Aung San Suu Kyi’s appearance before the International Court of Justice showed what the “banality of evil” looks like

By Fareed Khan

Many have heard the term “the banality of evil".  It was coined by Hannah Arendt, a German Jew who fled Nazi Germany as Hitler rose to power, and it was the title of her 1963 book about the trial of Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann. Her premise was that not just fanatics or sociopaths commit acts of extreme evil.

The banality of evil is what the world witnessed as Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi tried to justify her nation’s crimes against the Rohingya before the International Court of Justice in The Hague on December 11th and 12th.  Her lack of reaction or expressions of remorse as the genocidal crimes were described by Gambia’s representatives, and her defense of what Myanmar did, epitomized Arendt’s hypothesis in practice.

This theory is also evident in how national leaders respond to acts of evil.  In the case of Canada, the US and other Western nations, the banality of evil was present in the lack of action by the international community to halt the Rohingya genocide.  The fact that no nations took action to halt the atrocities, particularly Western nations that claim to be defenders of human rights and the rule of law, is evidence to support Arendt’s views.

Eventually it was the small African nation of Gambia that decided to hold Myanmar accountable for its crimes by filing a case at the International Court of Justice under the Genocide Convention.  Why it was left to a nation with limited legal resources to launch the genocide case against Myanmar is a question that needs answering, especially since Rohingya rights activists in North American and Europe have repeatedly called for a genocide case to be filed against Myanmar at the ICJ since early 2018.

The West’s failure to prevent genocide when there was sufficient warning it was going to occur, the failure to stop it when it was happening, and the failure to act to prosecute the perpetrators when ample evidence is available, means that Western claims to be defenders of the rule of law and the international order are disingenuous.

To see other examples of the banality of evil in the world today we need look no further than China’s genocide against the Uyghurs, India’s human rights atrocities and violence targeting Kashmiris and other Muslim minority communities in that nation, and the more than 50 years of oppression, atrocities, mass murder and Apartheid committed by Israel against Palestinians.  In addition, it is evident in the international community’s lack of urgent action to these egregious criminal violations of international law, and the public's unwillingness to hold governments accountable for not standing up for the values we claim to uphold, that we are collectively complicit in the crimes.

These are just a few examples which show that humanity seems to be reliving the dark parts of history, particularly the rise in the ideology of hate, that led up to the horrors of World War 2.  Yet Justin Trudeau and other world leaders do little or nothing to keep it from recurring. It is like being on the Titanic, knowing it will hit an iceberg, but the captain does nothing to change the deadly outcome.

Around the world political leaders are getting away with committing acts of evil with impunity.  People like Aung San Suu Kyi, China's Xi Jinping, India's Narendra Modi, and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu epitomize the banality of evil because they see nothing wrong  when the governments they lead commit crimes against humanity, mass murder, and even genocide. 

Yet Trudeau, and leaders of other nations claiming to defend international human rights and the rule of law, are willing to ignore these monstrous crimes, and only pay lip service to calls for justice for the victims.  Witnessing this is not only hard to believe but also infuriating, particularly given the annual public displays of “remorse” by politicians on occasions like Victims of Genocide Day and Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Martin Luther King Jr. said the greatest sin of our time is not the destruction of the good around us by the few but the apathy of the vast majority who do nothing to stop it as it happens.  By this measure Trudeau, along with other leaders of nations claiming to be defenders of human rights, committed sins on an unimaginable scale.  

We should remember this as we come to end of the Christmas season, the season of “Peace on Earth” and showing goodwill.  And for the New Year let’s wish for a future that is far less banal, and work towards achieving it. 

© 2019 The View From Here.  © 2019 Fareed Khan.  All Rights Reserved.

Canada gave hope to the Rohingya, then failed them by not acting to stop genocide. But there’s a chance for redemption

By Fareed Khan

One of the gravest human rights issues of the past two years has been the genocide of the Rohingya at the hands of the Myanmar government.  As Canada marked Victims of Genocide Day on December 9th and Human Rights Day on December 10th, Canadians need to examine how the Canada first gave hope to the Rohingya, then cruelly failed them, and how it can now redeem itself.

 

The world was aghast in the fall of 2017 when the atrocities committed by Myanmar against its Rohingya minority came to light – acts which were labeled "ethnic cleansing", "crimes against humanity," and ultimately "genocide".  Myanmar’s crimes against the Rohingya included the mass murder of thousands of unarmed civilians, the gang rape of tens of thousands of women, and the destruction of more almost 400 villages, which caused an exodus of Rohingya to neighbouring Bangladesh creating the world’s largest refugee camp.

In 2017 and 2018 Canada took international leadership in the Rohingya crisis through some key initiatives.  Canada was among the first nations to condemn Myanmar's atrocities.  In November 2017 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Bob Rae as a Special Envoy to Myanmar to look into the crisis, report back, and recommend a course of action.  Following the release of Rae's final report in April 2018, Canada committed $300 million over three years for humanitarian assistance to Rohingya refugees (but ignored the majority of the remaining 17 recommendations).

As host of the G7 summit in 2018 Canada put the Rohingya issue on the agenda, and raised it in other international forums.  In addition, Canada used Magnitsky Act sanctions against a number of Myanmar's military officials, and supported the work of Canadian human rights jurists and organizations who filed legal briefs at the International Criminal Court in The Hague regarding the crime of forced deportation of Rohingya.

In the fall of 2018 Canada's Parliament passed two unanimously supported motions which officially acknowledged the atrocities committed by Myanmar against the Rohingya as "genocide" (the first nation in the world to do so).  Subsequently, Parliament also revoked the honourary Canadian citizenship conferred on Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2008, and expressed its opposition to the repatriation of any Rohingya back to Myanmar without guarantees of safety and security.

But that is where Canada's leadership on the Rohingya crisis ended.

Despite repeated calls by the Rohingya Human Rights Network and other human rights organizations, Canada took no action at the United Nations to protect the more than 500,000 Rohingya remaining in Myanmar still being subjected to genocide.  Most importantly, since the beginning of 2018, Canada has been deaf to the many Canadian human rights voices, calling on the government to live up to its international treaty obligations by filing a complaint against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) under the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, despite the support shown for this action in a petition signed by more than 75,000 people.

For more than a year and a half the Canadian government has refused to live up to its international legal obligations by filing a genocide case against Myanmar at the ICJ, notwithstanding that this proposed action has the support of a third of the Senate, MPs from all parties, and human rights and civil society organizations.

The small West African country of Gambia has taken the lead in seeking justice for the Rohingya by filing a case for genocide against Myanmar at the ICJ.  The opening statements were made by the legal team from Gambia on December 11th.  The same day, disgraced Nobel Peace Prize laureate made an opening statement on behalf of Myanmar by trying to refute allegations that her nation committed genocide against the Rohingya, despite the overwhelming evidence available to prove otherwise.

Rohingya from around the world travelled to The Hague to be present on this historic occasion, to say thank you to Gambia, to stand in solidarity with that nation for taking on the genocide case against Myanmar, and to stand in defiance of Aung San Suu Kyi who has transformed from a human rights defender into someone complicit in genocide.  Rohingya were in The Hague to show her and the world that they will not be silenced, they will not be intimidated, or forgotten, despite the horrors and atrocities that have been inflicted on them by the Myanmar government, recently and over the past four decades.

There are also Rohingya Canadians who traveled to The Hague to stand shoulder to shoulder with their brothers and sisters.  They did this to send a signal to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that if Canada wants to be a “rule of law” nation and defender of human rights, as he and former Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland have so often stated, then they should take lessons from Gambia, which is living up to its legal responsibilities under the genocide convention, and defending the human rights of the Rohingya.  Where Canada has offered platitudes and slogans with no actions behind the words, Gambia is offering a real hope for justice.

However, Canada does have a path to redemption.  If the prime minister wants to show that Canada is truly a defender of the rules-based international order and human rights, then he needs to instruct Canadian officials to take actions which will allow Canada to become a party to Gambia’s genocide case.  All those who have been lobbying the government to stop the genocide in Myanmar, which continues to this day, still want Canada to participate in the genocide case, and put its legal expertise and international weight behind this prosecution in a substantive way. 

Words of support for the Rohingya are cheap, and Rohingya activists and their allies have heard far too many words from the Canadian government followed by too little action.  It is actions that matter.  Especially when it comes to helping those Rohingya who have survived genocide, and those who continue to be subjected to it. 

Sitting on the sidelines is not an option.  Canada needs to show leadership and join Gambia in prosecuting the Rohingya genocide at the ICJ.  Because to be a leader on the international stage requires action, and now is the moment to act and demonstrate Canadian leadership in a case where justice for survivors of genocide is the goal.  Words are important, but actions always matter more.

© 2019 The View From Here.  All Rights Reserved.

OP-ED -- Conservative leaders acting like spoiled children

FAREED KHAN
Updated: November 12, 2019

https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-conservative-leaders-acting-like-spoiled-children 

In the almost three weeks since Liberal MPs were shut out of Alberta and Saskatchewan on election night, Conservative politicians in those provinces haven’t stopped complaining long enough to realize that they are behaving like a spoiled child that didn’t get its way.

So here is a message to Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, and federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer on behalf of the millions of Canadians who did not vote Conservative across the country — stop lying to Canadians and pouring gasoline on the embers of western alienation.

The fact is voters in the rest of Canada who didn’t vote Conservative are feeling alienated by your determination to return to Stephen Harper-era policies — policies that were soundly rejected by more than 60 per cent of Canadians in the 2015 election, and more than 63 per cent of Canadians in this recent election.

The fact that not a single Liberal MP was elected in either province is the fault of no one but the voters and Conservative politicians in those provinces who demonized the Liberals. If they had wanted a voice in the government they should have hedged their bets and re-elected the few Liberal MPs who were running.

As for the demands being made by Conservative politicians and voters, Canadians living outside Alberta and Saskatchewan who did not vote Conservative have some demands as well.

The first is for Conservative politicians to stop lying about what equalization actually is. Equalization payments are not some sort of cheque that provincial governments give to the federal government, which is then redistributed to other provinces. Equalization dollars come from federal tax revenues which are set aside to help “have-not” provinces provide the same level of services as richer provinces provide. If the equalization program were cancelled, Alberta and Saskatchewan would not see a single cent returned to their coffers.

The equalization formula that Premiers Kenney and Moe say is so unfair was designed in 2009 by the Harper government while Kenney was a minister in the most pro-oil federal cabinet in Canadian history, with pro-oil premiers in Alberta and Saskatchewan. If it’s unfair, it’s because the Harper Conservatives, with the help of Kenney, made it that way.

Alberta and Saskatchewan also need to acknowledge that they benefit by being part of Canada. Federal tax breaks for the oil and gas sector in Canada top $3.3 billion annually, with the vast majority of that going to companies in Alberta. Throw in other corporate tax breaks, federal health and social transfers (which amount to $7.8 billion), funds paid directly to residents of Alberta and Saskatchewan through the child benefit, EI payments, CPP payments, and other programs, and you have many billions in federal dollars going to the two provinces.

Also, stop demonizing Canadians who did not vote Conservative. In a democracy there will be winners and losers. You did not see Liberals and New Democrats in Ontario and Quebec threatening to separate when Harper was winning, a time when the two provinces were losing hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs due to a high Canadian dollar caused by oil prices of more than $100 per barrel.

To Alberta politicians, if you instituted sensible tax revenue policies, rather than wanting to keep taxes the lowest in the country, then you would not be running deficits. So institute a sales tax, raise provincial and corporate income taxes, and increase oil and gas royalties to reflect the real value of your resources. It is clear that Alberta has a revenue problem and a deficit of its own making.

Finally, respect the decisions of the courts in your legal challenges to federal carbon pricing. Continuing to fight, despite repeated defeats, is a misappropriation of funds for strictly partisan reasons. The fact that conservative icon Preston Manning and some oil company CEOs support carbon pricing as a sensible market solution to addressing climate change, says that you are absolutely wrong on this issue.

Mr. Kenney, Mr. Moe, your recent behaviour shows a lack of leadership, and is endangering national unity. So begin acting like real leaders for all your citizens and not just those who voted Conservative. 

Fareed Khan is a government relations and communications consultant living in Gatineau. Quebec. 

© 2019 Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved.

The barely acknowledged contributions of South Asian Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus to the allied victory in World War 1

By Fareed Khan

 
The controversy preceding Canada's Remembrance Day observance in 2019 shifted the focus away from the sacrifice of veterans onto the ramblings of a man whose bigotry was evident when he said in a November 9th Hockey Night in Canada segment “You people that come here . . . whatever it is, you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey, at least you could pay a couple of bucks for a poppy.”  The implication of Don Cherry’s statement was taken to mean that immigrants don’t honour the sacrifice of veterans sufficiently the way white Canadians do.  

 

The reaction and condemnation of the statement on social media was swift, and two days after making the remarks Cherry was fired from his job on Hockey Night In Canada – a job he had held since 1986.  The one positive that came out of this controversy was the discussion around the role that people from around the world (not just Canadians, American and Europeans) played in defending freedom and democracy in both World Wars.

One of the biggest contributions to the war effort in World War 1 came from British colonial troops, particularly Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs from what is present day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.  These soldiers played a vital role in the victory in that war, and the preservation of the British Empire.  Sadly, their service and sacrifice on the battlefields of the War is all but forgotten at annual Remembrance Day services in Europe and Canada.

 

The role played by troops from Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand and the sacrifices they made are well documented in the history books.  More than 1.2 million soldiers fought in the Great War on the side of the Allies.  What Canadians don't know is that South Asia's contribution to World War 1 provided more soldiers than all of the above four British Empire nations combined, and it deserves to be acknowledged during coverage about Remembrance Day.

More than 1.5 million men from Britain's Indian colonies fought alongside the British and their fellow colonial soldiers from Asia, Africa and the Caribbean in all of the major theatres of war.  They earned awards for valour and gallantry in battles that are etched into Canada's military history – Vimy Ridge, Paschendale, Ypres, Somme and Flanders.

On August 4, 1914 – the outbreak of World War 1 – the British army was ill prepared to take on the German army, which advanced quickly and tore through the north west of continental Europe inflicting heavy casualties on British forces.  The British Expeditionary Force was in full retreat under Germany's military onslaught, and if left unchecked the German attack could flank the British taking them to the coast of the English Channel, allowing them to secure the strategic coastal ports of Nieuport, Calais and Dunkirk before the British.

As casualties mounted and unable to replenish their forces with fresh troops from Britain in a speedy manner, a call was sent to colonies across the Empire.  The first to answer and send troops to Europe was the British Indian Army.  Their arrival in the early days of the war prevented German forces from advancing further, and saved the French ports on the English Channel from falling into German hands.  Had that occurred it would very likely have altered the entire course of World War 1.

Unlike its counterparts from Britain, Canada and Australia, the British Indian Army was multi ethnic and multi religious force, being comprised of roughly 700,000 Muslims, 150,000 Sikhs, and 650,000 of Hindus and other South Asian religious groups, hailing  from present day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The first British Indian Army regiment to land in France and enter the trenches was the Punjabi and Pathan, Duke of Connaughts 129th Baluch Regiment, which was comprised entirely of Muslims.  The regiment continues to exist today as the 11th Battalion of the Baloch Regiment of the Pakistan Army.

The 129th were on the front lines of British Indian troops fighting on the Western Front in Europe.  The regiment became renowned for its courage, heroism, fearlessness and sacrifice.  When their tour ended after 12 months in the trenches of Europe only 9 officers and 20 soldiers remained from the original contingent of 790.  The casualties suffered by this one regiment is but one example of the sacrifices made on the European front lines by colonial troops, and is a testament to their contributions made in defence of their colonial masters.

One of the survivors from this regiment was Khudadad Khan, a 26 year old Punjabi Muslim, who received British Empire’s highest decoration for bravery, the Victoria Cross, which was placed on his chest by King George V.  He became the first British Indian soldier and first Muslim to receive this singular honour and he would not be the last.

 

World War 1 is filled with many little known stories of bravery, heroism and sacrifice by Canadian, British and Australian troops, as well as hundreds of thousands of troops from colonies across the British Empire, many of whom were Muslim, Sikh and Hindu.  The contributions of these brave men and women should be remembered and honoured with as much reverence as are those of the mainly white Christian troops from Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

Canadians need to remember this important part of world history, the sacrifices of more than 1.5 million troops from the British Indian Empire with roots in current day Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, with the same respect and admiration that we remember Canadian and British troops.  More than 113,000 British Indian Army personnel were reported dead, wounded or missing by the end of the war.  They fought and died along with other Canadian, British and colonial soldiers in all theatres of World War 1.

It is long past time to create awareness and educate Canadians about the magnitude of the sacrifices made by South Asian soldiers, and the vital role they played in achieving victory in that horrible conflict.  During a critical time of the War, when they were needed the most, South Asian soldiers manned one third of the Western Front.  They stood toe to toe with the German army, fighting and dying side by side with Canadian and British troops in key battles of the War.

The two World Wars impacted every family in Canada and millions of families in colonies across the former British Empire. We should now take time to acknowledge the ancestors of those Muslim, Sikh and Hindu soldiers from South Asia, who did their duty as part of the Allied forces and made a major contribution to winning World War 1.  The ancestors of many of the South Asian soldiers from Pakistan and India currently live in Canada and it is important that Canada remembers and honours their sacrifices.

Acknowledging a shared history of families from opposite sides of the globe allows us to envision a shared future here in Canada, where people from different faiths and ethnicities more than a century ago showed that they could come together into a unified force to fight for a common goal.  Don Cherry (and Canadians in general) would be well advised to become educated about the history shared by people who come from other parts of the world, who do not fit into the predominantly white narrative around the two World Wars.  Because that is the only way to remember the sacrifices made on this most solemn of days, and it is the only way to honour those who shed blood in defence of a colonial empire that did not see them as equals.

© 2019 The View From Here.  © 2019 Fareed Khan.  All Rights Reserved.

Remembrance Day 2019 became about Don Cherry rather than the sacrifices of veterans

By Fareed Khan
 
The anti-immigrant rant by hockey personality Don Cherry on Hockey Night in Canada on November 9th, where he targeted (primarily non-White) immigrants for not honouring veterans by wearing a poppy for Remembrance Day, put the media focus on Cherry rather than on veterans where it should have been.  The controversy around his comments continues more than a week later as Canadians continue to weigh in on what he said.

 

What Cherry and his legions of supporters conveniently ignored is that the freedom that Canadian veterans fought and died for includes the freedom to choose how to honour that sacrifice.  While many Canadians chose to honour veterans by wearing a poppy, many did not (both immigrant and non-immigrant).

Honouring the sacrifices of veterans happens in many forms, including making sure that what they fought and died for prevails – a democratic nation free from tyranny, including tyranny of the majority, or a tyranny of one. In addition, Canadian immigrants from nations without democracies honour veterans year round by working to defend a Canada where people of all racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds are welcomed, and where they can use the freedom purchased with blood to challenge those who would advocate racist ideas – ideas that Allied soldiers, sailors and airmen fought to defeat in World War 2.

Cherry and many of his followers also seem to be ignorant to the fact that the African, Asian and Caribbean countries, from which most recent immigrants to Canada originate, also paid a steep price in both World Wars when they were European colonies.

In World War 1 more than 1.5 million soldiers from British colonies were sent to the trenches on the front lines in Europe to be used as cannon fodder. More than 130,000 of these soldiers – Black, Brown, Arab, Asian, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, etc. – died on the battlefields of Europe.  But their sacrifices are barely acknowledged on Remembrance Day.  In World War 2 the contributions of British colonial forces from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean totalled more than 2.5 million soldiers, sailors and airmen who served in all theatres of the war, many paying the ultimate price.

One of the other disturbing things about this controversy is the reaction of those who have come to Cherry’s defence.  It bodes ill for Canada that so many people are unwilling to acknowledge the racist nature of his comments, as well as acknowledge his history of making xenophobic and bigoted comments targeting various communities.  Around a day when Canadians were supposed to come together to acknowledge something which should bind us, the reaction by hundreds of thousands of Cherry supporters on social media, created an “us” versus “them” mentality.  It is an indicator of a disturbing divide in this country, and their refusal to acknowledge the othering of immigrants by Cherry is an issue that goes beyond hockey, and should concern all Canadians.

As we saw this past week most Canadians were rightfully critical of Cherry for what he said, and for ignoring the reality that victories in both World Wars were achieved by more than just Canada, the US and European nations. Those victories happened because of the sacrifices of peoples from around the world.  His refusal to acknowledge those sacrifices is just as problematic as his statement which began this controversy.

It’s obvious from Cherry’s comments, and the reaction of many who defended him after his firing from Hockey Night In Canada, that he and his fans can’t accept that people of all ethnic and faith backgrounds paid the ultimate price to achieve victory in both World Wars.  As the beneficiaries of those sacrifices the best way for us to honour veterans is not just on Remembrance Day, but every day by ensuring that the freedom that was purchased with precious lives continues to be defended.  Because if it isn’t then whether we wear a poppy for future Remembrance Days or not is meaningless, and it is an insult to those who spilled blood to give us the freedoms which many Canadians take for granted.

 
© 2019 The View From Here.  © 2019 Fareed Khan.  All Rights Reserved.