Reviewed by Asif
Anwar Alig
On the Road to Kandahar: Travels Through Conflict in the Islamic
World by Jason Burke, Penguin Books Ltd. 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England,
2007, 297 pp. $15, Hard.
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| Asif Anwar Alig |
econd coming of Jason Burke’s adventurous war narration of the
conflicting Islamic world expresses spoof and hegemony in the “fundamentalist”
Islamic countries turning into the troubled crossroads. Given, such nations are
no more the “land of pure”. Though the book begins with polemic viewpoint, it
doesn’t create much bang. The veteran prize winning journalist turned author
observed the political upheavals and “Islamic militancy” since last one decade
while reporting wars in the troubled Islamic countries, as chief reporter of Observer.
The best-selling author of al-Qaeda: The True Story of Radical
Islam redefines a popular view of the Islamic militancy in accordance with
his personal assessments, while reporting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan besides
keenly analyzing the troubled situations in Pakistan. The author travels into
the troubled Islamic nations that, according to him, survive on the impregnable
notions and dictates. He expresses these views in his recent travelogue, On the
Road to Kandahar: Travels through Conflict in the Islamic World, a book
advising the future scribes to know journalism with tears.
Jason Burke’s travels in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, though
confined to the Islamic world, are a count by count assessment of the grave
situation of the war torn nations. War was imposed there by the US to test its
supremacy, and fruition an astonishing viewpoint of ‘war for peace’. As a chief
reporter of a prominent daily Jason reports the truth and keeps abundant scope
for an emotionless emotional appeal to prevail even in a biased media scenario.
The adventurous journeys of this prominent journalist in the troubled lands,
lands him to foresee the dilatory condition of the Islamic nations that bore
the burnt of an imposed war.
He sees them on humanitarian grounds. In this book, Jason does a
psychological observation of the Muslim world and its fundamentalist seeds. He
further assesses that faith mongers of Islamic countries have buried their own
civilizations. Objective reporting and henceforth a reprint of those reports in
this book prove that Jason is a good storyteller, though he is a journalist.
Through this book, the author describes his interactions as a
journalist turned author with the guerrilla warlords and militants,
perpetrators of Islamic fundamentalism, Muslim clergymen and the guardians of
the Islamic faith in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and the rest of the Muslim
world. He interacts with the masses in these countries, who happen to be the
victims of a political bias and religious chauvinism.
The issue of Human Rights violation in Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan,
and Kashmir in India, is an important component of this book. The author
observes that these violations are an outcome of the opportunistic mindsets,
for the sake of satisfying an ego. The militants, religious leaders, warlords,
jihadis, American forces and the dictators in the troubled Islamic countries
are party to this game.
In his count by count note compiled in a highly informative and
emotionally rich readable book, the British journalist turned author sees a
dramatic change in Kandahar, Jalalabad and Kabul in Afghanistan, Lahore,
Islamabad, Peshawar and entire rural region of Pakistan, Srinagar in India and
Baghdad, Fallujah, Tikrit, Suleimaniyah, Arbil, Mosul, Karbala, Al Najaf and
Basra in Iraq.
His primary observations are that each of these cities, though,
have separate entities but are the troubled ones and similar as well on the
grounds that they have been facing the whimsical historical misfortune since
centuries because they accommodate herd of Muslims who are now looked as
suspicious creatures — the terrorists.
In actuality, Muslims are ignorant, poor and illiterate; Jason
explains this in his book in a fine balance. The book is an imprint of a
comparative study of the western hypocrisy, eastern hypocrisy and the
hypocrites of the entire Islamic world. Spanned in almost a decade’s journey of
a scribe who has got a nose for news, the author does an analytical assessment
of the pre and post war scenario in three troubled Islamic nations;
Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq that bears the burnt of American bias of war on
terrorism.
As a war correspondence Jason explains the plague called “war on
terror” supposedly meant by the US to restore peace. But, as it had to happen,
thousands and thousands of innocent lives were perished and the seeds of
terrorism were further sown — urging a few of the Muslims to turn into
terrorists. The war on terror augured for the emergence of terrorism. The
outcome, Jason describes, could be seen in the decade ahead. The pre and post
war scenario favoured Jason’s opinion.
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| Jason Burke |
This book equally describes the hypocrisies of the Muslim leaders
like Saddam Hussain in Iraq, Taliban in Afghanistan and Muslim clergymen in
Pakistan. The author draws attention of the entire Muslim community to learn an
educative lesson from their oriental peers and half-brothers in Indonesia and
Malaysia where manners speak more than their appearance. One is unable to
differentiate Muslims from other communities there unlike in the most admired
Islamic world: Do they not religious and peace loving?
But in some of the Asian and Arabian countries including Iran
appearance speaks more than personal etiquettes of a Muslim who is always
scanned in suspicion. Why Islam and terrorism is almost two sides of a coin?
The Western mindset might have observed it but the oriental Muslim community
defies it through their way of life. Other Muslims need to focus on it.
Likewise the biasness towards the Islamic world and West’s approach
to taking it for granted has many reasoning. Jason describes them in this book
and looks into the reasons of the 9/11 attacks, London bombings and other
scares that shivered entire world. The author has a reason per se to explain.
As a reporter, he enjoyed the troubled times of his life, welcomed dangers for
the sake of an amazing news story and kept his life on the stakes to know pro
and cons of the conflicts of the Islamic world, role of media, leaders and the
guardians of peace and “democracy”.
The social, religious and political conflicts would sustain, says
this experienced journalist, in this book. He has toured to almost every
Islamic country including the densely Muslim populated Kashmir of Hindu India
to assess the conflicts of the Islamic world since last one decade. He, being a
devout reader and seeker after knowledge of the Islamic world, begins his
journey to comprehend the minor and major conflicts of Islamic world: The Shia
and Sunni conflicts, conflicts in Iraq due to continuous oppressions and
suppressions, conflicts due to the violation of Human Rights, conflicts between
religious dogma and modernization and the conflicts on urging one to become a
“martyr” for the sake of Islam … the list don’t end.
This political travelogue mixes every component of history,
sociology, art and philosophy. The author narrates the story of a troubled road
he is in at its crossroads, and sees the road ahead for the Islamic world which
is darker. A must read for all, this book is a lesson for one to introspect,
and for the Muslim religious leaders to rethink on their chauvinism. And, for
the young scribes this book is another pathfinder entry to comprehend the
ethics and spirit of a daring profession called journalism.
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