The Hindi movie My Name is Khan’s most iconic dialogue is, “My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist”. Why did he even have to justify that he is Muslim and that he isn’t a bad guy? Well, society thinks like that now due to biased media reporting and prejudice against Islam in many countries, even our own!
Many people are nowadays heard saying that, ‘If there has been some mishap (read terror attack where people lost lives), I bet there is a Muslim involved!’ Umm, why such quick assumptions?
Why only Muslims?
This is because we let it happen!
Thanks to TRP-licking news channels and social media, we jump to conclusions with one statement someone makes and try to justify it if someone counter-questions it. Why? ‘Because the media said so, so I guess it is true!’
Now, the situation is getting so tense that every time a terror-related incident happens, even Muslims think of the consequences that could happen in their lives if the suspect turns out to be a Muslim! This unjustified racial profiling and biased ethnic hatred towards Muslims was amplified by mass media and used as a piggy-back ride by politicians in our country and abroad as well to have at least someone to blame!
Yes, there are many incidents where Muslims are usually the suspects, but that is JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG! What about the VHP, RSS, Dera Sacha Sauda, Karni Sena, ABVP, NSUI and other organizations which have less Muslim members? Aren’t they creating a ruckus of different kinds in the country every now and then?
Are Muslims at fault?
In general, obviously not! Muslim individuals who committed heinous crimes against society, yes!
Many law-abiding Muslims strongly condemn terrorist attacks, but mostly in vain! India is slowly growing apathetic towards violence against Muslims by followers of some other religion.
The problem lies in the very fact that at a point of time, thanks to Osama Bin Laden, Abu-Bakr Al Baghdadi, ISIS, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Sirajuddin Haqqani and the likes, Muslim terrorism became a phenomena in the media which they loved to telecast in order to rake in the TRP from all the dubious telecast packages they develop!
Where lies the fault then?
If you talk about radicalized terrorists who are Muslim, it is because they are being taught the wrong meaning of the Holy Quran!
You can’t blame the student before you nab the teacher, isn’t it? All those radical clerics and Imams who issue fatwas left, right and center create unnecessary chaos and unrest in society. No wonder it leads to Islamophobia for other non-Muslims and that is when the simmering heat burns society!
All sides are to blame, not just any single one! Many incidents in our country have happened as a result of the ‘you will so I also will’ mentality.
Examples of terror incidents in India where Islam was on the backseat!
- 1980 Khalistan Movement – Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale wasn’t a Muslim. Yet, he led the proactive fight to seek a different country for Sikhs.
- 1983 Nellie massacre – 1,800 Muslims of Bengali origin were slaughtered by Lalung tribespeople (Assam Movement).
- 2002 Gujarat violence – Immediate arson (especially the Gulbarg Society massacre) after the Godhra train burning which was allegedly done by Muslims.
- 2005 Ayodhya attacks – Hindus tore down an age-old Muslim mosque to find their own God’s birthplace.
- 2007 Ajmer Dargah bombing – Carried out by men suspected to be from RSS and Abhinav Bharat.
- 2009 Guwahati bombings – Carried out by ULFA and it killed 6 people.
- 2016 Kokrajhar shooting – A group of 6 militants (suspected to be from National Democratic Front of Bodoland) opened fire in a market of Kokrajhar, Assam.
Following is the list of organizations designated as ‘terrorist’ by the Government of India. How many are affiliated with Islam? Please count yourself:
- United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA)
- National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in Assam
- People’s Liberation Army
- United National Liberation Front (UNLF)
- People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK)
- Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP)
- Kanglei Yaol Kanba Lup (KYKL)
- Manipur People’s Liberation Front (MPLF)
- Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF) in Manipur
- All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF)
- National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) in Tripura
- Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC)
- Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC) in Meghalaya
- Babbar Khalsa International
- Khalistan Commando Force
- International Sikh Youth Federation
- Lashkar-e-Taiba/Pasban-E-Ahle Hadis
- Jaish-e-Mohammed/Tahrik-E-Furqan
- Harkat-ul-Mujahideen/Harkat-Ul-Ansar/Harkat-Ul-Jehad-E-Islami
- Hizb-ul-Mujahideen/Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen Pir Panjal Regiment
- Al-Umar-Mujahideen
- Jammu And Kashmir Islamic Front
- Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
- Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI)
- Deendar Anjuman
- Maoist Communist Centre (MCC)
- Al-Badr (India)
- Jamiat-Ul-Mujahideen
- Al-Qaida
- Dukhtaran-E-Millat (DEM)
- Tamil Nadu Liberation Army (TNLA)
- Tamil National Retrieval Troops (TNRT)
- Akhil Bharat Nepali Ekta Samaj (ABNES)
See, not all of them are Islamic right?
The scene abroad
- According to the FBI, more than 94% of terrorist attacks in the US from 1980 to 2005 were carried at the behest of Non-Muslims, mainly Caucasians.
- There are more Jewish acts of terrorism in the US as compared to Islamic. You don’t really see reports of Jewish terrorism on your news channel, do you?
- Globally, less than 2% of all terrorist attacks actually attribute to Muslims after investigations concede.
- To your surprise, the last 12 Nobel Peace Prize winners feature 5 Muslims! Yup, not all of them are bad!
What can be done to prevent this?
Make the government stop the goddamn media from reporting bullshit on such incidents! If a Muslim person is involved, they label it as a terrorist activity carried out by a Muslim. If someone from any other religion is involved, they brand the person as “mentally disabled”.
Remember the murder of Afrazul Khan in 2017 by a staunch Hinduism follower called Shambhulal Regar? Well, a Muslim died. Were you expecting him to kill that Hindu man? Then, you are a racial bigot!
Don’t allow haphazard and TRP-driven media coverage to blind you from the fact that someone other than a Muslim might be involved in the incident. Be smarter than that!
We are not denying that terrorism as a threat is real. It is! However, facts do point out that it is not always to consider “Muslim” as a synonym to “terrorist”. For us to address terrorism as a root cause of social unrest, we definitely have to open up our minds towards a more educated and factual level.
