Sectarian Inevitability

Many outsiders who were already tired of unending violence were taken in by Sharaa's promises that obviously contradicted his past when his group was infamous for having committed brutal atrocities against Syrian minorities like Druze, Alawites, Christians and Shias. An insight on Sharaa by yet another aide of Abu Al-Bagdadi (leader of ISIL), 'cunning person, two-faced, who glows when he hears his name mentioned on satellite channels', was ignored. History seemingly repeats itself

- BHOPINDER SINGH The writer is Lt Gen PVSM, AVSM (Retd), and former Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry

While Muslims describe themselves as the followers of Prophet Muhammad, the holy Quran describes a Muslim as someone who submits themselves to the will of the one Lord who created the heavens and earth and is the master of the day of the judgement.

The divisions and sub-divisions into various sects like Sunni (Deobandi, Barelvi, Hanafi etc.), Shia (Twelver, Zaidiyya, Alawite, Ismaili etc.) or Sufi (Chisti, Naqsbandi, Mawlawi etc.) are also divisions that are borne to subsequent times, leaderships, underlying tribal affiliations, regions and circumstances that disunite the Ummah (Islamic world) from within.

These internal faultlines and fissures are so deep that the hatred within is often more bitter than with those who are outside the Ummah.

The brutal persecution of Yazidis in Iraq, Ahmediyas in Pakistan, Hazaras in Afghanistan, or the Baharana Shias in Saudi Arabia, are some examples of the seemingly irreconcilable sentiments, within.

All these divides have led to internal intrigues and power struggles wherever there is majoritarianism - e.g., Saudi Arabia or Iran - or desperate hanging on to power by minority sects or tribes to the disillusionment of the larger majority denomination or tribe e.g., Bahrain.

The picture gets further muddied when the already existing mess of sectarian divisions within the Ummah gets further fractured into realms of region, tribes, or familial-dynastic perpetuations. In an already bloodied and weaponised environment of constant unrest, it sets the scene for constant power struggles, violent purges and genocidal instincts.

Saddam Hussein had stuffed all his vantage posts with co-sectarian Sunnis and also added an additional filter of regionalism to the admixture, by ensuring that all sensitive posts were given to Tikritis (Sunnis from the township of Tikrit) e.g., leadership roles in the Baath Party, government offices, Secret Police and the Army.