19 November 2020, NIICE Commentary
Pranay Kumar Shome
Recent spates of Islamist terror attacks targeting innocent civilians, has highlighted the worrying situation of law and order amidst the worrying state of civilisational relationship in the European heartland. Beginning in France, the beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty followed by a string of other jihadist attacks across Europe has sent shockwaves across the world which has resulted in a deep impact on the polity and life of the citizens. A new dimension of conflict has commenced in the European countries which threatens to tear asunder the religious amity of Europe and create a chimera which would ignite a large geopolitical conflict based largely on religious and institutional grounds.
Decoding the Conflict
The conflict between European and Islamic civilizations is not new, it dates back to the days of the crusades- a series of religious wars sanctioned by the Vatican to retake the European lands captured and annexed by Islamic rulers to reconvert them on the lines of Christianity. These wars date back to 8th century that continued until 11the century. Fast forward to the beginning of the modern age in Europe from the 16th century onwards which was accentuated by the Renaissance and the Reformation somehow deepened this conflict primarily on the basis that European countries began a global colonization of countries belonging to other civilizations and faiths.
The height of the colonization reached its climax, as a result of various treaties signed during the first world war that allowed the victorious allied powers to take over the defeated central powers and govern them as mandates under the aegis of the erstwhile League of Nations. Among them were the most prominent territories of the beleaguered, Ottoman Empire, recognized somewhat derogatively as “The sick man of Europe”. Ottoman Turkey was regarded as the fourth caliphate and the Ottoman Sultan was recognized as the caliph. In the 1950s, immediately after the termination of the Second World War, these colonies slowly gained their independence, some of which among them are Algeria, Tunisia, and other Islamic African countries.
One of the primary sources of this civilisational clash is the text of Islamic theologian and preacher Sayyid at Qutb who in his magnum opus, Milestones, articulated the inbuilt conflict between Europe and Islam and called for overthrowing of the Westphalian world order and the re-imposition of an Islamic caliphate. The Christian side too has its own share of anti Muslim scholars and thinkers such as Robert Spencer and Olivier Roy, who contributed to flaring up of virulent anti-Muslim tensions.
The notion of secularism in different European countries also appeared to be a potent cause for up stirring a clash of civilizations as the American political scientist Samuel P Huntington said “Laicite which advocates the strict separation of state and religion” in the French context appears to be the culprit if it is placed in the broad European framework. On the basis of this principal, successive French governments have taken steps which have alienated the Muslim brethren around the world. Some of those steps included banning of hijab wearing, closing of madrasas in Europe, making the state language mandatory for getting jobs and availing of other services which were emulated in other European countries. These consequences, accentuated the sense of dissatisfaction within the Muslim people. Thus, the seeds of a conflictual relationship had been laid for quite some time which appears to threaten the European countries.
Mending the Fissures
It is time for European states to undertake the arduous task of rebuilding the broken bridge with its Muslim minority populations because the more the distrust and contumacious behaviour between the people increase, the more fissures will emerge in the European polity. This will entail horrific ramifications for the unity of the European Union in the foreseeable future.
Firstly, holding interfaith dialogues and seminars on religious affairs at regular intervals will help the European and Islamic countries to arrive at a deeper understanding of the beliefs, cultures and history recognizing the similarities between them. This would further nurture the understanding of ingrained aspects of religious matters.
Secondly, courses pertaining to Christian and Islamic civilizations in not just European universities but also in the Islamic universities across Muslim countries, should be taken up. This step will go a long way in understanding the nuances of both civilizations while emphasizing on their good values, avoiding the friction points and addressing outstanding gridlock like issues. Thirdly, an overarching state regulated program for de-radicalization of Islamist militants is vital and care should be taken to ensure that these miscreants are not released until promising results of their capability to mingle with the mainstream society is evident. Otherwise there could be a recap of what happened recently in Austria.
Fourthly, the European governments must take strong steps to root out extremism on both sides of the religious and ideological spectrum. The recent arrest of dozens of far rights activists in Germany who were accused of planning large scale attacks on mosques as well as the Austrian and French raids on radical Islamic elements and closing down of Salafi and Wahhabi mosques foment extremist beliefs, are cases in point.
Lastly, an introspection on the part of recalcitrant and reactionary European leaders is an important necessity, as it includes leaders like Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Viktor Orban of Romania. The European Union must collectively take stern steps through punitive economic and political measures to lessen the impact of incendiary speeches that fan the flames of communalism with the ostensible objective of promoting civilisational discord.
Hope for a Better Future
Mahatma Gandhi once said “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. This is precisely what is happening in Europe and elsewhere. The moot point is that, the prophecy of Samuel P Huntington in his magnum opus “Clash of Civilizations and Remaking of World Order” appears to be slowly in the process of becoming the truth. But Europe has a chance to once again become the beacon of unity and hope for the rest of the world which is currently suffering from the scourge of a deadly pandemic. The healing touch is imperative at a time of depressive economic conditions, loss of millions of jobs and a constant fear of life.
