The increasing displacement of Muslim populations worldwide has reached a historic level. It calls for serious and objective reflections and investigations on analysing the fundamental causes that drive this phenomena, primarily on academic levels so that the study may provide specific insights into the roots without the cultural, religious or political biases. Starting from the centuries-old Palestinian nationhood issues. Through several Middle Eastern conflicts that exist today to the internal tribal conflicts in Pakistan and the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, we need to understand what is going on.
It is also paradoxical that while many Islamic nations and some countries in the far East, such as Malaysia and Brunei, have achieved tremendous progress, notably in economic stability, standard of living, education and political prominence, there are still many Muslim nations struggling from poverty, illiteracy, internal strife, civil war and ethnic or tribal conflicts from within.
The many questions pertaining to an investigation may unsettle many of us, but the world just cannot pretend that this problem doesn’t exist. The generally accepted theory invariably pointed to the exploitation and inference of Western nations in these countries, triggered by the quest for securing oil resources and subsequent political interests to sustain their need for growing industrialisation, infrastructure development and manufacturing. Subsequent and continued intervention by the US and Europe changed the Muslim landscapes in the region.
As for Asian Muslim countries, such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, all of which are reeling under the perennial threat of home-grown terrorism, have other historical and socio-cultural reasons for unrest. They range from the rise of ethnic and tribal differences to conflicting religious interpretations and affiliations that robbed people of their opportunities. Often the distraught conditions that existed in these countries forced the Muslim populations to seek refuge in neighbouring states.
Military intervention, UN resolutions and aid and economic and political sanctions miserably fail to address the fundamental reasons that have given rise to these disturbing realities. Historians, social scientists and anthropologists must play a bigger role in studying the refugee crises and mass displacement in the Muslim world.
— The reader is an Indian business development coordinator, based in Dubai.
