That the world has changed after 9/11 is a common refrain one hears these days. Since that fateful day we have now new symbols and new villains. Tora Bora, Al-Qaeda, Bin Laden and Mullah Omar have become household words and theTaliban are now mentioned in the past tense. The new definition of terrorism includes all those who unleash wanton terror against civilians and also those who take up arms against the state-sponsored repression or occupation. There seems to be no difference between the freedom fighters and the terrorists anymore. The independence movements in Kashmir and Palestine have now been labeled terrorist movements.
A new phrase ‘Middle Eastern looking man’ has entered into the lexicon and our consciousness. Such a person, we learnt, is anyone who looks different than a Caucasian male. Such a blanket characterization led to the killing of a few innocent Sikhs who were neither Muslim nor Middle Eastern. Same kind of judgement on the part of some airline pilots caused the removal of otherwise innocent citizens from departing planes, including an Arab-American Muslim who happened to be a secret service agent responsible for guarding the president.
The past year also brought forth the worst and the best amongst us. In the former category were the self-anointed patriotic vigilantes who wrapped in a flag desecrated mosques and insulted fellow citizens who happened to look different. In the later category were those who were appalled by such acts and stood up and said so. There were clergy who felt comfortable in kneeling down with people of other faiths to pray for the victims of September 11 and then there were those who felt compelled to announce their xenophobia of other religions on the marquis of their church. In Toledo one church wrote on the marquis: Allah is not the God of America.
Kashmir, Palestine and religion remain hot buttons for some of my readers. On the subject of Kashmir some readers refuse to accept the conflict in historic terms and try to hide behind the fact that India is a democracy and Pakistan is not. For them it is acceptable that the democratic India continue to deny the people of Kashmir a choice that India promised them 54 years ago. A recent correspondent was so incensed by my reference to history; he called me a Paki ass.
I received the same kind of response for criticizing Israel. Again, the writers touted Israel as the only democracy in the region but did not wish to touch the subject of Palestinian rights and the brutal occupation and continued appropriation of their land. Perhaps someone should explain the meaning of the well-known Persian phrase ‘Tang aamad, ba-jang aamad’ meaning you push me to the wall and I will fight.
In response to a column on the arrest of missionaries aid workers in Kabul, one irate reader said I was a disgrace to humanity. Many of my readers took offence to my calling conversions under duress a celestial blackmail. Looking back I realize that my choice of words in justifying the action of the Taliban (I applaud the Taliban) were poor and crude. However, I am still against proselytizing to people under duress.
I have also come under fire from Muslims as well. Some of the fundamentalist types were angry when I wrote the series about the Taliban after a visit to Afghanistan in the winter of 2000. How could I, they asked rather innocently, write negative about other Muslims?
Easy, I say.
When ignorant mullahs distort the teachings of a noble religion I am left with no other choice but to condemn them in a loud voice. What the Taliban preached and practiced was so far removed from the religion I grew up with across the Durand Line in Peshawar, I could not identify with them even though they claimed to be true blue Muslims and rightful custodians of the noble legacy of the Prophet.
It is time the good intentioned but naïve Muslim dreamers in this country get their heads out of sand and realize that their religion has been hijacked by the likes of Bin Laden and Mullah Omar. Those of us who believe in modernity, need to re-assert our presence in the mosques and Islamic centers in this country and take back our institutions from modern looking but medieval-thinking imams and self-proclaimed scholars who scurry back to the commentaries of the past for answers to contemporary questions.
It has been a pleasure and a privilege to stand on my soapbox in these pages and sound off views that at times are not very popular. But such exercise is the distinct hallmark of a civil society. I am grateful for the kudos that some readers have sent my way as I am of the readers who have hurtled brickbats in my direction. I enjoy them both for they have helped me to understand the world around us.
A very happy New Year to one and all.
(Dr. Amjad Hussain is an op-ed columnist for the daily Toledo Blade and a clinical professor of surgery at the Medical College of Ohio. E-mail him at: aghaji@buckeye-express.com)