Islam vs. the West – Scapegoat or reality check? (Perspective)
As yet another day of somber remembrance dawns in the US, a day of joyous celebration dawns in Pakistan. Today is September 11, 2010. A sad reminder of the lives lost in New York and the first day of Eid-ul-Fitr in Pakistan, celebrating the end of the month of fasting, known as Ramadan.
Although entirely un-intentioned, it is an ironic twist in the continuing saga of Islam versus the West that what this day represents for these two countries has fallen on this particular date. But nine years later, this tussle between world religions and world politics, that has come to re-define global nationhood, has taken a bizarre turn.
It seems it is no longer just Pakistan, the “trusted ally” of the US that has issues of religious and cultural identity. The US itself has suddenly been thrust into the middle of an identity crisis. The construction of the Islamic Centre - now the Islamic Cultural Centre - at Ground Zero and the Quran-burning clergyman in Florida have suddenly awoken ordinary Americans to a harsh reality – should their country be an America with Islam or without?
When the twin towers mercilessly collapsed, it was too soon and too painful a time for Americans to make amends. Invading Afghanistan and subsequently Iraq, was a more succinct form of payback. But the blowback from both these invasions, catapulted ordinary Americans into a place they were loath to ever enter – international politics.
As loss of American life in the war-zones increased, (rather than any other life), positive perceptions about Islam presumably decreased dramatically, at least among the small-town, right-wing conservatives.
But the “protection” of the citizens of Afghanistan and Iraq, who all just happened to be Muslims, was the new cause celeb of the US, as were the millions of naturalized American Muslims living quiet and peaceful suburban lives.
The fact that Americans have been worried about the infiltration of extremist terrorists onto their soil, is justified on the grounds of their 9/11 experience. But the fact that the physical manifestations of this terror has been faced by countries other than the United States, namely Pakistan and Afghanistan, belies that fear.
Barring the Times Square threat by Faisal Shahzad earlier this year, so-called Muslim extremists have led to an estimated and heavily disputed death toll of at least 200,000 Afghans and Iraqis, over the last five years in these countries. In Pakistan, over 2000 civilians have been killed by US Drone attacks alone. Another 11,000-12,000 civilian and military personnel have been killed throughout the country as a result of terrorist attacks.
It is ironic that all this violence has taken place away from US soil and has been suffered by Muslims, albeit on the pretext of US politics and “Western liberalism”. It is we who live in constant fear, but the threat of Quran-burning is to US forces in Afghanistan? How much more detached can politics and warfare be from reality?
There is apparently no accurate count of the number of Muslims in the United States, as the U.S. Census Bureau does not collect data on religious identification. In a nation identified so aggressively by its secularism, the fact that it is now part of a debate that threatens to separate religions rather than bind them, is more worrying for Muslims.
In this age of instant communications and breaking news, the Florida Quran-burning scandal would never have made it to the radar of Americans had it not been for the international media pouncing on it. Unfortunately, they gave Pastor Jones, exactly what he was looking for, the global attention towards one attention-seeking individual with a murky past. One wishes the media had treated the issue with caution and perhaps the Pastor would have retreated quietly into the shadows without doing any harm.
The Ground Zero controversy, is also one that has come at a time when the US is making a desperate bid to cover its tracks post Bush era. Obama’s noble gesture to make amends with the Muslims of the world, after having bombarded many into oblivion, is turning out to be more of a half-hearted attempt to save face, rather than take a stand on whether it is Islam that the US wants to tackle, or terrorism.
This confused state of mind is indicative of the real battle that Islam now has to face. Terrorism is now a precursor to the wider issue of whether the world has, any space left for secularism. For many Western nations, it is immigration policies and cultural immersion measures that will be more likely to dictate who gets to say what, where and to whom, rather than counter-terrorism strategies. Europe has already shown its state of mind with its hijab and minaret controversies. Now supposedly, it’s the US’s turn to jump on to the bandwagon.
As a Pakistani and as a Muslim, it seems a heartless tragedy as I witness the destruction of my country through terror attacks, floods, vile leadership and a complacent citizenry. It is hardly a joyous time for us in Pakistan this year, as we try to mourn our own losses and a withering sense of self-esteem. It is ironic that Americans do not see this. Instead, they are so ably playing into the hands of their own politics.
The threat of a “violent” Islam is still very much on the eastern shores. Debating on issues of public space and civil liberties on the basis of religion, may just attract the type of attention, the US has stayed so well away from till now. More than that is the fact that laying the foundation of any debate on religion, is bound to culminate in disaster. Who better to know this than us in Pakistan?
-HUMNEWS contributor Themrise Khan is a freelance social development consultant based in Karachi.