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Will the perpetrators be brought to justice?

Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury | Sunday, 20 July 2014



A pall of gloom has descended over the globe for a unbelievably shocking incident. The aircraft of the Malaysian passenger airlines on way to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam was shot down over the sky of Ukraine, killing all the passengers and the members of the crew. The debris and the bodies of the dead are now strewn along the vast swathe of Ukrainian border close to Russia - the site controlled by the pro-Moscow rebels seeking secession from Ukraine.
While the world is simply stunned by the gruesome human action, the fingers of accusation have immediately been raised at the pro-Russian separatists. However, the latter and their mentor - Kremlin - are seeking to accuse the "Kiev" authorities for shooting down of the aircraft with 298 people on board.
As the United Nations and the world as a whole are demanding an immediate and impartial probe into such a heinous offence, there is not even iota of doubt that the tragedy has been man-male, regardless of the fact whether it was deliberate or accidental. Not too long ago, another Malaysian airlines' passenger mysteriously disappeared while flying from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur. The reasons for that mishap still remain shrouded in mystery. But no such room exists for the latest tragic incident as it is definitely some quarters that have shot the plane down. Indeed, it is a "shame" for the mankind.
The killing of such a big number of innocent people - including many children and women - has widely been condemned across the world. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that met in an emergency session in the aftermath of the occurrence, stood in one-minute silence in memory of those who lost their lives in last Thursday's crash in the rebel-held Ukraine. Shock, anger and anguish are palpable across the world as the gravity of the man-made disaster is too deep to reconcile with. Most of the victims are the Dutch as the plane originated from the Netherlands while nationals of several other countries are also among the victims, the Malaysians accounting for the second largest group.
The crash is particularly too poignant for Malaysia as the disaster came close on the heels of the disappearance of its plane hardly four months ago. Apparently a sheer co-incidence, the burden of losing two aircraft along with the passengers and the crew within such a short time is unheard of, for any international airlines. The survival of the Malaysian airline has also come in question in the process even though it has hardly committed any error that can be held responsible for both the mishaps. The prime minister of the country - trying to hold back his tears - told a press conference that the tragedy struck his country when it is already reeling under the tremendous effects of the disappearance of the passenger aircraft on the  Beijing-Kuala Lumpur flight.
Undeniably, the crash of the aircraft on its Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur flight has high political overtones as it is a sad victim of the Ukraine crisis - an increasingly volatile international flashpoint. Evidently, the "West" is pitted against Russia over this problem that began as a political issue, but later on, it took the shape of a military confrontation. Moscow annexed Crimea, an autonomous region of Ukraine following the assumption of power by a pro-West government in Kiev after a long-running movement by the people. But Kremlin did not stop there as the largely Russian-speaking population in the eastern Ukraine sought separation from "Kiev"; this snowballed into an on-going armed confrontation in which "West" and Russia are involved in a proxy war.
The pro-Moscow secessionists are obviously armed and aided by Kremlin and the Ukraine government troops, by the US and European countries. It is against this background that the Malaysian plane was shot down, with the conflicting sides trying to put the blame on each other. Not unexpectedly, the blame-game will continue until a credible conclusion is made about those responsible for committing  the guilt of a gravely serious nature.
Going by reports, the rebels were likely to have shot down the plane as they have already done to some Ukrainian aircraft in the recent days. Certain indications including the purported telephonic conversations among the rebel leaders point to such an accusation. But Russia and the rebel leaders are seeking to accuse the Ukraine for the incident, which is largely drawing a flak. Nevertheless, incontrovertible evidences and proofs must be there to identify the guilty.
The bottom line is that there must not be any slackening on this count and the perpetrators must be adequately punished adequately since a shooting down of the passenger plane is a grave international crime that warrants severe punishment. The mankind must not fail here and the matter must not get bogged down in the midst of political rivalries and a typical cacophony of accusations and counter-accusations on the selfish and motivated lines.
The saner sections of the people will have to rally round, cutting across national and other divides, to demand justice and fair play to those responsible for the killing of the helpless victims on board the ill-fated Malaysian aircraft.
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