top of page

By:

Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Whitewashing Damascus

America’s Syrian gamble rewards brutality, betrays the Kurds and reveals how cheaply Donald Trump trades in memory. In the space of two days, Syria’s map has been redrawn with a speed and savagery that would have seemed unthinkable just a year ago. Government forces, backed by tribal militias of dubious pedigree, have pushed the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) out of large parts of northern Syria they had controlled since the darkest days of the Islamic State. Raqqa, the former...

Whitewashing Damascus

America’s Syrian gamble rewards brutality, betrays the Kurds and reveals how cheaply Donald Trump trades in memory. In the space of two days, Syria’s map has been redrawn with a speed and savagery that would have seemed unthinkable just a year ago. Government forces, backed by tribal militias of dubious pedigree, have pushed the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) out of large parts of northern Syria they had controlled since the darkest days of the Islamic State. Raqqa, the former capital of ISIS’s grotesque caliphate, has fallen back under Damascus’s sway. So too has much of Syria’s oil wealth, lost to the state for over a decade. Predictably, Washington’s response has been one of accommodation. Presiding over this moral contortion is Donald Trump, who has chosen to recognise Syrian strongman Ahmed al-Sharaa (better known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani) - a man whose political evolution from al-Qaeda affiliate to interim president has been lubricated by expediency and violence. His forces’ conduct in Rojava with horrific beheadings filmed on mobile phones, and women discussed as spoils of war, has been chillingly familiar. The SDF itself has said the executions were carried out “in the style of ISIS.” Yet, this is the man Trump has chosen to treat as a partner in counterterrorism. America’s Kurdish allies have every reason to feel betrayed. For a decade, the SDF served as Washington’s most reliable boots on the ground against ISIS. Kurdish fighters bore the brunt of the war that ended the Caliphate’s territorial rule in 2019, guarding prisons packed with hardened jihadists and camps such as al-Hol, where the families of ISIS fighters still fester in radical limbo. Now Damascus is taking over those prisons, after clashes near facilities like al-Shaddadi and al-Aqtan left Kurdish fighters dead and wounded and ISIS detainees perilously close to escape. This handover is being hailed as ‘progress’ in Washington, which says all about the cynical and amnesiac nature of American political memory. Trump, meanwhile, has boasted of coordinating with Damascus to prevent ISIS prisoners from slipping away and speaks approvingly of Jolani’s assurances. His envoy, Tom Barrack, talks of a “pathway” for the Kurds into a unified Syrian state, complete with citizenship rights and cultural protections. Such language would be comforting if Syria’s recent history did not mock it so thoroughly. But even American officials have admitted to being squeamish about the events unfolding on the ground. Retired officers warn that jihadists and takfiri extremists are embedded within government-aligned forces, raising doubts about Damascus’s ability or willingness to control them. Turkey, long hostile to Kurdish autonomy and eager to brand the SDF as an extension of the PKK, looks on approvingly. The geopolitical irony is sharp. Trump rose to power railing against “radical Islamic terrorism” and imposing sweeping travel bans in the name of security. Yet he now embraces a man whose past would have once made him a poster child for Trumpian outrage. America has made the mistake before of arming jihadists in Afghanistan to humble the Soviets and indulging warlords in Iraq to suppress insurgents, of outsourcing stability to thugs and calling it ‘pragmatism.’ Each time, there has been a bloody reckoning. Senator Lindsey Graham has threatened to resurrect “bone-crushing” Caesar Act sanctions if Syrian forces continue their advance, warning of permanent damage to relations. But such threats ring hollow when the White House has already conferred legitimacy. Recognition, after all, is a signal which tells every militia leader in the region that power, once seized and sanitised, can be rewarded no matter how stained its origins. The tragedy of Syria is that its people have been subjected to every variety of foreign cynicism: Russian bombs, Iranian militias, Turkish interventions and American half-measures. Trump’s recognition of Jolani has added another layer to this ruinous pattern. It abandons allies who fought America’s enemies, launders the reputation of a jihadist in a suit, and mistakes the absence of ISIS flags for the presence of peace. Syria has seen this movie before. It never ends well.

Small Steps to Saving the Olive Ridley

During a late evening walk in December, as the sun set into the sea and the sky turned an orange-pink hue, Suhas Toraskar, spotted a trail in the sand that he is all too familiar with—the Olive Ridley Turtles had arrived. A veteran in the conservation of the Olive Ridley turtles, the 58- year-old fisherman followed the trail and with a stick moved the sands to unearth the turtle’s eggs. He made a protective boundary around the pit to protect the eggs from predators. Two months later, he would set free the baby turtles into the water and watch them swim away to their new life. This has been a routine for Toraskar since 1993.

 

Hailed as a ‘biodiversity champion’ by the United Nations Development Programme India, Toraskar has been the guardian angel of the breeding and nesting grounds of the olive ridley turtle which is an endangered species. Called a 'Kasav Mitra', Toraskar speaks to The Perfect Voice about how he pioneered a movement to save the olive ridley turtles in Sindhudurg.

 

How did you become a kasav mitra?

I have been doing this for 32 years now. Back then, eating turtle meat and eggs was considered a delicacy. Dogs, wolves and birds would also prey on these eggs apart from people. When I returned to my village Wayangani from Mumbai in 1993, I was dismayed by what I saw and I decided to start protecting these eggs so that this species, which was fast disappearing, could be saved. After scanning the beach for several days, we would find one small nest. My family and I would probably find one nest in a year, keep it safe from humans and animals and then leave the babies into the sea. Ten years later, the forest department got involved and roped in locals by offering compensation for those who would find these nests and protect them.

 

How many turtle hatchlings do you get every year on an average?

The numbers are going down because of activity increasing on the beaches. Last year, we got around 250 nests but this year, they are down to 190. Until now, we have released 8000 turtle hatchlings into the sea. The olive ridley turtle lays eggs thrice a year in decreasing numbers. In the first round, they lay around 120 eggs of which around 70 eggs hatch, eventually. Turtles are shy and avoid human contact. Nowadays with activity on the coastline increasing, they are moving away from our beach and looking for other quieter spots. Since I began, we must have released almost one lakh hatchlings into the sea.

 

Is it true that turtles always come back to the same place to lay eggs?

It is partly true but if the same place has become busy or there are too many people or bright lights, they will move to a secluded place close to that. It’s their natural instinct to avoid humans and animals. Research says that no matter where they are, olive ridley turtles can swim thousands of kilometers between their feeding and breeding grounds and return to the same area to lay their eggs.

 

Turtle conservation has turned into a tourist activity now. Is this awareness beneficial?

Yes and no. More and more people are sensitised to the importance of conserving and saving these turtles but earlier, it was our fisherfolk who did it. Now, with the government offering a prize or compensation amount to anyone who finds and protects these nests, a lot of other people have got involved; even those who have no interest in conservation. They save a nest, earn money and then use it to drink alcohol. For easy money, these people patrol the beaches with bright torches every night. These lights disturb the natural nesting areas of the turtles who are therefore moving away from Wayangani.

 

How important is the olive ridley turtle to the environment?

Every creature has a role to play in the environment. Turtles are especially crucial to maintain the marine ecological balance. They feed on invertebrates, dead fish and small corals which helps release the oxygen that’s locked up there. This is how the turtles, which are listed as an endangered species, play a key role in the marine ecosystem. We fisherfolk understand the importance of the seas and the marine ecology and we know how essential the turtle is.

 

What steps can be taken to protect their breeding and nesting havens?

Instead of offering remuneration to anyone who finds a nest, the forest department must nominate people who are entrusted with finding and protecting these nests. That way, anti-social people will stop roaming the beaches with torches. We need a systematic approach to conservation.

Comments

bottom of page