Ponmala

Imperialistic tendency is a human weakness. As long as we hero-worship conquerors, imperialism will thrive on bloody wars that will kill and maim millions, render millions more homeless, and create an endless refugee crisis for the world. If we had thought imperialist ambitions to gobble up neighbouring countries had ended with Hitler, Putin has proved us wrong.
Ukraine’s only fault was that it resisted Russia gnawing away its territory and refused to be its vassal state, and it is paying a heavy price for it. It has become amply evident that, like Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot, Putin does not care about how many die or suffer as victims of his imperialistic ambition. He has even threatened to use tactical nuclear weapons. As Word War II was raging, the allies had feared that Germany would overtake them in the race for making the nuclear bomb. And if that had happened, Hitler would not have ended his life in a bunker with self-inflicted gun shots. Instead, he would have achieved his aim of a global empire that could have been deservedly called the Nazi Union, of which even India would have easily ended up as a part. The world is now shuddering to think what a cornered Putin can do with the nuclear arsenal he has at his command.
Until Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine, he had been the master of all he surveyed. He snatched away Crimea from Ukraine, eliciting little more than a whimper of protest. His forces overrun Syria, reducing cities like Aleppo into rubble. He ruled over Russia continuously for 22 years, gaining a better margin of victory at each progressive election. The Russians look upon him as someone who will successfully complete his mission of restoring to Russia the territorial spread and military might of the former Soviet Union. He has thus become the darling of the nationalists, a category into which an overwhelming majority of Russians belong. And that placed him, like his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, in the envious position of possibly enjoying lifelong reign. The world is now shuddering to think what such a man may do when he is cornered.
It has now become a global trend for the swelling ranks of nationalists to hero worship leaders who have won fame as iron man or iron lady. But know this, it is one such people, repeatedly voted to power, who will trigger the world’s nuclear holocaust, which Putin has shown is hardly farfetched. It has now become fashionable to look down upon humane, just and prudent rulers as people with no backbone. If this trend continues, it will in the end prove destructive for nations and humanity as a whole.
We are living at a time when those who cherish democratic values are finding themselves on the back foot. By vowing to uphold freedom and sovereignty till the last man standing, Ukrainians are infusing new vigour into them and setting a great example to the world. A Ukrainian soldier gave voice to his country’s resolve when he said, “We are going to protect our country, our freedom and our democracy. It does not matter what happens; we will stay to fight to defend the country until death.” Instead of getting the red carpet welcome Putin expected, his forces met with fierce resistance from Ukrainians, whose steely resolve has proved to be more than a match for the superiorly equipped but poorly motivated Russian forces. If expansionism is to be cast into the dustbin of history, all must rally behind the Ukrainians who have been reminding the world for over a month that to live as human beings is to live honourably as members of the free world. And that is already happening.
There are five criterions on which democracies are rated. They are freedom of expression, freedom of association and assembly, judicial independence, effective parliament and media integrity. There has been of late a backsliding of democracy. So much so, only one-third of the world’s population lives in countries that fully satisfy these five criteria. Even countries like the United States, Poland, Hungary, Turkey, Israel and India are out of that list. It is heartening to note that over half of them are now actively supporting Ukraine.
The poor performance of the Russian army has taken the whole world by surprise and dealt a serious blow to Putin’s image of invincibility. Russian intelligence failed Putin, himself a former intelligence sleuth under Soviet KGB. Living in an echo chamber, he was given the kind of feed back that he liked to hear. Also, the young recruits Putin sent to the battlefield wonder what for they are putting their lives on the line, fighting to conquer a people who are their kith and kin. They don’t have the will to fight for the sole purpose of satisfying the expansionist dreams of an imperialist dictator. They are a part of the younger generation of Russians who thirst for a prosperous life in a liberal democracy.
One is reminded of a revolt by exhausted and demoralised soldiers of Alexander the Great in 324 BC. Alexander executed thirteen ring leaders of the mutineers before confronting his army. Alexander said: “What I am going to say is not to stop you from returning home… But I want you to know how you have behaved towards me and how I have treated you… All the riches of Egypt and Cyrene, which I won without a fight are yours now… (So also) the wealth of Lydia, the treasures of Persia, the Jewels of India and the outer sea… There isn’t one part of my body – the front at least – that doesn’t bear a wound… all for the sake of your lives, your glory and your wealth.” Alexander won over his soldiers with those words. But times have changed. Putin will not succeed in winning over his demoralised soldiers and youth, who value freedom over glory and wealth, with similar oratory.