Pope Francis’ Visit to Iraq Will Remain Symbolic For Peace
By
Manvendra Singh
9 March,
2021
The
historic visit of Pope Francis to Iraq, hoping to heal the wounds of a
battle-scarred country in a region long accustomed to shocks and
reverberations, could well develop into something more than mere symbolism if
the intervening partners let the forces of reconciliation take their course.
Otherwise, it will remain symbolic, temporary, and soon-to-be overcome by yet
another cycle of violence. The Islamic State may have lost their caliphate but
they still exist as a rallying thought, and that is enough to put together
another ghastly atrocity.
File image of Pope Francis | Photo: Susana Gonzalez| Bloomberg
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Daesh, to
use the Arabic acronym for Islamic State, is not an entirely finished entity,
as its January attacks in Baghdad prove. It still attracts the maniacal and the
medievalist, and could well use any lull from the successful Papal visit to
mount an unexpected attack. The double suicide bombing in Baghdad is evidence
of that capability. The propensity of some to continue to interfere in Iraq may
well set the wheels backward if the gains of the Papal visit are not acted
upon.
Trouble
since Suleimani Assassination
Since the
US assassination of top Iranian General Qassem Suleimani in January 2020, Iraq
has suffered one setback after another. Long on the Israeli hit list, Suleimani
had been in cooperation with the US during the anti-Daesh campaign in Syria. He
certainly had no love for Washington but the dislike for Daesh overrode all
else, albeit temporarily. That cooperation, significant as it was in
dismantling the caliphate, was put aside in ordering an assassination for
inexplicable reasons. All it did was to expose the ruling establishment in
Baghdad as ineffective and weak, undermining the authority in a country that
desperately needs a visibly functioning State. Street unrest even in the times
of Covid has now become a reality of Iraq.
Hope
appears from the successful conduct of the Papal visit, and the symbolism that
it offers, from words to events. So when Pope Francis disembarked from his
bullet proof car in the sanitised and narrow Najaf streets, his first steps
were greeted by the release of white doves, an act whose symbolism could not
have been lost on even the most battle hardened. For down the road lives Grand
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the senior most Shia cleric worldwide. The reclusive
Ayatollah is rarely seen in public, and makes utterances even more rarely. But
when he does, their impact is deep, and significant, as with the 2014 fatwa
asking young able-bodied men to join the fight against Islamic State.
Recruitment into militias and security forces had expanded exponentially, even
in those bleak days when it was presumed the caliphate was there to stay.
Why
India Needs To Step Up
Daesh was,
of course, responsible for the deaths of dozens of Indians. In its sweep across
northern Iraq, Daesh kidnapped 39 construction workers mostly from Punjab and
brutally murdered them near Mosul, another historical Iraqi city that played
host to the Papal. Pope Francis addressed a gathering at the ancient Mosul
landmark, Hosh al-Bieaa, Square of the Four Churches. Razed like much of Mosul
during the brutal fighting to reclaim the city from Daesh, the destroyed
churches provided the backdrop to the Pope’s speech. Rebuilding continues, and
that is a process in which India must play a role as well.
It isn’t
only for the 39 who were kidnapped and killed by Daesh, something the
government of India long denied. It is also for the far older remains of Indian
soldiers interred in a Mosul cemetery, off the road to Aleppo. They died
fighting the Ottoman forces that had long occupied Iraq. The graves are among
the other First World War Indian graves across Iraq — Alwiya, Amara, Baghdad,
Basra, and Kut.
While
meddlesome players from Washington, Ankara and Tehran ensure that Iraq has all
the combustible ingredients needed to light a flame, it is the absence of
countries like India that denies hope and healing in that beleaguered country.
India’s role in Afghanistan since the end of 2001 has been highlighted
repeatedly, and there is no reason why similar development attempts should not
be repeated in Iraq. It is, after all, a country with a long Indian connection.
Guru Nanak visited Baghdad on his way to perform the Hajj, and set up the first
Gurudwara outside India — it would be fitting homage to that legacy to rekindle
hope and healing in Iraq.
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Manvendra
Singh is a Congress leader and Editor-in-Chief of Defence & Security Alert.
Views are personal.
Original
Headline: Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq alone won’t bring peace. ISIS is down,
not out
Source: The Print
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