EURASI/FUTURE
Written by Andrew Korybko
It’s certainly peculiar that the international activist community cares more for the Rohingyas than the Kashmiris despite both of these people being Muslim minorities that are facing a similar threat of ethnic cleansing, which suggests that there must be more behind their double standards than initially meets the eye.
The international activist community rallied in solidarity with the Rohingyas after a sweeping anti-terrorist operation by Myanmar’s security services saw the displacement of hundreds of thousands of this Muslim minority group a few years ago, yet these same activists have done little if anything to support the Kashmiris who are facing an imminent threat of something similar befalling them after India’s “Israeli”-like unilateral move against them last week. There’s nothing on the surface to explain these self-evident double standards in applying different approaches towards both Muslim minorities, meaning that other factors must be at play. It’s impossible to know with absolute certainty what they are since each person is accountable for their own actions or lack thereof, but Islamophobia can safely be ruled out since it wouldn’t make sense for someone who believes in this hateful ideology to support the Rohingyas to begin with.
The international activist community rallied in solidarity with the Rohingyas after a sweeping anti-terrorist operation by Myanmar’s security services saw the displacement of hundreds of thousands of this Muslim minority group a few years ago, yet these same activists have done little if anything to support the Kashmiris who are facing an imminent threat of something similar befalling them after India’s “Israeli”-like unilateral move against them last week. There’s nothing on the surface to explain these self-evident double standards in applying different approaches towards both Muslim minorities, meaning that other factors must be at play. It’s impossible to know with absolute certainty what they are since each person is accountable for their own actions or lack thereof, but Islamophobia can safely be ruled out since it wouldn’t make sense for someone who believes in this hateful ideology to support the Rohingyas to begin with.
The explanation therefore might be more political than social, meaning that the international reputations of Myanmar and India respectively could have something to do with it. The first-mentioned was internationally condemned by many for previously being run by a military junta that still commands decisive influence over the state to this day, while the latter is wrongly regarded as the “world’s largest democracy” as a result of its successful soft power policies over the decades. It might thus be difficult for someone to accept that the “world’s largest democracy” is run by radical extremists espousing a Hitler-like view of Hindu supremacy and poised to commit ethnic cleansing like Pakistani Prime Minister Khan warned the world about over the weekend while it’s much easier to imagine that a so-called “military dictatorship” would be interested in doing this instead. In other words, the perception that each person has towards these two countries and the way that they’ve been conditioned over the years to view them probably has a lot to do with their double standards.
Should this be the case, then the solution is rather obvious, and it’s that the international activist community needs to be educated about the reality of what India’s turned into today (or one can argue, has always been). It’s with this in mind that Prime Minister Khan’s tweets over the weekend can be seen in a new light since they’re intended to shock readers with the truth so that they take the initiative to learn more about what he wrote. It’s important to note that his warning comes ahead of Pakistan taking the latest Kashmir Crisis to the UNSC, during which time the rest of the world will have the opportunity to learn more about this issue. As such, the Prime Minister’s tweets and his diplomats’ efforts represent a concerted attempt to educate the international community about the danger that India’s recent moves pose to the Kashmiris, thus revealing that the global pivot state is finally beginning to take its perception management responsibilities seriously in response to the imminent threat of ethnic cleansing that might result in a Rohingya-like flood of refugees.
DISCLAIMER: The author writes for this publication in a private capacity which is unrepresentative of anyone or any organization except for his own personal views. Nothing written by the author should ever be conflated with the editorial views or official positions of any other media outlet or institution.
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