Since the advent of terrorism in the world; whether you consider 9/11 as the reference point or terrorist attacks in Kashmir since the late 80s or attacks on Israel since many decades or the Arab Spring; we have seen a section of society come forward to claim “Muslims living in fear” due to Islamophobia despite the fact that there have been hardly any attacks on Muslims in the aftermath of any terrorist attack.
Even before the loved ones and grievers could wipe off their tears, these reports start doing the rounds all over the world, like someone has pressed a button somewhere to get them online.
If you look closely, a major portion of the support in the form of “concern” comes from the people that follow left ideology, or leftists. In many parts; due to the massive control of leftists over intellectual, academic, entertainment, and other prominent spheres; a lot of liberals (read celebrities) also lend their voices to this false propaganda of “Islamophobia”.
So is it just a coincidence or there is something to it?
I think its a conscious decision on the part of the leftists to spread Islamophobia to provide a justification for the heinous and cowardly acts of terrorism. As soon as a terrorist attack takes place, multiple narratives start playing simultaneously; whether it is to spread Islamophobia or to provide justification for such acts in the name of oil politics, white supremacy, Hindu fundamentalism, subjugation, etc. or to portray the followers of the 2nd largest religion of the world as “victims” or even to the extent of trying to bring out the humanly side of the terrorists in the form of a husband or a father or messiah of poor.
If the same thing repeats again and again, whether the attack happens in London, New York, Mumbai, Paris, Afghanistan, or any other place; you cannot just ignore it by terming it as the opinions of a few. We need to look into the larger picture. What is the game here? How come the narrative becomes “Islam is a religion of peace” or “Muslim Victimization”, when it should be about “how can we tackle terror”? Why can’t we have an honest talk about terrorism anymore? Why, after so many years of discussion, we have not been able to come up with a “definition” of terrorism?
It is because of the nexus that has captured our analytical capability and made us apologetic about even asking why most of the attacks come from the people of one particular ideology? Until, we start being honest and ask the right questions, we are not even going to come close to solving this humongous problem.
Yes, Islam is a religion of peace, just like Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Christianity, or any other religion in the world. But that is not in question here, is it? Are those people who question terrorism believe that all Muslims are terrorists? Of course not. But some people are using the sacred texts to wage a war on the whole world because they think it is their Allah’s will. Can we deny this fact anymore?
Can we deny the fact that every religion had their renaissance movement where it was separated from the political power structures and was reduced to a personal level, barring Islam? We have more than 15 Islamic nations in the world which are either completely Islamist or have Islam as the official religion of the state. Do we have a Christian state anymore, or a Hindu state or a Sikh state? The national identities takes precedence for most of the people from other religions after the fall of religion based empires and the rise of nations as a geographical entity. But Islam still has not been freed from the concept of a “religious empire”.
The fact is Islam has a political Islamist ideology as well which was never dissociated from the religion due to lack of reforms within the religion. It is still stuck in the 7th century and those who raise voices for reforms are either silenced or killed or termed Infidels.
So the question arises why are we not allowed to raise these valid questions? Why can’t we openly discuss the problem and address the core issue without offending someone? Especially at a time when we are seeing the anger grow day by day among people all over the world against the menace of terrorism and we are already seeing the sporadic individual acts of revenge on Muslims due to this misplaced anger. This is frightening but it also shows the complete failure of ours, in even as basic as starting an open, honest conversation to understand the crux of an issue which affects most of the people very deeply.
So again, the question comes why?
I believe the reason has been the cover fire provided to these terrorists and their ideology by the leftists.
Leftist ideology at its core has the concept of “suppressed classes”. It was an ideology that was introduced for the political emancipation of the “suppressed people”. In those times, it were the landless farmers, or factory workers, or slaves, or other oppressed sections of the society. With the rise of an open world, where any one can choose their own profession and with the demolition of the stranglehold a few sections of the society has over others, these “mass” classes don’t exist anymore. So the leftists need a “mass” section of people whom they can portray as suppressed and thus keep their politics and ideology alive.
And who can be better than the Islamist terror groups who have so many similarities with the left ideology. Hate for those belonging to other side of the belief and ideology – check. Justification of violence in the name of a better society – check. Unquestionable belief in the ideology and complete reluctance to listen – check. Mass violence by the followers of both ideologies – check. Have a single book that has been interpreted in multiple ways to spread hate and justify violence – check. Its very natural for the leftists to be sympathetic towards the Islamist ideology of terror groups.
Since leftists cannot openly support these groups for obvious reasons, they use this complex web of propaganda to provide their covert support and breathing space to these terror groups. Leftists need these groups to survive and thrive because if the problem is solved and they do not exist anymore, how will they use Islamophobia to portray Muslims as victims and achieve their political goals. And since when has the life of a human being considered an obstacle for the leftists while spreading their ideology and propaganda.
Sometimes, I wonder how the followers of the ideology that states “Religion is the opium of the people” and is completely antagonistic to religion, are giving full support and cover to a violent political Islamist ideology in the name of religious freedom! Karl Marx would be turning and tossing in his grave by looking at the state of his ideology that these leftists has turned into.
Since the intellectual, academic world is dominated by the people from left ideology, they use their power and position to shame those who dare to ask the real questions as “Islamophobic”. Just like they have played their politics all these centuries by turning one section of society against another.
I genuinely believe that these leftists do this thinking they are doing some sort of a favor to Muslims all over the world, that they are protecting a community the entire world is trying to get. Because they are so engrossed in their ideology and beliefs that they can also be termed as “brainwashed” just like these terrorists.
In their trance, they don’t even realize that their propaganda is being most harmful to the common Muslims, the very people they are claiming to protect. Their tacit support is blocking the much needed reforms in Islam and the need of separating the religion from political ideology. Their support ensures that many Muslims actually start supporting these violent groups and their vicious ideology. Their support ensures that the ideology which advocates violence as a means to their end, just like their own, continues to thrive and attract more supporters from all over the world.
If we ever want to get rid of terrorism, the first step should be the isolation of these leftist voices who have merged their ideology with the Islamist ideology, thereby combining the two most violent ideologies the world has seen in the last 1000 years to create a monster that is threatening to destabilize the whole world.
