Assad leaves his imprint

IN THE MATTER of two summers, the death of long serving rulers, monarchical and military, in West Asia has pitchforked to the front young inheritors who hold out the promise of hope, primarily because they have not been weaned on the poison of hatred. These men - King Hussein's son in Jordan, King Hassan's in Morocco and now the son of Syria's uncrowned king Hafez al- Assad - no older than teens in the world of international intrigue, have the potential to bring a breath of fresh air and a needed break from the bloody past. That the young men have had exposure to liberal ideas and ideals is additional cause of hope for the Arab poor, for whom things can only improve after a half century of repressive regimes and unwanted wars. Of the three nations where young men are at the helm, Morocco was all along the silent player in the region while Jordan, dwarfed in the shadow of Israel, was never allowed to perform to its potential. It was Syria under Mr. Assad which emerged as a major player, projecting its power in the neighbourhood in no small measure. The crop of young rulers can give a new thrust and direction to the entire region.

Modern Syria owes all to Assad, who died in Damascus on Saturday. He brought remarkable stability to an ancient land, that had till then remained as unstable as the desert sand, and transformed it into a force to reckon with in the West Asian melting pot. A progressive in a sea of fundamentalist fervour, he stood by his country and by his friends, among whom he counted India, often working behind the scenes to stall and counter anti-India moves. New Delhi's recognition of this is reflected in the despatch of a political heavyweight, the Union Minister, Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi, to attend Assad's funeral. Assad was an uncompromising nationalist, unwilling to yield under pressure to the Jewish state and he staunchly opposed Egypt's decision to sign its own peace deal with Israel at the instance of the U.S., considering it a betrayal of the Arab cause. He also demonstrated the courage to criticise Iraq for its annexation of Kuwait, for the first time finding himself in the strange company of the Western powers ranged against Mr. Saddam Hussein. He promised peace with honour to his people by bringing back the Golan Heights lost to Israel in 1967 but could not deliver on it, though undoubtedly he did all he could to bring that goal nearer.

Coming at a crucial juncture when the different strands of the peace process have entered a decisive stage, the death of Hafez al-Assad has no doubt the potential to push the volatile region to the brink yet again. Four years ago the rites of democracy, scarcely practised in the region, derailed the peace process when the Israelis elected a self-declared hawk as Prime Minister and he wasted no time in knocking down the carefully built up peace edifice. Both Israel and Palestine paid dearly for it before another election brought to the forefront a man who understands the region's yearning for peace and a respite from war. Today, when the Israel-Palestine track of the peace process looks like it can survive the doubts of the past months, a degree of uncertainty has been injected by the death of the Syrian leader, who time and time again proved his capacity to remote-control the happenings in the region. The smooth transition in Damascus to his son and chosen successor, Dr. Bashar Assad, carries the promise of continuity and hope of movement along the Israeli- Syrian peace track. Suddenly, for the first time in a long while, a region consigned to the darkness of war and dictatorship sees hope in the arrival of the three new rulers in Amman, Rabat and now the ancient capital of Damascus.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Opinion
Previous : Clearing the air
Next     : The unexorcised ghost of Sanjay Gandhi