Holistic Rights of the Indigene
The UN in recognizing the holistic aspect of the indigenous territories
has also extended its recognition to the disinherited aboriginal peoples
to own, develop, control and use part of their ancestral lands.
Acceptance of the final draft of the Declaration calls for celebration.
Its endorsement gives the aboriginal peoples a glimmer of hope. It
restores confidence and dignity in them as part owners of their
fatherland and masters of their own destiny. It renews the hope of the
aboriginal people in rightfully regaining part of their fatherland. As
the saying goes, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Resurrection of this long awaited redress should be marked as a special
day and be celebrated annually as a mark of triumph over injustice. It
resembles the master who left the 99 sheep, went looking for the lost
one and found it. Aboriginals need to have a recognised and respectable
place in existing societies. They need to be accepted as full citizens
to contribute to their country and share in running their affairs in
harmony with the rest of the citizens as good and progressive subjects.
Long experience has shown that band-aid solutions and “quick fix” do not
heal deep wounds. Old scars are unpleasant reminders of the painful
conditions under which the indigenous peoples have been living for
hundreds of years. Long lasting resolutions is the right way to go. The
United Nations Organisation needs to amend and introduce new
international laws to be commensurate with their obligations. It needs
to pressure undemocratic countries to reform their constitution in
compliance with the UN directives; or else be suspended from
participating in certain UN activities, lose their vote and indict their
corrupt and unrepentant leaders.
Although tedious and wearisome, this uphill battle against those regimes
that continue to discriminate against the aboriginal people will bring a
sense of self-criticism and reproach to such cruel regimes. It will
arouse in the majority a sense of responsibility for the unacceptable
behaviour and maltreatment of the indigenous people. It is a move well
founded. Reluctance to reach a compromise will expose those regimes to
the international community and world at large. Since the land of the
indigenous peoples was taken illegitimately - forcibly by the warmonger,
through military invasions and conquests to increase their landmass or
by manipulation and deception - the aboriginal people have every right
to reclaim, if not all, at least part of their ancestral land.
Regardless of how long a period or strong a foreign power has been
ruling the embattled indigenous people, it should reach a compromise for
an enduring peace with them. The domineering belligerent government has
intentionally forced itself on another people’s territory without their
consent. By legal definition, it is a serious crime - a capital offence
– a crime against humanity. Besides evacuating the usurped land, through
constant killings, expulsion and dispersion, hundreds of thousands of
Assyrian families - men, women and children - were killed, kidnapped, or
died of starvation, sickness, infectious diseases, (mainly typhoid) and
abandonment. The hostile government/s should also extend their apology
for causing years of estrangement and suffering.
The Assyrians are not demanding a ‘pound of flesh.’ They are not seeking
vengeance. They are asking back what is rightfully theirs: they want
their land returned to them. They want to unshackle themselves from
oriental foreign rule that they may live in freedom and with dignity, so
that peace and stability might prevail in the region. The Muslim
invaders should recognise Assyria, in northern Iraq (Mesopotamia) as
Assyrian territory, and the Assyrian people as the traditional owners of
the land. The Assyrians have suffered enough under the guise of the
brutish rule of their so-called religious tolerance, equivocal
determinism and culture cult. Let the spread of the (Da’awah) mission of
their Beneficent and Merciful Allah reflect in their good deeds and
benevolent actions, rather than by incitement, defamation, and incursion
against peoples of other religions and cultures.
Living in peace enhances the economy of the country, bringing stability
and prosperity to the whole region. To guarantee success of such an
agreement, it needs to be concluded in good faith and sincerity with the
concerned countries. Such agreements would be endorsed at the United
Nations to become an historic moment of triumph and a landmark of
recognition of human rights to the Assyrians, and as an example to all
native inhabitants of the world.
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