Shoaib Sultan Shahwani
Needless to fall in the history of terrorism which dates back to as long as first century when a Jewish group assassinated its rival Romans to oust them from the kingdom of Judah. However, the terrorist attack of 9/11 was the first introduction of millions of people to terrorism causing worldwide sensation. And, with the phenomenon going global, because of corporate western media, Islam became a hot debate across the globe. 9/11 reshaped the concept of militancy, engulfing the world generally, and, the Muslims particularly.
The unfortunate incident of twin towers brought about a series of invasions to hunt the “bad guys” and set the world on a path of “peace”. Afghanistan, being first in the long list, was devastated. The sophisticated weapons of US-led NATO did not spare Afghans belonging to any faction of society, ranging from peasants and fruit vendors, to teachers and clerics. In the quest of self-defined “peace”, Kabul was thrown into chaos with fear and terror gripping its streets. The people were left in shambles. Thousands of innocent children and women were ruthlessly killed, and the cities bled immensely. Afghans were punished for a crime perpetrated by America’s own ‘a friend turned enemy’—Al Qaida.
A new era of persecution came into play after New York attacks. 6,000 lives were unjustly taken by United States drone attacks in Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, Iraq, the Philippines, Libya and Syria, said a June 2015 letter released by US military veterans. Similarly, the aerial strikes of America had to kill Pakistani civilians of Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) region, for war crimes of Taliban fighters operating hundreds of miles away in the mountainous terrain of bordering Afghanistan.
The question seeking utmost attention here is, if 19-men involved in 9/11 can drag Islam into a religion characterized by violence, how the world would characterise America that killed thousands of Japanese in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Every individual act should be blamed individually and punished accordingly, as the mankind history is replete with crimes committed in independent capacity. There is no justification to malign any religion based on the acts of few. But, unfortunately, following American anti-Muslim narrative, aided and abetted by its powerful media, Islam comes under fierce criticism whenever a major terrorist attack makes headlines.
Every lay expert on this planet is exposed to the peaceful teachings of Hinduism and Buddha. The latter hits the height of peace and non-violence by forbidding killing even an insect, yet the brutalities of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) fighters, can escape press attention; and the media trial of their ideologies. No one ever questioned the faith of Tamil Tigers—the masters of suicide bombings and the pioneer of death squads.
Before September 11, the world was largely unconcerned about terrorism. Surprisingly, from French revolution, to world wars, and Napoleonic wars, to soviet invasion, religion and ideology received zero debate with the exception of twin tower attacks that gave Islam a tailor-made introduction. Islam and violence started being interlinked after every hostile strike carried out in any part of the world. This was not the case in terror events before September 11, every Christians had to justify the inhumanity of James McVeigh who killed 168 innocent Americans in Oklahoma, America in 1995.
Terrorism still carries the same motive of terrorizing and massacring. Since after Sept 11 attacks, Islam being the fastest growing religion of the world has indescribably gone infamous as a result of this paradigm shift. There is a clear discrepancy in the reactions of pre and post 9/11 acts of terrorism. No one will claim to have witnessed any American blaming the religion of Tommy Lyn Sells, when he murdered 73 citizens in the American city of Texas. However, after Osama—the alleged perpetrator of 11 September was not a terrorist as long as he was fighting CIA’s proxy war in Afghanistan—Islam came in limelight, and was talked over enormously.
Peace drives the heart of every religion, discourages violence in every size and shape. Islam, too, has the same stand towards aggression, and was one of the first religions to encourage the policy of reconciliation rather than retaliation. Muhammad (SAWS), the last messenger of God, was accredited widely as reformer by many of the western intellectuals including William Montgomery and Jon Esposito. Unfortunately, the misinterpretation of Islamic teachings has been followed by over generalized perception and falsified projections which have earned Muslims a terrorizing image.
For a moment, if we embrace those doctrines of truth, and, assume Osama’s 9/11 as representation of 1.6 billion Muslims; would anyone suggest me a title for America that has been at war with almost entire Muslim world?
Writer is a freelancer and member of Civil Society Balochistan.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article are those of the author and Balochistan Voices not necessarily agrees with them.
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