It Is Not The Holy Site, It Is The Custodian They Are After

Someone somewhere is planning to get rid of the baggage called the House of Saud. In all probability, the Holy Sites are not the target, the target is Custodian of these sites.

By Hussain Saqib

It is not like “swallow your own bitter pill and burn yourself in the fires of terrorism you have been stoking everywhere.” Bomb blasts outside one of the two holiest sites of Islam, and elsewhere and that too in the last days of the month of Ramazan are not only ominous, these are outright outrageous. It gives us some glimpse of the things shaping up for the future. Life is not going to be the same for Saudis, royals and non-royals. Revenue stream from oil is drying up as are oil reserves. International attention and support that House of Saud enjoyed so far for its oil reserves is diminishing. Irony of history, as it is unfolding now, is that this international support which made Saudis a force to reckon with is shifting elsewhere. The house of cards is crumbling, falling apart and Saudi power fading into oblivion. Despite the show of anger and frustration, the game is over for a vulgar life of undeserved luxuries. The luxury to do whatever wherever with impunity has to come to an end like all other good things.

Or is it some over-simplified exaggeration of bleak future for a 7th century monarchy operating in 21st century? There are no educated guesses or informed analyses, only some premonition which says that if nothing else, it’s more than meets the eye.

Let’s make it clear at the outset. No Muslim terror group should have the capacity to undertake this. Haram-e-Nabvi is a sacred site for all Muslims irrespective of their sectarian leanings. There may be some exception and the Saudi-funded heretics commonly known as Khawarij may have the moral capacity to commit such a heinous crime. But the question is that if these blasts are meant to destabilize Saudi regime, why would those Khawarij bite the hands those have been feeding them?

True that Saudis, royals and non-royal filthy rich, have been bankrolling terrorism to kill innocent people in Muslim countries. True that their allies-in-faith like Qataris have not lagged behind when it came to collecting and sending massive charities to keep terrorism alive and kicking. But this one we witnessed in the last of the month of Ramazan is no ordinary terrorism.

Remember when Saudis were prepared to finance an American invasion of Syria to topple Bashar al Assad regime? The die was cast and Assad was to pay for his crimes that were no more grave than those being committed by all Arab regimes. It was when Syria’s friendship with President Putin paid off. It was Russia which successfully fought diplomatic battle for Syria shattering Saudi dreams of a Saudized Syria. Saudis are in fury since then and the fury has not helped them, like it helps no one. Fury can’t be a substitute for statesmanship.

Let’s recollect the events since then; Saudi refusal to accept Security Council membership as a show of protest for US betrayal on Syria, Saudi threats to Russia of dire consequences for supporting Assad, its demonstration of misplaced fury of Iran Nuclear Deal with the West and its comeback to international mainstream.

As a last straw on the back of our proverbial camel, there was a Congressional Report. The managed leak of the top-secret portion of this report suggested that Saudis, true to their reputation, had their hand in 9/11. This could lead to prosecution of Saudis as a State sponsoring terrorism. The process of prosecution has been halted but it has shown that Uncle Sam wants a way out of the relations with Saudis which have turned sour and uneasy.

In this backdrop, it is not a rocket science to look at the events which have started unfolding in Saudi Arabia. Someone somewhere is planning to get rid of the baggage called the House of Saud. It also shows that the Holy Sites are not the target, the target is the Custodian.

Categories: Analysis, Geopolitics, International Affairs

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