It would be too early to write an obituary of the three-year old popular uprising against the Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad but things have already started moving in that direction when the robust movement to topple the regime slowly degenerated into petty feuds and internecine religious struggle to impose strict Islamic laws in a country run on a secular pattern by the Ba'athist ruler of Syria. Frankly, we can term it a sad commentary on the Arab Spring that has lost the way for the promised "project democracy." Now the entire Arab land is in the fear of takeover by the well-organized al-Qaeda machinery that considers it a holy duty to purify the land of the "Prophet of Islam" by scorching its "profligate ruling elite." From Iraq to Tunisia and Egypt to Libya and Syria, the jihadists are active everywhere to enforce their narrow vision of religion on society. It seemed that all efforts to bring rule of law in the Muslim heartland have turned upside-down due to the threat posed by fundamentalists and their affiliate groups.

The slain Muammar al-Gaddafi tried in vain to tell the world that extremists will be the main beneficiary of his ouster. Syrian officials have also warned about the perils of militants gaining the upper hand if the present leadership was disturbed. Their opponents, however, billed the "al-Qaeda scare" as a popular tactic to keep away democratic forces. The electoral victory of the Muslim Brotherhood was the first disquieting sign of the Arab Spring. It showed that the elected leadership of the post-dictatorial Arab land may not essentially be secular and committed to the basic rights and supremacy of law. The changing contours of Syrian conflict have further increased this dilemma and also the threat from the spawning powers of the Islamists.

Last year the Syrian rebels witnessed the removal of Assad when the United States planned attacks at Damascus for allegedly killing civilians with chemical weapons. It never happened, as Russia put its weight behind the Syrian man. He survived by agreeing to surrender stockpiles of chemical weapons. It was a turning point as the government succeeded in saving its air power and avoiding a possible no-fly zone which could seriously hamper its freedom to bomb the rebel strongholds.

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