De Gaulleism Shows the Way
When European colonialism began to extend in all directions in the sixteenth century, the British came to the countries of Asia, while the French made inroads deep into African countries. In 1830 the French seized Algiers, thus beginning the colonization of French North Africa. The French established a large number of colonies in Africa from the seventeenth century onwards and slowly their rule came to extend over about fifteen countries.
This kind of French expansion was bound to produce keen political resentment among the African people. As a result, many freedom movements were initiated in Africa to free it from foreign rule. The French had over and over again to deploy its armies in Africa to bring these resistance movements under control. The military budget spent in maintaining the colonies became unbearable for France, and consequently, its progress and development in other areas were seriously affected. Thus, France lagged behind other nations in the nuclear race.
When Charles De Gaulle became the President of France in 1958, the deterioration of the economic situation had reached alarming levels. De Gaulle’s concern was not to maintain the national pride of France, but rather to give new life to the country. When he thought about the issue objectively, he came to the conclusion that, in order to do so, it was imperative to grant independence to the French colonies in Africa. He then entered into negotiations with the African leaders and, within a short period, he had granted freedom to the African countries under French rule.
This was a radical step, and De Gaulle had to pay a heavy price for it: he resigned from the post of president in 1969 as an unpopular leader of France and his death was marked as a non-event.
However, it was because of De Gaulle’s policies that France started to develop rapidly and now has the first position in Europe in the field of nuclear science.
Present-day Muslim leaders ought to take a lesson from the above example. Their leadership, instead of bringing any positive gain, has only led to losses for Muslims. In such a situation, leaders who are spearheading the present-day militancy should bring about a drastic change in their policies. They should abandon violence and adopt a peaceful course of action.
Their own leadership may suffer a setback because of such a radical policy, but as far as the Muslim community as a whole is concerned, it will surely begin to make progress along constructive lines. From being a backward community, it will begin its journey towards becoming a progressive community.
The greatest positive aspect of this development would be that the image of Islam – in the eyes of people of the world – would undergo a great change for the better. Because of the continuing Muslim militancy all these years, it has come to be generally believed that Islam is a religion of violence. But if Muslims adopted the peaceful method, Islam would be known as a peaceful religion, which enjoined its followers to work and live peacefully. Indeed, giving a correct picture of Islam is undoubtedly the greatest need of today.
What Charles De Gaulle did was not the personal policy of one individual; it was rather based on the law of nature. This is the policy which is known in common usage as the U-turn policy, that is, a complete reversal of direction.
It is said that to err is human. Any individual or nation can make mistakes. But when one’s actions do not produce the required result, one should be ready to immediately revise one’s policies and promptly take a U-turn. After all, making mistakes is not irremediable. And often all it takes to save the day is a reversal of policy.
In this day and age, certain Muslim leaders have had recourse to violent activism. Although this course has not been adopted by all leaders but only by some leaders, because of the circumstances of the present age, it has won the support of an overwhelming majority of Muslims. However, experience has shown that this was not the right option, as it has not yielded the desired result. Given this state of affairs, Muslims would be well advised to adopt a ‘Better late than never’ attitude and to thoroughly revise their policies.
It is said that to err is human. Any individual or nation can make mistakes. But when one’s actions do not produce the required result, one should be ready to immediately revise one’s policies and promptly take a U-turn.
De Gaulleism is not just a principle adopted by a French general, but is rather a policy which is in line with the universal law of nature. The law of nature says that if results show that one’s advance is not working, then one should be ready to adopt the strategy of retreat. In many situations, retreating can also be a way of moving forward.
