cities and more in the rural areas. This has left the industries of Pakistan (mainly agricultural, secondary and tertiary sectors) stunned and so they are unable to fully operate. This has a very negative impact on the economy of the country. Many debates were held to solve this problem, but no actions have been taken to realize their ideas.

The demand of energy in Pakistan is huge, and can’t be fulfilled by electricity production based on oil. It can only meet 20% of our requirement through native production and the remaining oil is imported from Gulf States and other countries. No major oil, field has been discovered in last three decades. It is clear that other alternative production methods must be considered to meet the demand. Most likely one that is cheap, considering initial setup cost, and costs attached.

The second method of production we use is thermal (i-e using coal to produce electricity). Pakistan has been blessed with wealthy mineral resources, but the sad part is that we are too ignorant to explore them. We are sitting on gold mines and yet we do nothing about it. Balochistan, for instance, is rich with all sorts of minerals and could be exploited heavily. If we could solve the feudal problems of the provinces, and let the national and international companies explore the area, we might solve our fuel problems too. But this is a precious non-renewable resource, so we need better options.

Other major option is hydro-electric power generation. This is the cheapest and most feasible way of producing electricity for our country. Two major energy dams in Pakistan are Tarbela and Mangla. If only the proposed Kalabagh dam would be constructed, 80% of our energy needs would be fulfilled. Best option is to construct this dam, and take advantage of the natural hydrography of Pakistan in maximum possible extent.

Wind power and solar power generation are good alternatives as well. Their initial costs are low when compared to other methods, and are definitely in the best interests of our country. Furthermore, we have to control political instability that plagues our nation, and poses a barrier for the implementation of proposed solutions to the energy crisis in Pakistan.

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The G20 has become the most globally accepted space in economic and financial affairs, incorporating the highest political level in their Summits and giving a firm step towards the democratization of the international economic affairs management.

Its agenda is composed of three major elements, with direct consequences for every economy in the world: The consolidation of a sustainable growth of the economy and a global re-balancing,  the reform of the international financial architecture and the reform of the international financial regulatory system.

Within this institution, that brings together the world´s major economies, there are three Muslim countries. The first one is Indonesia; the state with the largest Muslim population in the world and an important member of the ASEAN. The second country is Saudi Arabia; the world oil market regulator. The third is Turkey; a hinge between the Asian and European continents.

After the international financial crisis, the inability of the financial regulatory system was evidenced and the measures that should be implemented to recover the belief that the system could work in a smooth and stable way were discussed within the group.

However, unlike the collapse of the banking giants that were considered “Too large to fall”, the Islamic banks and funds outperformed the financial crisis without big loss.

In this respect, the positive feedback of the Islamic finance from various corners of the world, during the crisis, could be interpreted as a vote for the confidence in the Islamic financial industry.

Economists believe that the current global financial crisis is set to create a “New International Economic Order” and to restructure the global economic institutions.

Given the fact that three developing Muslim-led countries are among the top 20 economies, they should encourage Islamic finance to exploit existing opportunities and demonstrate its worth by offering momentous alternatives to the international economic community.

In the last meeting of the Islamic Development Bank, that brings together the representatives from Islamic banks and invest funds, Indonesia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia expressed they will follow a joint strategy within the G20 in order to boost not just economic growth, but also the formation of a more fair society based on the Islamic values.

According to the finance minister of Indonesia, “The three countries have common values due to their Islamic population”. The minister stated that “different ways of high risk speculation, considered co-responsible of the outbreak of the crisis, are forbidden by the Sharia”, affirming that “it is a mechanism incorporated to minimize the risk”.

It sounds ironic that to rescue capitalism from its last crisis and restore the system stability, the solutions should come from the Islamic economic base. But like after the Second World War, when many of the social claims stated by socialism forced capitalism to give an answer under the form of the Welfare State, today the financial Islamism may force capitalism into a new model, more focused on people and in the real economy.

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Egypt is persevering through what may be the most grave crisis accompanying the expulsion of the Mubarak regime. At its heart is the decision by its Muslim Brotherhood-straightened president, Mohammed Morsi, to issue an advertisement that sheltered his developments from lawful investigation. This gave him more power than his precursor had. The president proclaims this is a short lived measure, until a different constitution is authorized and a decision is made.

In the meantime, the constitution drafting was hurt by walkouts by liberals and operators of the Coptic Christian minority from the Islamist-controlled Constituent Assembly. This displays troubling concerns signaling the rise of an Egyptian rebellion.

The revolutionaries of 2011, not the ones that the westerners saw on their TV screens, all appeared to have been taught at the American University of Cairo. So it was extremely amazing to outsiders that the Egyptian people, one in four of whom are unskilled, voted massively in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood-straightened representatives in parliament. In political shorthand, the caution is that the Arab Spring is changing into an “Islamist winter”.

In September, western suspicion was dazed by the jihadist strike on the U.S. section in Benghazi, Libya, in which the American representative, Chris Stevens, was killed. Several days later, a trap on the U.S. legislative office in Tunis almost had the same outcome.

The system for creating constitutions in both Egypt and Tunisia have aroused a vitriolic approachable talk, where wild rumors and suspicious plans block acquiescence. Then, budgetary conditions, which are what most people care for, fragment.

It should be made clear that issues with constitutions are not rare at Islamist get-togethers.

In 1918, the Russian Constituent Assembly was broken down by Lenin’s Bolsheviks after a single day’s reasonable talk, opening the course for more than 70 years of one assembly running the show. In Egypt, the Free Officers’ oust of 1952, which cleared the wave for Gamal Abdel Nasser to come to power in 1956, energetically discarded any trust of the administration by deciding on socialist despotism. In Tunisia, the self-ruled go-to individual, Habib Bourguiba, a radical secularist who got a kick out of any opportunity to be shown on TV, began as head director of a parliamentary vote based framework. Soon he redesigned the constitution and ended up being president. He then came to be as oppressive as any other Arab strongman.

After the Algerian races in 1991, when the impression was created that the Islamists were heading to triumph, the view of the U.S. rose that any election which drew drive from Islam meant, “one vote, one time”. This meant that the U.S. assumed an Islamic ruler would adhere to power and never leave.

Tunisia’s experience is useful. The moderate Islamist assembly, Ennahda, is part of an enacting coalition with two mainstream social events. In March, the Ennahda jefe, Rachid Ghannouchi, agreed to overlook any reference to Sharia from the constitution, prompting a force from the Salafists, the all-time regarded Islamists, which advanced and, beyond any doubt, finalized the strike on the U.S. department.

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Status and condition inside Syria:

Political fighting hits fresh heights in Syria in 2012. During an attack in Assad on July 18, many high ranking officers, defense ministers and the president’s brother in law were killed. Forces seized and controlled many border crossings and huge tracts of Syrian land.

Syrian opposition activities:

The major opposition movement, is the Syrian National Council (SNC) by the country’s Sunni population combined with an Islamic group similar to the Muslim Brotherhood. The Syrian National Council supports Assad’s opponents, but dislikes its familial counterparts.

The Public Coordination Commission is an opponent union of self-governing persons including the Kurdish activists. Hassan Abdel Azim led this group.

The Free Syrian Army is another set of army defenders that depose Assad by force.  Riad al-Asad led the Free Syrian Army. The Free Syrian Army argue that they have 15,000 fighters, but analysts suggest that they are no more than 7000.

Six tip plan of Kofi Annan:

Kofi Annan, a messenger to Syria, gave a six point harmony plan in 2012 to end the Syrian crisis. The points of the plan are given as:

1. Work by the global messenger.
2. End fighting under UN cease-fire, Syrian military to prevent using heavy arms and pull oout from inhabitant’s centers.
3. Permit charitable aid.
4. Free charged detainees.
5. Guarantee lack of restrictions of movement for the media.
6. Value passive demonstrations.

Initially, the government agreed to put up with by the points of plan; however, on April 8, they said that they would not remove their military from cities until armed revolutionary groups provided a written declaration to stop the fighting. The Syrian Army discarded this demand.

United State Sanctions on Syria:

The United State put down a range of sanctions that forbid aid and confined mutual trade. These include limitations on foreign aid, defense exports, and air travel of Syrian airplanes in United States. It also reduced diplomatic ties, enforced travel bans on Syrians diplomats, froze overseas transactions in Syrian property and many other miscellaneous restrictions.

Sanctions of European Union on Syria:

The European Union approved many sanctions on Assad in the 2011 revolution. Some important sanctions include:

• Journey bans forced on peak individuals of the Syrian army including Assad family.
• Sanction imposed on the central bank of Syria.
• Bans on export of tools and Syrian oil.

Sanctions Impact:

The sanctions forced by the union of Arab States and European Union hit Syria the hardest. These sanctions prohibit transactions of government income with the individuals, state owned institutions and companies.

In the recent crisis in Syria, thousands of Muslims died and many are homeless. There is shortage of food and medicines for the victims and many houses are destroyed. Now it’s time to resolve the crisis of Syria. The international community needs to create a proper plan for an orderly transfer of power from the majority to the minorities on an equal basis. In Syria, the only condition of peace is the equal transfer of rights among human beings. There should be no difference on the basis of caste. Equality is necessary for peace.

 

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The last decade can be no doubly said to be the decade of destruction and unrest. The world witnessed many crises that claimed many claims and have made the world insecure. Middle East is facing a very old crisis that was limited to the Israel and Palestine conflict but this conflict has now engulfed whole of Arab a world. The unrest in the Arab world has put the world peace into danger. The crisis in the Middle East will not end but it’s the beginning. The attack on the Libya started the worst ever war in the Middle East. America and its allies played their role to create a situation so that the people f Libya oust their leader themselves but this American policy has also brought dangers to America and its allies. The Middle East countries have peopled that are now not afraid of their leaders who were supporter of status quo and they are raising their voice against them. America claims itself to be a democracy but it is the strongest status quo power in eh world. The American are also under threat that people in the Arab world are not going to like them because of their status quo aspect. Americas ignited the Libya crisis so that they can strengthen themselves in the Arab world but the recent destruction in Tunisia, Syria and Bahrain has warned America that if they enter into these countries they will not be welcomed by the masses. The crisis in Middle East was planted by the west but things went out of their control. The Libyan people never acted in the way Americans were expecting and this distraction is now becoming a reason to worry for America. After Libya incident much awaits. Syrian unrest is also related to the fall of Libyan leader Kaddafi. Syria is also ruled by a status quo person and its people are not willing to accept him anymore. People need freedom of expression and much better conditions for living. Although it looks like everything is fine in the states of Syria, Tunisia and Bahrain but it is not the fact. The leaders of these states are very much powerful and they have taken everything in their hand. The policies are designed in a way to facilitate the premiers. The land, property and life are nothing for the leaders of these states which is a major reason of up rise in such countries. Muslims leaders gave the western powers a chance and these powers have played a great role in supporting the anti state activities. Because of the support of the west the civil war is going on in the Syria and Egypt. Muslims are killing Muslims and no one knows the reason. The reason of west intervention in the matters of these countries is that they need instability so that they can capture the resource rich Middle East. The United Nations and other major powers in the world should play their part to end this turmoil. The Middle East unrest is just the tip of ice berg and if not solved it will only bring destruction to the world.

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