The Religious Persecution of Muslims – A Rising Concern

Massacres of Muslims: From Bosnia to Myanmar

History’s shelves abound with tragic massacres whose appellations resonate forever in the conscience common to mankind. In this vast array of grim tales, rests the Srebrenica massacre—a testament to the atrocities unleashed during the July 1995 Bosnian War. It is here where the forces of Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic systematically annihilated more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys from Srebrenica in a massacre that has since been recognized as genocide by international courts.

The Red Hill massacre graphically revealed UN peacekeepers, incapable of protecting ordinary men and women, inside self-styled safe areas. This provided a gruesome example of the consequences of worldwide inaction when confronted with the worst sorts of brutality.

In the violent fabric of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a history of blood and suffering has woven deep scars into their body consciousness. A prime example of this outrage is the Deir Yassin massacre in 1948, which left over a hundred Palestinian villagers dead by Zionist paramilitary groups. The 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre saw Lebanese Christian militias, with Israeli support in Beirut, commit unspeakable violence that would claim hundreds to thousands of Palestinian refugees. They now face continued violence and human rights abuses at the hands of Israeli forces in their occupied territories, propagating an unending cycle of suffering and injustice for Palestinians.

In Southeast Asia, the Rohingya genocide also reminds one of the brutal nature of ethnic cleansing. It started in 2017 when the Burmese military unleashed merciless violence against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State, which led to the untimely death and displacement of many. Despite being condemned by the international community and calls for justice, those responsible – including the government of Aung San Suu Kyi – have hardly been punished, as Rohingyas live with constant fear among them.

Finally, the Kashmir region has a very long history of conflict and violence; its soil is stained with many massacres. An example of such tragic events is the Jammu Massacre in 1947 when thousands of Muslims were brutally killed by Hindu extremists. Even now, Kashmir remains a hotbed between India and Pakistan as it continues to record cases of extrajudicial killings and human rights abuses carried out by security forces. Caught up in the crosshairs of geopolitics, Kashmiri people still crave peace and justice in their land that struggles with war and injustice.

As these massacres send ripples through time, they are stark reminders of both the incredible evil as well humanity persevering through such adversities. With atrocities like this, the international community would do well to remember history and act boldly now so that it may not repeat. The aforementioned cases are not the only cases of the religious persecution of Muslims.

Muslims around the globe are now facing the consequence of increasing Islamophobia. In China’s Xinjiang region and in India, where Muslims are religious minorities, their religious freedom is being impeded. The Uighur Muslims are forced into detention camps in Xinjiang and communal violence against them is rising in India. At the same time, Muslims in the United States are constantly made victims of anti-Muslim brutality. Islam and Muslims are viewed as the enemy.  

This is a call for justice, accountability, and human rights, as embodied by international leaders and institutions, to speak up in chorus with the oppressed echoing their cries so that part of their suffering may also be heard. Nothing short of an agenda to engage the causes of conflict and promote real reconciliation creates hope for a future in which all people, irrespective of what they believe or from whence they come, dwell with honour and peace.

Role of the UN in Responding to Religious Persecution

The establishment of the United Nations after World War II was a progression towards global governance focused on written rule, with peace and security as its primary objectives. However, the crucial role of the organization has been controversial in its response to massacres and genocides around the world, including the Srebrenica massacre, the Palestine massacres, the Rohingya genocide in Burma (Myanmar), and also the persecution of Muslims in Kashmir.

At Srebrenica, formidable obstacles lay in the way of UNPROFOR (the United Nations Protection Force) to pursue its mandate for civilian protection. Even though Srebrenica was under the protection of the UN Security Council and declared a “safe area,” Bosnian Serb forces took over it in July 1995, resulting in a massacre where thousands of male Muslim people were burned to death. The UN’s failure to prevent such a terrible crime brought the imperfections in its peacekeeping missions into the limelight, which led to demands for reform and greater accountability.

The response of the United Nations to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, on the other hand, has been a matter of great controversy and perceived injustice. The Security Council and General Assembly have passed resolutions condemning Israel’s actions in occupied territories as well as advocating for the protection of Palestinians.

However, such directives have often been vetoed or ignored by powerful members like the United States. Since any of those resolutions could not be implemented, they have weakened the UN beyond any doubt on the issue of enforcement of its resolutions and ensuring that the perpetrators of violence are held accountable. Therefore, continuously, Palestinians painfully endure their hardships without any remedy.

However, despite the efforts by the UN to address the Rohingya genocide in Burma (Myanmar), it has struggled to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis. The UN has faced a lot of challenges in ensuring that the perpetrators of the crime are brought to book. While the UN Human Rights Council has formed the Independent International Fact-finding Mission on Rohingya and other ethnicities in Myanmar, attempts to refer the same to the International Criminal Court have been strongly resisted by China and Russia. Therefore, the Rohingya community remains in a state of suffering and displacement with little hope of getting justice and compensation.

In the case of the Kashmir massacres, UN influence has been limited by the tension between great powers and India and Pakistan’s lack of serious political will. The United Nations Security Council passed two resolutions, one in 1948 and the other in 1949, for holding a plebiscite to decide the status of Kashmir. Yet, the resolutions remain unimplemented because of India’s opposition, as it termed Kashmir an integral part of India. In consequence, the UN has also been concerned about the cases of human rights violations and violence against Kashmiri civilians by Indian security forces.

Even though the United Nations has a constitutional function of promoting human rights and protecting civilians from genocide and mass killings, it has failed in this aspect because of political compulsiveness, power relations between member states, and the structures of the UN. For the UN to further its mission of maintaining international peace and security, it needs to champion the cause of the innocent, bring perpetrators of violence to book, and committedly work to prevent these incidents from reoccurring through diplomacy, conflict mediation, and peacebuilding.

Muslim States and the Accountability Dilemma

Muslim nations and communities face various and diverse issues that limit their ability to act promptly against criminals and give aid to victims. One of the strands in this dilemma is the complex geography of the situation. Muslim-majority countries are again in a bind due to the diplomatic relationships with powerful states that are involved in or mediate the conflicts.

Political realities can affect political accountability by making Muslim nations distance themselves or refuse to condemn or confront the massacres’ perpetrators, especially if those implicated are political and economic allies. This dynamic is seen as a barrier to unity and hampers the achievement of cooperative plans spearheaded by diplomatic missions in seeking justice for such grievous injustices.

Further, the divisions within the Islamic states themselves, internally, do not help in terms of mobilizing a unified, coherent response to any humanitarian catastrophe or genocide. National interest, regional tensions or rivalry, which may hinder solidarity, and factional politics make it challenging for the countries of the Muslim world to coordinate their reaction in harmony. Also, concerns for the reactions or countermeasures that may be taken or domestic turmoil may make Muslim leaders cautious in the stance they take on the international stage.

Making things even more complex is the difficulty of informing the Muslim population and mobilizing for the support of the victims of massacres within the Muslim countries when there is little, limited, or inconsistent coverage in terms of media and active pressure from the public. The spread of propaganda, the spreading of lies, and the concealment of information often skew the manner in which these violations are viewed, to ensure that the masses cannot be persuaded to condemn or have the necessary pressure to force their governments into action. Furthermore, scarcity of resources, domestic interests and pressures, and exigencies of domestic politics may shift focus and resources away from humanitarian crises abroad.

Moreover, the capacity of justice, specifically the UN and other international organizations, in addressing the question of justice or compensation to the victims of massacre depends on efficiency and neutrality and the ability to protect the Muslim states and communities. Perceived institutional inadequacies or prejudices in addressing crimes against humanity lower the community’s trust in these institutions to address justice. It also means that some of the capacities of member states to veto actions aimed at justice are built in these entities.

While Muslim nations and communities must strive to confront people who perpetrate mass killings and help victims, they are confronted with many difficult problems that prevent them from doing this effectively. To overcome these challenges, it is necessary to combine efforts to go beyond geographic and political divisions and create cooperation and solidarity to combat disinformation and propaganda, as well as to reform international organizations. It is only when such problems are solved that Muslim countries and communities can meet the Islamic requirement for justice in human rights and human dignity.

Conclusion

There is nothing more sickening than seeing massacres being committed and the remembrances of such acts bring out the worst in the human race. Ranging from Srebrenica to Palestine, Myanmar, and Kashmir, they are sad reminders of the deadly effects of war and brutality. After the formation of the United Nations with the aim of maintaining peace and security, response has been hampered politically and institutionally.

The seeming inability of the United Nations to prevent the Srebrenica massacre and to resolve conflicts are examples of how the UN has not been effective in carrying out its responsibilities. That said, Muslim nations-cum-communities are not without woes, which include diplomatic limitations and internal conflicts in addressing the persecution of Muslims. In this regard, there’s no denying the fact that these challenges call for collective efforts in the future. The UN has to ensure the protection of the weak and that the offenders are punished, while Muslim nations and communities have to unite and strive for change.

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