Jasmine SEALed Osama fate

On May 6, around 1 pm (Friday prayer time), I got a call from a senior journalist colleague of mine, who wanted to know whether Muslims in Jamia area in New Delhi praised al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, eliminated by the United States Navy SEALs and CIA paramilitary forces in an attack on his Abbottabad compound on May 2. I told him that I was in Noida and I won't be able to give him the right picture. He said: "I think that there are hardcore followers of Osama in the locality and they must pay obeisance to him." After ten minutes of conversation, he ended the call requesting me to find out what really unfolded during the Friday prayer in the locality.

As it was the first Friday after the assassination of Osama, (born on March 10, 1957 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), my journalist colleague and others had expected that Jamia, a thickly populated Muslim area with central Univeristy Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) nearby would witness protests against the killing of ‘unarmed’ Osama. After the news of Osama's death surfaced on newspapers and TV channels, reporters of several national and international media houses, thronged the locality to gauge the mood of the Muslims.

There were fears that the killing of Osama would spark an unprecedented violent protests in the Muslim world. But some seven days after the killing, nothing like this has happened save some rallies being held in Pakistan, Philippines and Kashmir. In Srinagar, hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani organised funeral prayers (Ghaibana Namaz-i-Janaza) for Osama, who was buried in sea with his son as the US officials told the world. Overall, the Arab response to Osama’s covert killing has been muted.

The world, particularly the West Asia and Muslim countries in North Africa, has changed since the September 2001 deadly attacks on the US. At that time Osama's and al-Qaeda's violent ideology were the only hope for Muslims to overthrow the despot kings and rulers who got tacit support from the US and the West. Many desperate Arab youths were attracted towards al-Qaeda and looked at Osama as a saviour against the onslaught unleashed by Israel that continues to occupy Palestine. But things started changing in December 2010 with the overwhelming success of Jasmine revolution.

The civil resistance that first started in Tunisia and spread to Egypt and other Muslim countries, managed to do what al-Qaeda and its cohorts couldn't do with the help of terrorism in the last ten years. Other than creating fear in the West and killing innocents by planting bombs at public places, al-Qaeda was a failure with most of its top leaders running for safe shelters. Also, their senseless violence in Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries alienated a large number of Muslims. There was a realisation that its activities were only stoking hatred against Muslims across the world. On the other hand the Jasmine revolution that was mostly peaceful succeeded in ousting despot Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011. This was the turning point in the history of Muslims struggle in the West Asia.

Overnight the revolution spread to Egypt and another ruthless leader Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down. During these days, Muslims of Egypt showed exemplary patience. They adopted peaceful means to mobilise their citizens to come out on streets to bring an end to Mubarak rule. Now Jasmine revolution is raging in Algeria, Yemen, Jordan and Bahrain.

The success of Jasmine dented the popularity of al-Qaeda. Had Osama been killed five years ago in 2006 or earlier the Muslim world would have witnessed violent protests. But now it appears that the Muslim world has become mature.

Restoration of democracy in Saudi Arabia, Libya, Bahrain and other North African countries can certainly kill the remaining appeal of al-Qaeda. All said, an independent state for the Palestinians can help bring an end to the rise in anti-Americanism and the 'Clash of Civilzation' theory. But for that to happen both sides have to make some sacrifices. Are America and the West ready to stop fiddling in the internal affairs of other countries?