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Albert Nhamoyebonde Features Correspondent
It has been a sad month of October with endless and senseless killings of innocent civilians in the name of religious purity perpetuated by mindless violence unseen in modern times. Whether it is a fight to introduce Sharia (Islamic law) or ethnic cleansing, it has become sad to watch horrific pictures on television of women and children whose limbs are torn to pieces for crimes they never committed.
At least, the Russians came to the rescue of the Syrian people when the USA wanted to unleash its bombs on that country as punishment for using chemical weapons on civilians in a civil war that has claimed more than 100 000 lives with more than two million refugees scattered around neighbouring countries.
What has brought about these wars in modern times? Everybody thought that there would be no more wars after the Second World War and the establishment of the United Nations. We thought colonialism was the scourge of these wars and the system of enslaving other people for economic reasons.
Is it still a battle of resources being fought by Western countries against the developing world to access their resources? This may explain the imposing of sanctions against Zimbabwe. It is a battle of owning resources which do not belong to the Western countries.
But, could the Western countries be fighting a proxy war in mainly Muslim countries for their own interests? One can understand that the war in Syria in being fought on behalf of Israel which feels threatened by a strong Syrian regime that supports the Palestinians against Israeli occupation of their land.
How does one explain the carnage in Pakistan and Nigeria or Somalia? The Islamists are fighting against the decadent Western way of life. But, surely, in this modern world, no country can live in isolation of the advances in technology and influences from other cultures.
But it is the imposition of strictly Sharia law by other Muslim religious fanatics that has fuelled sectarian wars everywhere. In Nigeria, the Muslim north part of the country has an offshoot of a radical movement, Boko Haram, trying to impose its form of religion on the Christian South of the country.
The same is happening in Somalia where the country has been ruled by clans for hundreds of years. A militant Islamic movement is fighting the moderate government for control of the country.
Many countries have joined in the fight supported by Western countries. The damage to neighbouring countries has been enormous culminating in the latest carnage in Kenya where more than 68 people were killed at the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban, that was removed from power by the USA after the bombing of the twin New York Towers, has refused to lay down its arms and has caused havoc even in Pakistan itself. The Taliban do not even want education for girls among other religious tenets they believe in.
But peace has come to other theocratic countries which adhere to strict Islamic values, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia. This may be possible if there is no abject poverty. If there is instability, many people realise that they would lose their privilege they enjoy under Muslim laws like, not paying interest on loans or taxes due to the fact that the countries have surplus cash from oil revenues.
This is more perplexing when Libya had the same policies where every citizen was guaranteed a good standard of living by the government. The fight in Libya was not for religious purity but for resources coveted by the Western countries. The aftermath of that war has unleashed militant Islamic groups that are now waging wars in Mali and Nigeria.
In Iraq, the Western countries unleashed a sectarian rivalry between the majority Shi’ites and the minority Sunnis. Whereas the Sunnis were in power before the USA and British invasion of the country, what has become of that country is just mayhem of killings through bombs and other devices.
Can religious tolerance be possible in a highly charged atmosphere of politics? The Muslim countries must be allowed to find their own solutions to their political and religious problems. This diversity of religions is not only found in Muslim countries but even in Western countries as well.
In Belgium, the Flemish-speaking part of the country has had differences with its French-speaking counterparts. In Northern Ireland, the Catholics and the Protestants have fought each other for generations. Now, we understand that the Scots will be voting in 2014 for independence from England.
With all these religious problems in the world, Zimbabwe has managed to bring peace to its people despite the differences in tribal and religious affiliations. How has this been achieved?
It has been through shrewdness of our politicians that have focused on what binds us together, which is economic prosperity, and side- stepped differences caused by religious or tribal affinities.
This is why the advocates of devolution or separateness were defeated together with their machinations which would have put a wedge among our people. The country has accepted the diversity of our culture, be it religious or tribal, but moulded a nation that aspires to bring economic development and prosperity for its people.
This is why it is very disturbing that the Western nations want to divide us politically by the imposition of sanctions to thwart us coming together as a nation. Why do our fellow citizens not see what the Western nations have done to other countries where strife and killings have become a pastime? This should never be allowed to gain root in Zimbabwe.
Online Reporter