Dipak Lama
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s a chronic insomnia patient for the last 18 years or so, I spent my sleepless nights reading News Papers, books, magazines and tracking Television News of the current affairs. As most of the Smart Phones users in Nagaland must have come across the pictures of the brutal massacres of the innocent Christians in Iraq and Syria by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) aka Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) founded by Ibrahim Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, an offshoot of Al Qaeda of Iraq (AQI). This organization is a Sunni extremist group. It follows an extreme anti-Western interpretation of Islam, promotes religious violence and regards those who do not agree with its interpretations as infidels apostates.Following the news of the brutal onslaught on the innocent men, women and children in Iraq and Syria, my sleepless nights were so horrifying that, as a Christian, I would pray after every news I read. Innocent and defenseless men were separated from the family and mass killing would take place. Christians were crucified in public and shot dead. The ISIS/ISIL boasts mass execution and later releases the videos in the social media to convince and encourage the other Jihadists around the world. The beheadings of 2 (two) American journalists Sotloff and James Foley, 2 (Two) Britishers David Haines and Alan Henning and the latest is Frenchman Herve Gourdel, a recreational hiker. The ISIS has threatened that another hostage Peter Kassig will face the same fate.
The merciless acts of these demons (ISIS) are so horrifying that around 1000 women and teenage girls were sent to Syria from Iraq as a reward to the militants fighting in Syria, some were enslaved and sold for $10 in the open markets. Many are being raped and even minors of the age of 10-12 are not spared. The ISIS justifies the capture and sexual enslavement of thousands of women and girls in Iraq and Syria but the irony is “US drone captured ISIS man having sex with a donkey”. (You can browse the net to authenticate). It is not the first time that such a degraded and shameful acts were captured by the US Drone, it was captured earlier also that, an Al Qaeda fighter was having sex with a goat in a war zone. How dare these demons propagate that, they are the TRUE FOLLOWERS OF ISLAM AND ALLAH?” when they are beheading, raping, butchering, hanging their own innocent and defenseless Muslims and Christians in public, and not even sparing the dumb donkeys and goats. These ruthless ISIS men are neither fighters nor warriors but they are demons and their faith is Terrorism. These ISIS men have the genes of animals in their blood, therefore, they do not belong to any caste, creed or religion and their only definition is TERRORISM and they are the stigma of true Muslims and Islam.
Being born in Nagaland, I have some knowledge about the Naga Army fighting their enemies/intruder/invaders. The Naga Army fights their enemies as a true fighters and warriors. The assigned contingent/fighters fast and pray for days before the war/battle against their enemies, they seek the power and blessings and commit themselves upon the Lord while protecting and defending their people and the nation. True warriors and fighters are those who respect humanity during wars and conflicts. I belief that, the Naga Army are the true and the best warriors/fighters because they go to the battle field with deep faith upon the Lord and thus it has come this far without being defeated or retreated, rather every single war they fought in this long 60 years had strengthened and boosted their war/battle techniques and eventually the Uniqueness of the Nagas were recognized by India and the world.
I was carried away and touched by the Article of Ronald S. Lauder, the President of the World Jewish Congress which was published in The New York Times, Dated 19th August 2014 under the caption:
“Who Will Stand For The Christians”
I quote:
“Why is the world silent while Christians are being slaughtered in the Middle East and Africa? In Europe and United States, we have witnessed demonstrations over the tragic deaths of Palestinians who have been used as human shields by Hamas, the terrorist organization that controls Gaza. The United Nations held enquiries and focuses its anger on Israel for defending itself against the same terrorist organization. But the barbarous slaughter of thousands upon thousands of Christians is met with relative indifference.
The Middle East and parts of central Africa are losing entire Christian communities that have lived in peace for centuries. The terrorist group Boko Haram has kidnapped and killed hundreds of Christians this year-ravaging the predominantly Christian town of Gwaza, in Borno State in northeastern Nigeria, two weeks ago. Half a million Christian Arabs have been driven out of Syria during the three-plus years of civil war there. Christians have been prosecuted and killed in countries from Lebanon to sudan.
Historians may look back at this period and wonder if people had lost their bearings. Few reporters have traveled to Iraq to bear witness to the Nazi –like wave of terror that is rolling across that country.The United Nations has been mostly mum. World leaders seem to be consumed with their matters in this Summer of 2014. There are no flotillas travelling to Syria or Iraq and the beautiful celebrities are aging rock stars- why does’nt the slaughter of the Christians seem to have activate their social antennas.
President Obama should commended of ordering airstrikes to save tens of thousands of Yezidis, who follow an ancient religion and have been stranded on a mountain in northern Iraq, besieged Sunni Muslims Militants. But sadly airstrikes alone are not enough to stop this grotesque wave of terrorism.
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is not a loose coalition of jihadist groups, but a real military force that has managed to take over much of Iraq with a successful business model that rivals its coldblooded spearhead of death. It uses money from banks and gold shops it captured, along with control of oil resources and old- fashioned extortion, to finance its killing machine, making it perhaps the wealthiest Islamist terrorist group in the world. But where it truly excels is in the carnage, rivaling the death orgies of Middle Ages. It has ruthlessly targeted Shiites, Kurds and Christians.
“They actually beheaded children and put their heads on a stick” a Chaldean Americam businessman Mark Arabo told CNN, describing a scene in a Mosul Park. “More children are getting beheaded, mothers are getting raped and killed, and fathers are being hung”
This week, 200,000 Aramaeans fled their ancestral homeland around Nineveh, having already escaped Mosul.
The general indifference to ISIS, with its mass executions of Christians and its deadly preoccupation with Israel, isn’t just wrong; it’s obscene.
In a speech before thousand of Christians in Budapest in June, I made a solemn promise that just as I will not be silent in the face of the growing threat of anti-Semitism in Europe and in the Middle East, I will not be indifferent to Christian suffering. Historically, it has almost always been the other way around: Jews have too often been the persecuted minority. But Israel has been among the first country to aid Christians in South Sudan. Christians can openly practice their religion in Israel, unlike in much of the Middle East.
This bond between Jews and Christians makes complete sense. We share much more than most religions. We read the same Bible, and share a moral and ethical core. Now, sadly, we share a kind of suffering: Christians are dying because of their beliefs, because they are defenseless and because the world is indifferent to their suffering.
Good people must join together and stop this revolting wave of violence. It’s not as if we are powerless. I write this as a citizen of the strongest military power on earth.I write this as a Jewish leader who cares about my Christian brothers and sisters. The Jewish people understand all too well what can happen when the world is silent. This campaign of death must be stopped.”
Unquote:
My dear fellow readers, we have held many Concerts for Peace, Reconciliation for Peace, Dialogues for Peace etc. but let us unite in prayers for Peace for the innocent Christians in Middle East and may all the countries/nations, no matter how rich or poor, big or small, come together as one fighting force to defeat and uproot the evil ISIS and end terrorism for ever before it spreads like AIDS and Ebola.
Thahekhu Village, Dimapur
