Long ago, Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of our nation and one of the greatest apostles of peace in modern times had said, “If you witness an act of violence being committed before your eyes and don’t protest against it and don’t try to stop it though you have means to do so, you are as much guilty of committing violence as the one who is actually perpetrating it.” By this yardstick, the entire world, especially the US, the EU and NATO have failed Gandhi by their failure in stopping the violence which has been committed for more than six weeks in Ukraine by Russia under Putin’s instructions. Russian troops have been killing hundreds of innocent people; millions of Ukrainians are fleeing to East European countries for safe refuge, and roughly 10 million people have become homeless since the Russian invasion began. The massacre in Bucha is a blot on the face of the civilized world. There must be zero tolerance of such crimes in this day and age. Why are many countries obfuscating facts? Russia has invaded an independent and sovereign nation, destroyed its infrastructure including schools, hospitals and reduced residential building to rubble, ruining lives of millions including elderly, women and children. In sub zero temperatures, there is no electricity in many areas leaving homes without heating and Russian bombing and missile attacks have caused acute shortage of food and medical supplies. Media reports allege that Ukrainians have been forced to bury their dead in their own residential compounds. Russian charges that Ukrainians are killing their own people to sully and defame Russia’s image sounds preposterous.
America’s own hands aren’t clean having invaded Iraq on totally false charges of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) in 2003 and destroyed it with B-52 bombers and Tomahawk and Patriot missiles, thus pushing back one of the most developed countries in the Arab to stone age; unwittingly, this invasion led to the birth of dreaded ISIS.
The NATO has not covered itself with righteous halo when it exceeded the UN mandate in Libya and directly targeted Libyan army; NATO intervention culminated in the overthrow of Gaddafi, the longest serving Arab leader.
Russian actions in Ukraine amount to war crimes. Russia has invaded Ukraine illegally and caused thousands of deaths and destruction, and unprecedented humanitarian crises. So, Biden has a point when he says that Putin has no right to remain power. However, regime change shouldn’t be a desired objective of foreign powers.
But when a country abrogates to itself the right to invade a sovereign nation, and the UN is unable to stop this invasion as the invader happens to be a permanent Member of the UNSC, should the world just wring hands and do nothing? Won’t the inability to act encourage other potential invaders to follow suit? The world community must find appropriate means, preferably through the UN, to stop such unbridled adventurism and bring such a ruler to heel. Besides, if an independent Probe confirms that Bucha massacre was genocide, Putin should be prosecuted for that.
By failing to rein in Putin, what kind of negative messages the world is sending out? That it is alright for a big country to invade a smaller country in flagrant violation of its sovereignty, territorial integrity and the UN Charter. That the aggressor can get away with destroying a country killing its innocent people and reducing millions to refugees status. That the whole world will watch this destruction as helpless spectator without putting boots on the ground nor challenging the invading jet fighters and resorting to issuing stern warnings and announcing economic sanctions.
The current efforts at crippling the Russian economy with the most stringent sanctions ever are bordering on a farce. The rationale of stringent sanctions is that, short of an all out war, resource crunch will make it impossible for Russia to continue its operations in Ukraine; the costs will be unsustainable. Moreover, as the life of ordinary citizens in Russia becomes unbearable on account of sanctions, they will get disenchanted with the Regime and their overall support for it will diminish drastically. But, this didn’t happen in Iran or in Libya and is unlikely to happen in Russia.
Russia avoids the crippling effect of American led sanctions thanks to continuous flow of funds from the EU. In the month of March alone, the EU paid US$ 25 billion in to Russian Coffers. None believes that it is happening without America’s knowledge. Indian EAM Jaishakar was spots on when he ticked off an American Journalist at the press conf with the US Secretary of State Blinken by pointing out that the EU buys more energy from Russia on one afternoon than India might be buying in a whole month! So long as the EU payments flow to Moscow, Putin will not wind up operations in Ukraine. And as long as Ukraine keeps on receiving advanced weapons from the US and the EU, its brave soldiers will deprive Russia of an outright victory. What a bizarre situation? Those who proclaim to be working to end the conflict are, in fact, fuelling it from both ends!
Given India’s decades long dependence on Russian defence supplies, Russian transfer of technology to produce BrahMos missile and assault rifles and operation of Russian nuclear reactors, India’s investment in Russian energy sector and history of Soviet/Russian support to India and priority of evacuating all Indians from Ukraine, India’s abstentions in the UNSC served her national interest. And neither the US nor the EU has any right to demand of India not to buy Russian oil. India has acted prudently and the EAM deserves praise for articulating India’s stand forcefully at the 2+ 2 dialogue in Washington and rebuffing American pressure on human rights.
But when we talk of inviolability of a country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and the UN Charter, shouldn’t we tell the Russians that their invasion is wrong and they must end it? Can’t the land of Buddha and Gandhi make such an appeal for peace?
We shouldn’t forget that under another NDA govt led by PM, AB Vajpayee, a farsighted statesman, the Indian Parliament had passed a resolution unanimously deploring the invasion of Iraq by the Coalition forces led by the US.
We must tell President Putin that we are opposed to any attempt of a Regime change in Russia and that we fully understand his security concerns and that the US, EU, and NATO have been insensitive to Russian objections, and reckless in eastward expansion of NATO and must address the issue of Ukrainian neutrality and EU/NATO membership through dialogue.
However, he must end the invasion of Ukraine as it was illegal and wrong. And he must not threaten to use the nuclear weapons and start the WWIII.
This doesn’t behove a permanent member of the UN. Let the diplomacy prevail.
The views expressed are the writer’s personal.
The current efforts at crippling the Russian economy with the most stringent sanctions ever are bordering on a farce. The rationale of stringent sanctions is that, short of an all out war, resource crunch will make it impossible for Russia to continue its operations in Ukraine; the costs will be unsustainable. Moreover, as the life of ordinary citizens in Russia becomes unbearable on account of sanctions, they will get disenchanted with the regime and their overall support for it will diminish drastically. But, this didn’t happen in Iran or in Libya and is unlikely to happen in Russia.
