My World View

What to write?

2009-09-01T18:24:00.000-07:00

It’s been a very long time since I last wrote on my blog. There have been a number of reasons for this. Of course I’ve written pieces since my last post on this blog, but never really managed to find required motivation and time to publish those pieces on the blog.

Today, end of my first day of becoming barrister and the beginning of second day, I ponder on the need for having such blog as this? Why should I have this blog? Why would people read it?

I ask these question for two primary reason: first to renew and review my effort in this for the simple reason that I genuinely want this effort to be of some use to me, a positive element in some way, the second reason is to remind those who take the travel to read this blog, the context and the purpose of the blog.

Looking back in time, I remember clearly the day I started this blog. The idea was to use this as a tool to express my self, my thoughts and ideas. At times, this blog was aimed to serve as a way of expressing my frustrations, reservations etc. But I was clear too that the primary readership, in my mind, was me, yes me. I write here to comfort myself, to calm, to sharpen, to express myself in manner that I see fit at the time of posing.

However, I understand with time people come to read this blog, I have asked some people to visit the site too. This has been out of an expectation that people would be less judgemental. But more fundamentally, those visiting shall trigger the cause for further intellectual stimulation on issues raised in my writing thus creating opportunities for intellectual sophistication of my thoughts and that of the others.

I continue to see my blog as an useful tool to further ones experiences and expressions in ways which are not possible using other means. Blog is not about presenting perfect vibes, sophisticated linguistic skills or even master piece pf PR. Blog is a vehicle to express one’s feeling as and when such feeling comes in manner that it naturally comes out at that moment without refinement of grammar, thought process, PR spin etc. it is the concept and the content that matters not how and when it is expressed.

In the footstep of our Prophet

2009-04-16T16:52:00.000-07:00

Da’watul Islam UK and Eire arranged their annual family gathering at the Markfield Conference Centre with a timely theme – Muhammad (PBUH) the Rahmatullil Alamin (The mercy to the mankind).
Being there in the company of so many families who gave up their long weekend to come the event has been an experience to remember for life. I found my presence to help me up lift my spirit, renew my commitment and revitalise my strengths.
At a time when Islam and Muslims are under fire from almost all quarters in most part of the world, Muslims has nothing but to hold firm in their faith and hope for the mercy of their lord. But it is not easy to hold firm with belief in Allah. Reminding ourselves of the struggle of our leader, guide and prophet, Muhammad (PBUH) and to study and practice his teaching is indeed a major force in strengthening our resolve and empowering our faith. I thus thank the organisers for hosting such a wonderful event and pray to Allah that he rewards the organisers and the participants enormously.
We need the re-empowerment of our faith, renewing our commitment of course first and foremost to stay firm on our ground and to protect ourselves, the individuals. But more importantly, the study and practice of our prophet’s lives and teachings must encourage and embolden us to be active in our communities. We need to blend into society to become part of it and to change it in ways which will eradicate all notion of injustice and bring prosperity and happiness. This is important given the time and circumstance in which we live in. Not just misguided few individuals, even our government throwing unreasonable and unnecessary challenges which could potentially have devastating consequences. It seems apparent that much of these challenges are deliberate and designed to undermine the unique presence of the Muslim communities.
But the challenges we face are nothing new. They may change in kind but fundamentally they remain same: results of ignorance and to some extent prejudice about and towards Islam and the Muslims. This ignorance and the prejudice are issues we need to deal with without fear. We need to hold our ground firmly and be determined to see them through. First step in facing these challenges is to know our society in which we live and to learn about its good and not so good characteristics. Our social problems affect us and we must as a matter of religious duty address these issues. Such is the essence of Islam. Allah says in the Quran that our prophet was like of people from within the community who used to feel aggrieved at by the grievances of his community and joyous at the happiness of his people. Can we say the same about ourselves?
Of course it means little to say we ought to become fully part of the society and to feel for the issues of the society. What I mean in practical term is that we need to engage ourselves on the affairs of our society on a daily basis to clearly demonstrate our commitment to the society. Our acts must be of the kind that it beyond doubt demonstrates our feeling and genuine sincerity to our people. We need to engage to better the economic, education and social condition of our people regardless of their race, gender or faiths. Our engagement must be inspired by our faith and our expectation must be to gain the satisfaction of our master, Allah, the almighty.
For our friends who may not share our faith but feel for us and desire us to be proud member of this society, they must live up to the challenge of the current time. Their friendship must be not merely to provide leap service to our community but to go beyond words and practically work to safeguard our interests. Claiming to be our friend is of little use to us of such friendship does not materialise into shaping policies which genuinely reflects the desire of our community. We are not seeking to be special. We are aspiring to be equal: to be citizens with unique faith, culture and creed who are collectively committed to make our society better, stronger and more cohesive.Remembering our prophet, studying his message and seeking to follow his footstep should inspire us to be proactive in our societies and to go beyond usual lines and work hard tirelessly to make our society significantly better.

Tackling Extremism

2009-02-24T08:57:00.000-08:00

An International Conference is being held in Dhaka to discuss strategies to address ‘extremism’ attended by experts from the South Asian region as well as Singapore and Norway.

From the outset, I respect and appreciate such initiative and, with sincerity and goodwill, such initiative may bring much needed coherence in the strategies of governments in the South Asia and the wider world in dealing with Terrorism. But this optimism I find difficult to hold for practical reasons.

Terrorism now is a global phenomenon and the Western powers have taken much interest on the matter. It is only to be commended that the powerful nations are putting together huge amount of resources to deal with an issue of such importance. However, a closer look and careful analysis of the strategies, actions and outcomes of work by these nations to counter terrorism reveals little to have confidence. In fact, what analysis of most known counter-terrorism reveals is at best ignorance or at worst, prejudice towards a certain belief.

Terrorism, when resulting from sheer greed and criminal mindset, is a simple and straightforward issue which needs to be dealt with harshly. Such terrorism exists in many countries, especially the underdeveloped countries like Bangladesh. We are not, however, talking of such terrorism. The kind of terrorism that global community now a day talks about often, if not always, relates to resentment and reaction of people who for one reason or another feel aggrieved. Grievances caused by injustice, prejudice and hatred may result in a kind of resentment leading to terrorist activities which cannot be defeated through guns and bullets. Such terrorism requires pragmatism and sophisticated understanding of the issues backed by sincere desire to eradicate injustice. Only when the rights of all people can be restored, dignity and respect for individuals enshrined in the social fabric and rule of law established will the sense of resentment eventually disappear and the ‘good hearted’ individuals will return to normal life. Those that remain committed to the paths of violence and destruction may continue but will loose munitions for recruitment and retention which will ensure the end of such thugs and criminals.

On the backdrop of this understanding let us focus on the issue of terrorism in the context of Bangladesh. The current government pledged to form a South Asian task force to coordinate response of the governments in the region regarding the issue of counter-terrorism. But such initiative is only at its primary stage and lacks in details as admitted by the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh at the Terrorism conference. Further more, the actions of the government seems to be half hearted, if not dubious. In one hand they seem to claim to be genuinely committed to eradicate extremism on the other, they are pursuing a path of violence and political harassment of opposition. Mass scale attacks on the political activists of the opposition parties will create anarchy and give rise to resentment, just the kind of environment where terrorism flourishes.
The issue of ‘war crime’ during the Bangladesh’s Independence struggle is also relevant here. It is an issue resolved many years ago by the founding fathers of our nation. The present government itself made no serious attempt in the past. It seems to be clear to everyone except the diehard supporters of the government that the move to try the so called war criminals is politically motivated and is orchestrated to ensure political advantage for the ruling party and their allies. It is reasonable to conclude for this reason that any move to try the ‘war criminals’ will only act to divide our nation, exactly the kind of things that aid the growth of terrorist network. Besides, the present government has only been in power for just over a month and has already failed to impress the right minded citizens of their genuine desire to play by the rules.

To deal with terrorism must be a priority. But any strategies and action must be proportionate to the threat and realistic. It must also be free from political motives and must genuinely be aimed at building a respectful society where citizens are brought together by a common sense of identity and values. No action of divisive nature can ever bring peace. Violating core values of human dignity, individuals’ right and political suppression can never be good strategies for countering terrorism.

The Decree: Part 2

2009-01-10T14:33:00.000-08:00

The ‘Kindered’, the Miskin and the Wayfarer

AS I write today we witness the massacre of our brothers and sisters in Palestine by an aggressive and arrogant enemy, Israel who are supported by the global super powers. The chaotic and heart breaking brutality have moved many of us to the extent that we have been very generous to donate thousands of pounds to help the people of Gaza. It is around this theme that I wish to write the second part of my writing. The first part was published in the last issue titled: Worship Allah alone and be Kind to the parents.
Islam, I argued in the last article, is a code of life. It is not a mere religion affecting certain aspect of our life, but in fact, Islam is a way of life which encompasses and ought to control all aspects of human affairs, if one is to claim to be Muslim. Such acceptance of Islam which genuinely drives us in all our affairs shall bring peace and happiness. It is for this reason that Islam is termed to mean submission and peace i.e. though total and unconditional submission to the will of Allah, one may gain peace and tranquillity in life here and hereafter. But this concept of total submission is vague and meaningless unless explained in more details giving clear guidelines about practical aspects of our lives. The first and most important aspect of human life is the relationship between parents and children. IN the last issue, I have outlined Islam’s view about this noble relationship clearly spelling out the dos and don’ts. In this article I move on to the next set of principles that Allah outlines in the Qur’an. He says:
“And give to the kindred his due and to the Miskin (poor) and to the wayfarer. But spend not wastefully (your wealth) in the manner of a spendthrift. Verily, spendthrifts are brothers of the Shayatin (devils), and the Shaitan (Devil - Satan) is ever ungrateful to his Lord”
(The Quran 17:26, 27)
Human relationship is extremely important in building a peaceful society where mutual respect, tolerance and justice form the core. After the parents, the most important people are the relatives, neighbours and those we come across in our daily lives, the wayfarers, who we meet at work, during travelling etc. Each of these categories of people has a right on us. As Muslims, we are fortunate because Allah, the most powerful, have told us what are the rights that they have on us. He outlines the laws of inheritance for example in another part of the Qur’an where Allah outlines how our estate should be distributed once we leave this earth. If we follow what Allah outlines for us, this will make us happy, help us avoid being involve in conflicts, avoid hard feelings etc. When we fail in doing so, we may suffer from loss of bonds, anxiety, insecurity and many other issues. Those of you who are aware of your relatives, friends and other having property etc in your country of origin you must have come across the stories where the relatives there occupies the entire property depriving the actual owner his rightful ownership and control. This kind of incidents are not far and few but in fact very common which often result in severing ties with otherwise close relatives and of course the stress and mental torture. Why this happens? Answer is simple: we fail to follow the guidance offered to us out of kindness by our Lord, Allah the Almighty. This is with regards to our kinsmen, those with whom we have blood relations. But Allah here outlines another category of people who have right on us: the Miskin or people in need.
We are familiar with the concept of Zakah which we normally give to the poor at the end of Ramadan. But besides, we have a responsibility to offer our support and help to the needy at all times. Of course our support must be proportionate to our ability. We must be generous but generosity does not mean that we ought to accept poverty and hardship for ourselves by giving to poor. Generosity is about being kind and big hearted resulting in donations and kind words when we have the ability to do so. When we have the mean to be generous but we chose not to be, Allah warns us. He says:
“And let not your hand be tied (like a miser) to your neck, nor stretch it forth to its utmost reach (like a spendthrift), so that you become blameworthy and in severe poverty”.
(The Qur’an 17:29)
Clearly from the verse above we can see that Allah encourages us to be generous when we can and not be miser, nor he wants us to be so generous that we invite severe poverty for ourselves. When Allah says ‘do not do’ something, it becomes and obligation for us to avoid doing that thing: for if we fail in our obligation decreed by our Lord, we are indeed among the most unfortunate ones.
Living in the UK, we do not often come across people who are so poor that they need our generous financial support. But we come to know millions of people from around the world of people via various charities and media who are in dire need of support where a pound of our contribution can feed a family for one whole day. We have the ability to spare some money and we can reach to them through numerous organisations. It would be utterly unacceptable for us not to contribute towards their plight. Given the killing spree prevailing in Gaza at the moment by the Zionist war mongers, we ought to extend our generosity and donate abundantly.
I soon shall conclude, but let me make two other points which I have indirectly touched upon. Allah points to two kinds of people who he dislikes: the spendthrifts who he said to be the brothers of Devil and the misers. Dealing with spendthrifts, those who waste money or abuses it, it may be helpful to remember that in the UK billions of pounds worth of food is being wasted every year. Think about this, a billion pound can change a poor country, yes one whole country. So with the money we waste on food which we do not eat, we can change the lives of the millions of destitute people, orphans and others. We all should therefore be extra vigilant and be not a wasteful person. For if we become among the evils, we are doomed to go astray.
For the misers, who are stingy and not spend at time of need despite having the ability, Allah indeed dislikes them, and those Allah dislikes are doomed to be failure too. So the message today is that we must guard the rights of others on us and be kind to the needy. We need to widen our heart to the greatest length possible. If we do so, Allah says:
Truly, your Lord enlarges the provision for whom He wills and straitens (for whom He wills). Verily, He is Ever All-Knower, All-Seer of His slaves. (The Quran 17:30)
May Allah enlarge all provisions for us, Ameen! (To be continued)

New Dimension to Global Politics

2008-12-27T06:52:00.000-08:00

Only two days ago the UK officials and parliamentarians were outraged by the decision of a TV channel to broadcast alternative view of the most powerful Middle Eastern leader for the benefit of the viewers to make their mind in a free society. The core argument supporting their outrage was the ‘potential danger’ that individual leader posses to Israel. Of course some attempted to attribute crimes such as genocide and mass killing to him but of course little hard evidence they had to support such assertion. The bigotry, prejudice and very one sided political understanding was clearly present in the reaction of those officials and politicians, however, there was one hope too which was that at least these people are against injustice and shall come to the aid of the suffering, oppressed and helpless people wherever they may be.
Now that the Zionist war machine brutally humiliate a nation, subjugate an entire human civilisation and ruthlessly kill dozens, surprisingly these voices for justices are remarkably silent. Perhaps their silence is not so surprising if we dig a little deeper into discovering their true identity. They are united in their love for the Zionist war machine in Israel, they are blind in their support for Zionist oppression and they are united in their hatred of Arabs. For they are unable or perhaps unwilling to accept Palestinians as having any right to exists, perfectly happy to deny all sorts of human rights to these Arabs and wholeheartedly supportive of killing these people.
More importantly however, their attitude is no different from that of the majority of western leaders in positions to make a difference. They are fearful of freedom for people, flourishing democracy that offers real choices and potentially challenges the status quo of a very one sided concept of western democracy. Such fear instilled deep inside their heart guard them from the influence of reason and logic and make them ignorant of the concept of justice yet have the audacity to claim to be civilised. Such are the states of many of our leaders. Let us hope that in a new year we will be better equipped to distance ourselves for them and pave the way for a new dimension to global politics, a trend underpinned by spirit of justice, freedom and equality for all human.

The Spirit of our Father, Ibrahim

2008-11-23T12:20:00.000-08:00

Only few in human history truly deserve to be called the greats. These are the people who, through their activism and utmost sacrifice, brought profound change in human existence. One such greatest personality, among the best of Humanity, is our forefather, the father of the greatest faiths, Ibrahim. Soon we shall celebrate Eid-ul-Adh’ha commemorating his extraordinary journey in the way of Allah, the almighty.
Ibrahim as a boy was curious in the world around him. He was dissatisfied with issues and practices in his society and wanted to know for sure who his master was. In his extraordinary journey, he proved his determination to find truth and his absolute commitment to truth. One such great example is his willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismael, for the pleasure of His Lord, the Lord of this universe, Allah. But what the remarkable story of Ibrahim hold for us is really this: to be a Muslim is to truly submit oneself to the will of Allah the almighty even if that means sacrificing the most valuable of things for him.
Of course in principle we agree and express our desire to commit such act. But in reality that is far from the case. What we often fail to realise is that although we may in rhetoric express such willingness, we fail in most obvious of our acts, to be truthful, honest, trustworthy, reliable and sympathetic to fellow believers. For minor worldly gains, petty political, socio-economic interest, out of many false senses of pride, we indulge in plotting, misleading, mishandling, deliberate misguiding and backstabbing of our brothers, sisters. These, above all, are signs of our weak faith, the shortcomings of our human minds. They are the indicators of our position in the ‘ladder’ of Taqwah. Keeping true to the spirit of our father, Ibrahim and being consistent with our previous great occasions, Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr, on this Eid we must resolve to improve ourselves, strengthen our Imaan and renew our commitment to our faith, our people.
Eid-ul-Adh’ha is a great moment of joy in many ways. For it offers the opportunity for millions of Muslims from across the world, of many cultures and races to come together as a whole, one community of brotherhood. This moment of nationhood identified by our faith, Islam, is a great inspiration and shall drive us to move forward in purifying out heart, restructuring our life and remodelling our relationships with our brothers. May Allah grant us forgiveness, accept our efforts and guide us in the right paths, the path of the Sirat-al-Mustaqim, Amen.

Dangerous Precedence

2008-09-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

The war on terror and the ‘strategic partnership’ between US and Pakistan in that war enters a new era. With Musharraf gone and the US strike in the Frontier province of Pakistan, a new phase seems to be under way. This is an important development signalling a major shift in international policy.
The war on terror resulted from the barbaric attacks on the twin towers in New York changed the dynamics of global geo-politics. Suddenly the established legal rules of respecting the integrity and sovereignty of Nation seems to have disappeared. The Invasion of Iraq, in the view of many authoritative figures, was an illegal war violating international laws. Now we see the mastermind of such gross violation, the single super-power of the present time, deliberately intrudes into yet another sovereign nation, Pakistan.
We wish not to doubt the sincerity of US authorities and accept that they are doing whatever is necessary to curb the rise of militancy and as such are hitting on all positions deemed safe heaven for the militants. We assume that US is not necessarily violating the territorial sovereignty of Pakistan and merely trying to be effective in their war by strategically targeting specific terror cells which incidentally happened to be in the Pakistan. Even with such acceptance and assumption, can we accept too that this act of the US is responsible and beneficial in their pursuit of the terrorists masterminds?
The reality is that the US, ever since the end of cold war began to feel confident in asserting its authority in international issues unilaterally. Their assured position of singular superpower offered them confidence which soon transformed into a kind of arrogance which reached its zenith at the time of Iraq invasion. The destruction caused in Iraq and the continued violence effectively marked the end of normal sovereign Iraq that we have known. The death toll of innocent civilians in Afghanistan, too, has long passed the US loss suffered in the twin tower. More shockingly, despite all of this, the world in which we live in is no more safe than it used to be, in many ways grown to be much more dangerous.
In truth, our world is now divided in three camps: one lead by the new-cons where significant proportion of the western population is induced to believe that somehow military might ought to be used to suppress the rise of ‘Islamic Extremism’ regardless of the legal position and the potential damage it may do to the international rules and law. The other camp, suffering the brunt of US arrogance feeling angry and aggrieved who are determined to fight the war with US regardless of their clear inferiority in strength. They are contempt to hate US and everything to do with US. Then there is third group of people, perhaps the majority, who genuinely are concerned about our world and yearns for a better solution but are either confused or marginalised.
The US leaves a dangerous legacy for the Human civilisation. The people of Pakistan and their friends across the world will feel aggrieved and shall seek revenge in whatever form they can. This will create another state detracted from ensuring better life style for its citizens and devoted to balance the competing factions of militant groups. The militant groups will find an increased population of aggrieved people to recruit from and the cycle of violence will continue. We just hope that the last 7 years of bloodshed and lost lives will force US administration to pause and look critically at its policies. We hope that US will follow a path of peace and stability by respecting international law and pursuing strategies not defiant of commonsense.

The Decree

2008-04-26T14:17:00.000-07:00

Part Two: The Parents

Worshipping Allah is the most important aspects of a Muslim. But it is only the beginning of an Islamic life. But Allah has given us guidance about our entire life and decreed us to follow his guidance in dealing with our life. Our life starts from our birth made possible through our parents. To have guidance about life means we must be guided to treat our parents as they should be. Our life starts with the family and family begins with our parents, then siblings, wife and children and the chain continues. Allah so beautifully spells out the guidance for us in that order. Right after he decreed us to worship him, he told us how to treat our parents. He says: ‘and that ye be kind to parents’ though it does not stop there. Generally, we all behave well with our parents. While we are young, dependent upon them, we have little choice but to be kind and respectful towards them. The trouble often starts when we begin to become stronger, more ‘important’ then them and they with the effect of age becomes weaker, less able. Once they reach old age, it presents us with difficulty. Their weaknesses may cause us loose our patience. Allah warns us with clear guidance of how we should treat them. He says: ‘Whether one or both of them attain old age in thy life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honour’. Allah is so full of wisdom, so kind, he spells out even how we should show our kindness and respect for our parents. He clearly states that we must not show our displeasure, anger or dissatisfaction even to the slightest. At all time, we must show utmost honour for them and do nothing that can mean otherwise.
Allah of course understand our weaknesses. After all he is the most powerful, the doer of all things. Unless he empowers us with the strength and patience necessary, we are bound to fall short. Hence He tells us the way to seek his help in our affairs with our parents: And, out of kindness, lower to them the wing of humility, and say: "My Lord! bestow on them thy Mercy even as they cherished me in childhood”. If we pray to him in the way he taught us, Inshallah he will bestow upon us his mercy and enable us to be in the right path, the Path to salvation. May Allah forgive us all and empower us with the necessary strength of character. Amen.
2:208 ‘O ye who believe! Enter into Islam whole-heartedly; and follow not the footsteps of the evil one; for he is to you an avowed enemy.’
[To be continued]

The Decree

2008-04-22T14:18:00.000-07:00

Part One: Worship Allah Alone

5:3 ‘… This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion… .’
Islam is a complete and perfect code of life on which the favour of Allah is bestowed upon (5:3). The perfection of our faith as the way of our life naturally means that it offers us guidance for our life encompassing all aspects of human existence. The Qur’an being the revealed book, the guide for the pious ( 2:2), live up to its claim. Here, in a series of writing, I will attempt to look at some of the decrees of Allah the most powerful. Allah the lord of the universe states:
17:23 Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him, and that ye be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in thy life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honour.
17:24 And, out of kindness, lower to them the wing of humility, and say: "My Lord! bestow on them thy Mercy even as they cherished me in childhood."

Allah the most magnificent clearly defines our relation with him, spells out his expectation of us as one would expect. We as the creation of our lord shall worship him alone and none else. Although this assertion is clear and we all, I am sure, feel that none of us disagree or disregard this decree of our Master, nevertheless, we must pause to ponder upon this point with much attention. A review of scholarly contributions in expelling the meanings and messages of the Quran, a clear picture emerges of this statement: ‘worship Allah and none others’ includes acting in manners so that our actions, whatever it may be, do not contradicts with any of the qualities of our lord, Allah the almighty. As an example, one of the characteristic of our lord is that He is the provider of our living. It is often possible for us to forget that and feel we earn our living. What we do is merely attempt to shoulder the responsibility needed to be discharged before Allah can grant us our living and nothing more. So if one behaves or feels in ways which places another person or thing is of the importance to determine his living by means of providing income, his action shall be seen in contradiction with the decree of our lord: ‘Worship Allah alone and none other than Him’. This is just one example. Similarly, in our attitude with others, with events and issues of our life, we need to be responsible, committed and hardworking. But ultimately we must feel and believe that it is Allah who determines the outcome of events and issues of our life.

To be a Muslim

2008-04-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

Part 6: The One GOD:

(read part1, Part2, Part3, Part4 and Part5)

Central to the Islamic faith is the belief in one supreme being, the faith in Allah, His oneness. Centrality of this belief indicates that for one to claim being Muslim must first gain thorough knowledge of the concept of Allah in Islam based on the Quran. The meaning and significance of the concept of Allah in Islam is so wide and profound that it is beyond the scope of any one writing to capture. Nor is one individual blessed with the immense knowledge and understanding necessary to undertake such task. I shall therefore limit my discussion to some of the key elements of the concept.
The belief in Allah demands a certain mindset, specific practices and clear conditions being accepted. First and foremost is to accept Him as the one and only one of his Kind. One who created the earth, the heavens and everything else that makes the universe(s). Only one entity alone has the supreme authority over everyone else, all other thing, that one entity is our Lord, Allah the most powerful. This belief marks the beginning of ones journey in Islam.
But this acceptance of Allah as the one supreme authority, the ultimate entity who is the creator, sustainer and master of everything that exists is often difficult to explain in the fullest. To understand the implication in real is even more difficult. But the Most Kind, Most Merciful and Compassionate lives up to his name even on this aspect. Allah the almighty has told us His most beautiful names each of which signifies a specific quality, an attribute of Him. To understand our Lord one must understand these beautiful names and their meanings. To show complete and perfect acceptance of the authority of our lord it demonstrate that our actions in every steps embed the necessary implications of such names that defines the Most Magnificent. Below are some of the ninety nine most beautiful names:

Arab Unity for Global Stability

2008-04-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

Last week some of the Arab leaders gathered in Syria in the latest round of meetings held by the Arab League, an organisation of Arab nations found to forge unity between the member states. Even before the event started, it was marred with news of boycotts by various key players. The meeting of the remaining leaders therefore created little hype in media and other circles.
After the formation of United Nation and the successful partnership of European nations in the European Union, many other alliances were formed with great ambitions. Some of these alliances were born out of a strong desire to counter opposing political blocks, some with genuinely honest and sincere commitment to develop meaningful inter-state partnership to break new grounds. Today however, barely any of these institutions of Nations other than the European Union plays any meaningful part in the affairs of the lives of those living within the geo-political arena of those organisations. Yet at the present climate, given the wars, environment and many other important issues, should have been the perfect one for many of the international organisations to play vital role on shaping the future of our world.
The Arab league from the perspective of the global peace and stability should have had an important role to play. If the league was able to work and managed to get the member states to take the organisation seriously, it could have played the most influential rule with potential to become the dominant voice at the international level. The question is though why, despite the similarity in language and culture unique to the Arab states only, it has failed to realise its dream to unite the nations under the umbrella? Here I shall seek to find some answers.
Perhaps the most successful institution of the modern nation states is the European Union. Despite many centuries old hostilities between prominent states and huge differences in language and even culture EU managed to function in manners unique in world history. Today EU is one of the largest economic blocks which speak as one voice on issues of vital importance to the advancement of national interest. Despite political and social challenges, EU has successfully brought her leaders to unite on one platform for the interest and benefit of their collective nations. Some may argue that this success has been made possible due to EU’s financial and technological sophistic which makes the membership of the organisation worthwhile. But such argument sounds unconvincing as it fails to explain the coming together of nations previously being involved in destroying one another. The fundamental reason has been that in the post world war error and with decreasing power of the monarchs, Europe managed to define itself with a common philosophy. Call it secularism or democracy or both, the reality are that the EU member states share a common political ideology which unites the states to act as one voice at the world stage.
The Arab states that formed the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab League and other inter-state organisations may have had a moment goodwill that sprung the desire of coming together to work as one group of nations; they neither had the political unity nor common interest. It may even be argued that neither of these states had been able to define their political identity therefore unable to come up with long term strategies. The inability of these states to define their political identity and the subsequent failure in identifying their national objectives made them vulnerable to outside influence. As a result, although these nations gained independence, they remained largely influential by various old colonial masters.
The reason behind analysing the issues at play which made it impossible for these organisations to function is to come up with a remedy. The Arab states are located at a strategically important part of our planet blessed with significant reserve of natural resources. In fact it may be argued that the life line of global energy supply is offered by some of these states. Moreover, these states also represent the greatest challenge to the survival of human race as a peaceful civilisation. For political and religious reasons, Arab states occupy perhaps the central position in global politics and are therefore capable of defining future world. A united platform of Arab nations is the need of our time to challenge the status quo that exists. For the sake of global security and stability we need the Arab nations to be able to have common social, political and cultural goals. The leading nations of our world need to understand and work towards those objectives.
At present the divided Arab states may be offering some relief to the global powers as it allows them to influence as they will, but it is costing our world far too much in lives and other aspects unsustainable for long. To prevent further spread of civil unrest, political instability and the end of global peace, the entire globe should act to facilitate understanding between the Arab states. Such activism will result in a stable, secure and prosperous world whose future would not be almost predictable.

To be a Muslim

2008-03-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

Part Five: Defining Islam

[Click on Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four to read teh previous post on this series.]

In the lines written as part of this series of posts, the underlined objective has been to understand what it means to be a Muslim. To be more precise, what are the elements of one beliefs, what practicalities are involved in becoming a Muslim and how does that affect our personal, familial and social existence, the relationship with others. But of course Muslim are those who believe in Islam. In other words, the followers of Islamic faith are the Muslims. So it right that we at this stage attempt to define Islam:
Literally speaking, Islam is to mean peace, submission. Islamically, it is a set of believes, values and practices which one undertake as an expression of their submission to their lord, Allah and through this they gain peace, tranquillity and success. So to define Islam we must understand three different elements of Islam:

The believes,
The Values, and
The practices

Of course a closer look at these three will reveal that what Islam really means is that it is a complete code of life which dictates the living of those who believe in it. In other words, Islam is a way of life that Muslims follow, or in the context of many Muslims today, suppose to follow. So to speak about Islam, its believes, values and practices, is to speak of all aspect of human life, issues that affects humanity on a daily basis. Such discussions will be long and will require huge amount knowledge, resources and thinking. In fact, it would be fair to say that such discussions in any one collection is almost impossible. For this reasons here I shall restrict defining Islam in terms of looking at its some of the most fundamental believes resulting in some of the core values and the subsequent implications in life, the most common practices.

[To be continued]

To be a Muslim

2008-03-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

Part four: Understanding our Faith (continued)

[Click to read Part One, Part Two and Part Three of this series]

Clearly I have asserted that the post colonial era provided with opportunities for Muslims to regain their lost confidence and educate themselves about their heritage, culture and history. This has given rise to a new generation committed in their faith and confident in their belief. They no longer accept the unnatural divide between the national, socio-political life and that of their religious one. Islam is not a religion practiced merely at the private premises of individuals hidden from the masses, rather, Islam is a faith that encompasses whole of human life, the socio-economic political, all aspects one may think of affecting humanity, the human civilisation. A new generation well versed in the arts of modern society, fully aware of their faith no longer concedes to the half-hearted and dubious arguments that seeks to leave Islam out of human society and attempts to reclaim their faith to dominate their affairs, all aspects of their life. The privileged classes in the Muslim world and indeed their allies in the ‘free world’ finds this development unacceptable as it threatens to deprive them of their grips in the societies in which Muslims are a significant force. But to understand the this struggle and to digest the facts and reasons involved, one first needs to understand the fundamental tenets of Islam and its implications in the real world. In other words, what are the core beliefs of a Muslim and what is the impact of such faith?

To be a Muslim

2008-03-09T06:24:00.000-07:00

Part three: Understanding our Faith

[This post follows two prior posts which can be read by clicking on Part One Part Two]

Let us, as I am speaking from the perspective of a Muslim, not be apologetic but confident in fighting the bigotry, ignorance and xenophobia so strongly embedded in the social fabric of our world. It is not faith, not Islam and most certainly not the Muslim identity responsible for the evils of our present world. We do not accept nor shall we ever accept the Islamophobic assertion made so commonly in the ‘civilised’ and ‘free world’. But for us to be confident and fight vehemently against the outrageous positions adopted by the global masters and to expose their vulnerabilities, we need to understand our faith, our identity.
At the core of our understanding of Islam lies the rejection of classification of Muslims in categories stated above. There can never be extremist, intolerant, terrorist Muslims. Muslims are of just one kind who are the ‘witness upon mankind’ made to be the nation of ‘moderation’. We are by default a nation of the middle path who rejects extremism, victimisation, intolerance etc. our faith have no room for bigots and xenophobes who are determined to diminish the human values. Our faith teaches us to be part of a global nation, caring, compassionate, participating, responsible and all other attributes that can be assigned to the ideal citizens of a nation, a global community. Our responsibility, commitment and goodwill is not just towards the fellow Muslims but to our neighbours, fellow citizens, friends, colleagues, wayfarers, all people around us regardless of their faiths, gender, race etc. Islam’s message transcends beyond humanly classifications of society and people and includes the whole of humanity, the entire mankind. Faith in our lord, believing in the message that our prophet has brought is for the entire mankind and is aimed at creating harmonious society where prosperity, peace and mutual respect will flourish.
Of course, following my assertion, the claims made of our faith will give rise to obvious questions as to why then are Muslims globally so unruly in places, irresponsible, ignorant, illiterate, intolerant etc? the answer is again very simple which requires us neither to be extremists, isolationists nor apologetic. Although the fundamentals of Islam is still preserved, the Quran and sunnah is intact to this date, the teachings of Islam has been eroding from Muslim life for centuries. The era of colonisation and the suppression that saw the decapitation of Muslims globally forced Muslim institutions, social orders and political authorities disappear over time. Consequently there remained Muslims, maimed, persecuted, deprived and demonised who neither had the opportunity nor the mean to learn about their faith. Most centres of Islamic learning we see in our local community have sprung up in the last century. Deprived of the central political and judicial authority, Islamic faith have grown to be the football which is kicked around as necessary by the various interest groups, the sections of human society. Then in the era of geographical nation state there has been a renewal of Islamic identity, a revival of Islamic spirit. These Islamic spirit is giving rise to increasingly committed and confident Muslims demanding their faith to take up central place in their life. Unfortunately this development has been seen as a threat by the prevailing global powers, including the rulers in predominantly Muslim states. The fear of loosing political power and the identification of Islamic block as threat lead to actions and reactions which causes exploitation of people’s emotion and ignorance to further political interest of various groups which leave us to the present state.
(To be continued)

Dysfunctional democracy

2008-02-20T13:12:00.000-08:00

Kenya, once a model for Africa, is burning. A seemingly stable democratic nation all of a sudden is now at the brink of a potential civil war. Anger rages across the nation setting tribes into fighting, neighbours attacking neighbours. Around quarter of a million people are made homeless and nearly a thousand made to loose their lives. The whole nation is in fear of being embroiled into the kind of conflicts which is keeping most of the continent of Africa from ushering a progressive error. The question one would naturally ask is ‘what made a reasonably coherent country dive into so much turmoil?’
At the outset of my article here, let us remind ourselves that this nightmare scenario resulting into the worst civil strife in recent history of Kenya started from the highly disputed result of the Presidential election. This round of violence is the latest embodiment of immaturity on the part of the political establishment to whom personal interest gains priority over nations peace, stability and progress. But why is our leaders seemingly so selfish and irresponsible in their acts and deeds?
In 2000, a highly contested presidential election took place in the USA with Al Gore from the Democratic Party loosing narrowly to George Bush of the Republicans. In fact, the popular vote gained by Al Gore was more than President Bush and the key state that decided the election had a lot of controversy over the process of vote counting. There were strong reasons for Al Gore to make a stand. But in the end Al Gore decided to accept the result in favour of Bush saving the Nation from a potential Constitutional crisis. Why could this not set a precedent for others especially in the third world?
The answer to the questions I posed in earlier paragraphs, in my view, are simple: in the US, like most other European nations, democracy has developed to the extent that it is not the person, nor even the process itself, but the national interest that gets priority over all other considerations. America’s is one of a many such incidents often seen in the developed nations of our world. Democracy there has taken root and is supported, guided and protected by a mature population and numerous civil, political and intellectual institutions.
Countries like Kenya are of a growing list where democracy is increasingly proving to have failed. In these nations, primarily in Africa and Asia, democracy has given the tribal chiefs, political dynasties and financial elites powerful means to influence the condition of the country in their favour with much of the population deprived of any meaningful share in the affairs of their country. This is increasing civil strife, poverty and social imbalance in areas such as economy, education and health care. The issue of poverty and inequality in societies across nations in the developing world creating conditions in which extremism and violence find roots. The dominant political forces are using the ‘cause of democracy’ to suppress political opposition. Using the issue of terrorism and ‘safeguarding’ democracy, these forces selfishly marginalising their own people while also keeping the global community in darkness of their evil motives.
So what should happen? Should the idea of democracy cease to exist as the superior mechanism of governing nations rightfully? Most certainly not. For so long as the core concept of democracy means equality, justice, fairness and freedom, democracy should and must be seen as the right method of choosing government, ensuring rights and discharging political responsibilities. However, the words and a few elections alone should not symbolise the democratisation of nations. Democracy with simply elections neither creates equity nor social stability. It requires certain mindset on the part of the politicians and the people. This mindset is not God ordained natural characteristics of people and nations but an outcome of a long term activism by serious institutions led by patriots in each nation.
The reasons why people in the developing nations, like in Kenya, respond to the calls by selfish, misguided and ill motivated politicians is because they see no mean to hold their governments accountable, nor any medium to channel their grievance to the keepers of powers. The masses, almost feeling helpless, resorts to violence as they see it to be the only mean to bring the government down to account for miss-governance. The leading nations claiming to be the guardians of democracy, peace and stability of our world needs to support the developing nations in building institutions which empowers ordinary masses. Such institutions should make people feel capable of holding their governments accountable. Developing an infrastructure which will embed such institutions will offer a platform for aggrieved people to debate and express their dissatisfactions. However, efforts to build such infrastructure with these civil institutions must be allowed to operate freely without dictation by specific governments/quarters to only nurture a specific kind of ideology. The people must truly be allowed to decide for themselves what course they wish to take.

Instrument of Injustice

2008-01-26T15:49:00.000-08:00

In recent years United Nations’ Security Council (UNSC) has been on the news to become synonymous with three issues: the war in Afghanistan, the Invasion of Iraq and the nuclear programme of Iran. Although I am sure UNSC undertakes a lot of other very important tasks, it seems on the surface to be driven by a specific group of nations united by a common agenda.
Invasion of Iraq proved UN to be almost ineffectual on the face of powerful nations not adhering to their commitment to the UN. US for example have defined its responsibilities in terms which suits them while also proved to the UN to be indispensable regardless of what she does. With Iran, US proved UNSC to be an organisation which ultimately will come to take US agenda as one of its own, be it somewhat watered down. The latest round of sanctions planned on Iran is just yet another example of such thus making UNSC an instrument of injustice which causes hardship in the life of ordinary people in relatively less militarily powerful nation.
One of course may feel that I have been little harsh towards the UN and have been ignorant of the important role she has played over the years to keep the order of our world. For this reason, it is must that I shall put some fact in the lines below to support my assertion. Here, I only intend to take the matter relating to Iran for today.
What are the issues involving Iran? A rogue state contempt to kill? A nation lead by fanatics? A power determined to destroy our world through funding extremists terrorists? Let us look at some facts to find the answers. But first we must look at the issue of nuclear proliferation and Iran. It is alleged that Iran is content to make bombs using nuclear technology which they must not be allowed to. Although Iran screams loud and clear to claim that their technology is for peaceful energy production purposes and shows no clear sign of making any bombs, US and some European countries continuously been raising their suspicion and demanding that Iran stop enriching uranium. Iran’s understood refusal gives reason to these nations to call for sanction and use their influence to use UNSC to pass resolution to this end.
Question is though how is it logical for nations already equipped with lethal weapons that includes powerful nuclear bombs decide Iran not having the right to poses the nuclear technology and know how for the purpose of producing electricity? Why should they be allowed to raise suspicion on an independent nation who has neither shown any sign of producing such bombs nor has acted aggressively? Every nation should have the right or no one, to develop nuclear technology. Even if we assume that Iran is going to make bombs, why must the nations causing chaos and carnage over centuries all across the world possessing nuclear bomb should have the authority to demand Iran must stop possessing nuclear enrichment technology just because they suspect them to be making bombs? Does that sound fair? Or Just? To me it sounds plainly illogical and clearly prejudicial.
Of course one of the reasons used to support the arguments to stop Iran from having nuclear technology is that Iran is an ‘unstable’ nation whose leaders must not be trusted or relied upon. This assertion is demeaning and must be seen as insulting to the people of Iran. The people of Iran in respectable numbers , far more than many so called western nations, turn out to vote to elect their leaders. The leaders of Iran are elected by their people legitimately to lead their nation. No one must have the right to question the wisdom of a people who have a history of civilisation unique to many nations.
For fear of lengthening my lines, I shall refrain from many more arguments which can be placed powerfully to prove the prejudice and hostility shown unjustly towards Iran. What I shall say to end however is that Iran is on the wrong side of a self proclaimed ‘force for good’ who take it upon themselves to discipline whichever nation step outside the limit set by these imperial arrogant powers with a desire for global domination. They chastise to further their own ‘interest’ at the core of which is to ensure the superiority of US and her allies at the expanse of all others. Iran is a bad apple strategically placed to challenge the supremacy of a major ill of our world, Israel. Sadly, UN has proved itself to be a force, an instrument of these nations to use to legitimise their actions. This way, they use UN and various organs of her to cause suffering, injustice and carnage around the world. UN is no longer a force for good guarding the peace and stability of our world. In fact, UN now is an instrument to legitimise injustice, a weapon of oppression and global dominance for a few.

Published in the Daily Star in Bangladesh on Wednesday, 30th January 2008: http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=21142.

Modern Concentration Camp

2008-01-22T14:16:00.000-08:00

I watch with greatest sadness and to some degree anger the plight of innocent men, women, children, elderly and other vulnerable individuals made to suffer from an illegal occupation. The illegal occupier, committer of grave war crimes, defeating all sense of civility and defying all levels of morality, Israel imposes blockades on a small piece of Land, Gaza, forcing its population to live under the most inhumane condition. The treatment of the people of Palestine in general and the Gazans in particular is nothing short of the treatment experienced by the helpless Jewish people in Nazi Germany’s concentration camps. The strength of feeling felt inside me learning about the horrors of the concentration camps, I thought was heavy, almost unbearable. However, the horrendous conditions in Gaza beats all imagination and makes me wonder how low can any collection of human kinds can go.
Of course Israel should expect to live in peace and harmony and feel secure within its borders. Of course Israel should have the right to defend itself against aggression. But what must also happen is that it should expect others to expect the same. All nations take pride in their nationalities, all states wish to live in peace, harmony and security within their borders and retain the right to defend themselves against aggression. And it seems this is where the problem is. Hamas, a resistant movement, not afraid to exercise its rights and stand for its people, retaliate against the mighty Israeli war machines causing fear at the heart of the Israeli people is utterly hated by the Zionist xenophobes. They take every opportunity to strike on Hamas in whatever shape and form they can. But every time they fail to break them, in fact the attacks by the war mongers and war-criminals in Tel Aviv only strengthens the resolve of the movement and empowers its leadership with increasingly popularity. Failing in almost all of its attempts, Israel successfully plotted to break the unity among the Palestinians and now trying its latest tactics, to starve the people for their political support and exercising their democratic right by supporting Hamas.
Today however, I shall not spend any longer looking at the issues with Israel. For Israel is not the only party in play at the scene. The concentration camps in 2008 may have been caused by the illegal state of Israel, but the ‘custodians’ of our civilisation and the bearer of ‘justice’, ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ have failed the people of Palestine too. In fact, the custodians, now the so called quartet, shamelessly sided with the butchers in Israel and the plotters in Palestine. Instead of bringing peace, they have assisted to bring about ever more carnage and chaos giving legitimacy to the continuing concentration camp in the once beautiful lands of Palestine. I shall seek to briefly look at the duplicities and inconsistencies of these states who are the source of power behind Israeli might.
To understand the role played by the global community, we must first understand the issues and the conditions on the ground. In a nutshell, the whole matter took a dramatic turn when the popular Hamas Movement came to dominate the PLA through a landslide victory burying the previously dominant force, Fattah of the late President Yasir Arafat. Many quarters for their own vested interested failed to come to term with this outcome and began look for ways to deny Hamas its rightful share in the governance of Palestine. But the matter did not end there. The most dramatic episode began when Hamas decided to go it alone and take over Gaza sending Fattah into a kind of exile into the West Bank.
Meanwhile, reacting to the rise of Hamas to the political institutions of the Palestinian Authority, israel and the most powerful nations decided to take a tough stand to punish the people of palestine for their democratic choice in the first ever true election. US and the European Union stoppped their fund and diverted some of it to their puppet agencies. The legitimate government of popular Hamas forced to fail in its effort to bring about stability and normalise the situation. However, all this failed to stop Hamas from increasing their popularity and influence. They did not fail under pressure from the major donors, and continued to serve their nations despite the absence of the economic lifeline. In between, efforts being made to save face of the ‘partners’ through attempted deals between Hamas and Fattah, but all of them ultimately failed.
The issue at stake is the issue of freedom, justice and ‘democracy’. Hamas, whatever one may feel about them, certainly has the legitimate political right to claim stake in the governance of Palestine for so long as the people of Palestine supports them. No one must act to deny such right to Hamas. The Palestinian people have the absolute right to decide who should lead them, yet again no one must act otherwise. The Palestinian state has the right to claim its sovereignty and reserve the right to retaliate against any aggressions and incursion and no one should meddle with it. These are issues of justice, fundamental rights of a nation, a state and her people. To deny such rights is to deny justice, humanity and civility. Such forces must be resisted in the most appropriate mean.
The US, the European Union, Russia and others who uses the issues of Hamas and likes as an excuse are nothing more than mere collaborators of Israel. More than once they have most spectacularly demonstrated their inability to live peacefully and often violates their own slogans of peace, justice, equality and democracy. US for example invades nations, ousts regimes, sponsors terrorists and funds illegal entities to further her desire to impose her will over the global community. Most strangely, she does all these in the name of Democracy and Freedom. When US and EU together forms the lifeline of Israel’s economy, defence and various other strategic areas, it is hard to have confidence on them to bring peace in the Middle East. Their insincerity and duplicity have been further emphasised in the appointment of the most biased and one-sided leader of recent Memory, Mr Tony Blair.
Of course there is the issue of attacks from Hamas, but this should not be made a condition for Israel to give People of Palestine their legitimate rights. Hamas operates its legitimate resistance movement under the illegitimate occupation of Israel. For the global community to ask Hamas to act first is to give Israel best reward for the most atrocious acts, the gravest of war crimes. The genuinely committed peace negotiators must first force Israel to withdraw from the occupied lands, seriously negotiate on the future of the both states and only than ask for peace and security and not before that. Israel must be made to pay for her crimes, criminals must be brought to justice and Palestine must be allowed to operate freely, viably and independently.
We the global community must show our commitment to peace and justice. We must demonstrate our determination to support the oppressed and must speak for them. Let us demand to our governments to stand for justice, to stand for Palestinians and to stop cooperating with Israel until her war machines stops killing innocent people.

To Be a Muslim

2008-01-18T13:14:00.000-08:00

Part Two: The Facts contextualised

The issues that muddled the debates in so far as Islam and muslims are concerned is around the matters related to terrorism, violence and intolerance. For me each one of these areas are of specific strength to Muslims as a nation and Islam as the faith. Islam, of all the religions, condemns violence, intolerance and terrorism in the strongest terms. Never in Islamic history will one find little glimpse of atrocities committed by people inspired by islam. For islam is a religion of peace which accepts reality, offers remedy to problems and ensures safety and security of people, whether muslims or otherwise. Yet it seems almost extra ordinary that muslims find it difficult or necessary to be apologetic to respond to the queries posed to them on the issue of terrorism, violence and intolerance.
At the heart of the terrorism, intolerance and violence that we know today is not the faith of Islam, or indeed none of the major faiths but the policies and practices of the various nations claming to be part of the civilised nations. It is not islam that offers justification to the inhumane acts of killing across the world, it is the unjust, illogical and immoral decisions, acts and policies of Washington and their allies and subordinates. People made subject of unjust, inhumane acts, tortured using the dictatorial regimes, deprived of their most basic rights, denied humanity who fight seeking freedom and justice. Take a few of the many examples we can find in our current world.
Chechnya is a unique entity forcedly made part of the Russian Republic where civilians in thousands been massacred and made to leave their homes while the western world remained almost silent. To make it much worse, Russia failed to live up to their own commitment made on treaties signed with the Chechen leaders. So when the global community watched standby, surely the people who were dying would not let it happen without some form of resistance. In the process they commit crimes, kills civilians and others acts which goes beyond any humanly acceptable reason. Of course these acts should be condemned but it is not their faith that forced them or made them to commit such heinous crime but the barbarity that have been made to befall upon them my stronger opponents. Why should these people be classified as terrorists? Or even worse, blamed to be inspired their faith to commit crime? Same can be applied to resistance movement in others parts of the world such as Kashmir, Philippines and Palestine, to name a few.

To be a Muslim

2008-01-03T14:10:00.000-08:00

Part One: Era of Indignation

The horrific attacks on the twin towers committed by murderous terrorists changed the dynamics of our world in many ways. However, the major burnt in the aftermath of these horrendous acts of barbarism is being felt most strongly by Muslims, or those perceived to be Muslims worldwide. All of a sudden everywhere whether media or government Muslim and Islam has become perhaps the most commonly used phrases which triggers certain fear. The negativity attached to the identity of being Muslim is most remarkably demonstrated by the recent rumours concerning the religious identity of Barrack Obama. This latest saga exposes the hatred that even leading politicians nurtures in the us and most certainly in most part of the ‘civilised’ world.
In our post 9/11 world, almost every major discussion includes in one form of another the issue of Islam and Muslims. Thanks to these discussions now we are also being ‘honoured’ with various categories: muslims divided into subsections namely orthodox, conservatives, ultra conservatives, wahabis, extremists, Islamists, Jihadis, moderates, liberals etc. policy makers, thinkers and others use these newly invented, re-invented words as they deem fit to suit their positions. Most strikingly, most of these categorisations and specifications have either being developed by non-Muslims or muslims who are shamed to live according to Islam. It almost feels like that in most cases non-muslims offering great favours to muslims by explaining what islam ought to be to them. To me these acts are perhaps the most insulting, demeaning and outrageous. I will even go as far as saying these attempts defy commonsense, run contrary to the generally accepted standards of civility, equality and democracy that for so long we have been holding firmly close to our hearts. Yet it seems that with regards to muslims and islam these standards are not applied.
The environment of fear, guilt and uncertainty created around the world for muslims has lead to confusion, panic and in some cases desperation. All sorts of proposition have been made and circulated. All kinds of reactions been aired and penned. What to me seems missing however is a confident, Muslim-like response which seeks to challenge the dark forces which erred the senses of many decent human beings all across the world. In most cases, responses from muslims have been either too arrogant, naïve, reactionary or at best apologetic. The response from the quarter, however small, that belonging to the western societies but not muslims often sounded confusing. In part two, I set to look at some possible responses to counter this era of indignation for the muslims.

Benezir’s Legacy

2007-12-31T12:18:00.000-08:00

The assassination of Benezir Bhutto stunned the world. Perhaps no other recent leaders’ death in the sub-continent made so much impact in the global media as the death of Benezir Bhutto. But the days of mourning is fast coming to an end and the reality of life taking its course.
The cowardly act of killing is condemned in the strongest terms by all civilised people of our world. The global community stands together with Pakistan to show utmost resolve on the face of this outrageous act of terrorism. No one, whether an ally or foe of Benezir in the political world, should or would find it acceptable to celebrate a death of this kind and let it pass without profound impact in their hearts and thoughts. The death of Benezir should act as a catalyst to build unity and bring about necessary strengths to rid the Pakistani nation off its most disturbing elements, the terrorists. However, no such result will take place unless a comprehensive understanding of the prevailing political culture is acquired.
Benezir, on her death, is rightly remembered as a champion of democracy, for she stood on the face of military dictatorship of Ziaul Haque to bring about democracy in Pakistan, she refused rightly to vow down to the threats and challenges of a dictator. However, Benezir, like most previous and present heads of state of Pakistan, symbolizes the very problem of Pakistan, the lack of a genuinely democratic, thoroughly honest and clean politicians who are inspired, motivated and committed to build a happy, prosperous and plural Pakistan where intellect and not gun rules. Unfortunately, Benezir has been part and parcel of a political culture which have been dominated by corruption, greed for power and a serious lack of true patriotism.
Pakistan, from its beginning, were built on a shallow principle where the vision and the values of the state were never clear. The leaders often cited values and customs, used religion and other slogans as they deemed fit to ensure their own grip on power. Even right at the beginning when the ‘great leaders’ freed the nation from the British empire promising to build a modern Islamic state, the core leaders themselves demonstrated little understanding what they were talking about and failed miserably to guarantee the most basic tenets of Islam, the individual freedom, justice and equality. When the then East Pakistanis revolted against the corrupt regime in the West, Benezir’s father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto were among the grand designers of a grand scale massacre of innocent people. All, one assumes, were nothing but the result of a blind desire to be in power. Benezir simply marked the continuation of that legacy.
Today when we shall rightly mourn the death of a popular politician, Benezir Bhutto, one cannot help but critically look at the legacy her death is bound to leave behind. The party Benezir once lead agrees on her teenage son being the leader while his dad become his deputy. The tenures of Benezir have been over-shadowed by allegation of corruption and the man at the centre of many of these allegation is none other than Asif Ali Zardari, the father and deputy leader of the current Chairmen of the PPP. So what can one make of the new dimension of PPP? Of course Benezir needs to be respected and her contribution to the Party must be recognised. But why should her teenage son who barely been in Pakistan be granted the leadership? By what right her husband becomes the deputy leader? Surely PPP is to serve the nation and not the Bhutto family?
Pakistan needs strong leadership free from the ‘landlord’ mentality. At the heart of much of the problem in Pakistan is the lack of political awareness among the most ordinary people. Very few ordinary people are intellectually aware of the political debates in their country and little intelligence do they use in choosing their leader. A few powerful clandestine families controls the wealth and power of the country who have monopoly in politics. Pakistan must break that tight controlled dynastic influence in her national affairs. The selection of Bilawal does not serves that purpose. Bhutto rose to prominence succeeding her father not for reasons of her political commitment and contribution but merely being the daughter of an unjustly executed popular leader. She did not have the time to grow to become a natural leader. As such she failed to genuinely develop the politics of Pakistan beyond corruption and feudal ‘power play’. Her son runs the risks of doing the same, except that his failure will cost Pakistan even more direly than his mother’s.

BBC revives ‘Imperial Arrogance’

2007-11-04T12:47:00.000-08:00

BBC in a series titled ‘Clashes of the World’ shamelessly attempt to discredit the heroes of resistance movement, the symbol of freedom struggle against British Colonial Rule. Last week on Sunday they were discrediting the heroes of our First Independence movement (often known as the mutiny or cepoy revolt) in India labelling them as mere bandits, fundamental religious terrorists. This week they despise the great Mahdi, the founder of modern Sudan.

Distortion of truth and false propaganda had been at the heart of British attempt to colonise the world using brute force and taking the advantage of simplicity and trust of ordinary people whether in India, Arabia or Africa. The series on BBC merely reminds us of their nature not being changed a little. In India Muslims under Mughal were the first to bring the whole of India together as an entity and lay the foundation of modern day India. Muslim rulers, traders and noblemen went to great lengths to ensure the prosperity in architecture, education, trade, infrastructure and administration. They for the first time gave the Indians a sense of pride in a previously unknown ‘national sense’. They therefore represented the greatest threat to greedy and ambitious forces of the growing British Empire often led by Christian fanatics. They mercilessly slaughtered our people in thousands, confiscated our lands, wealth and pride.

By the very nature of any proud Muslim and the hard work put in building the civilisation that India was, Muslim could not accept such incursions into their land and were determined to offer heroic challenges. Of course they did not do so without the help and encouragement of the followers of other religions, primarily Hindus. To them there were little difference between themselves and the Hindus with regards to forming resistance against aggressions, incursions and attempt of colonisation.

The people who for nearly two centuries offered their lives, sacrificed everything within their possession to date inspires us to be united for a common cause. The greats like Shahid Syed Ahmed, Titumir, Tipu Sultan, Bahadur Shah Zafar and countless others are our heroes who give us a sense of pride in our desire to live as unique and independent people. We dreamt for our freedom, we desired our existence as sovereign nations and those heroes were the sources of our dreams, the power behind our strength. Today when a reputable organisation like BBC broadcasts programmes to discredit such heroes of our contemporary history, it is of course with a great shame, an utter disgrace that we watch.

There are great needs for programmes that bring to us, the new generation, our pasts. But such programmes should be based on truth and justice. The slaughter, massacre and ruthless suppressions by the Imperial rulers and their agents world over mark the most shameful chapter of Imperial British History. The most notorious of commanders who advanced such heinous acts of disgrace, instead of being portrayed as they were, are not presented as great war strategists, intelligent commanders on the field and saviours of civilisations.

With great deal of shock and a great sense of loss we regret the role of BBC which only goes onto reviving the imperial arrogance, lies and distortions. This will be seen by the people of the respective nations as yet another exposure of the real character of our old colonial masters who have not abandoned their old tactics and continues to foster their desire to rule us, albeit in different forms. As a result, while the dramatisation of events using modern media technology seeks to achieve advantage in combating al Qaeda, it will only do the opposite. To bring the legendary heroes on the level of misguided terrorists like those of Osama Bin Laden will only offer legitimacy to their cause and create an environment of sympathy among ordinary folks.
The conclusion must therefore be that for the sake of the global peace and in ensuring a better world based on mutual respect, cooperation, equality and justice, people must be given their due honour and their feelings and sympathies must be respected. Classifying entire section of population as potential terrorists for no reason other than their desire and determined effort to see their values prevail in peaceful political movement is an attempt that goes against the very values of civility, fairness and justice. Let us hope that the days of imperial arrogance are well and truly buried in the past and our present is made to foster better understanding and link between nations, cultures and religion.

First Published on News Monitoring site, News From Bangladesh (http://www.bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidRecord=176420) on Tuesday November 6, 2207.

Sanctions against Iran disregards Sovereignty of Nations

2007-10-25T13:58:00.000-07:00

US step up sanctions against Iran for their alleged support for terrorism. The measures target the Revolutionary Guards and three state owned Banks. This comes only days after the former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair comparing Iran with the rise of fascism in the 1920s. He went as far as almost explicitly framing Iran as the New Fascists of our century, warning ‘western’ powers against complacency. Days before Mr Blair’s pronouncements, the Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Iran in a historic tour, the first ever of any Russian Leader for over half a century. Given the strategic importance of Iran, it is important to look at the issues at stake. It is important because the US-Iran represents the latest most important issues that can destroy the peace and stability of our world.

It is relatively easy to deal with the issue of Terrorism. US accuses Iran of arming fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Hamas and Hezbollah. For US have listed Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organisations and is fighting against the insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq. For the ease of ordering, we will deal with the issue of Iraq and Afghanistan first.

Afghanistan was attacked by the US and her allies soon after the attack on Twin Tower in New York by a group of terrorists which came to be known as the 9/11 attacks. US cited the involvement of Taliban, then ruler of most of Afghanistan and hold them responsible for providing grounds for training and accommodating terrorists. Although in military terms US ousted Taliban from power with little hardship, they continue to face increasingly stronger challenges from the Taliban element which questions the achievement of the ‘allied’ forces in Afghanistan. At present, given the difficulty in finding countries willing to commit troops, there is a real danger that Taliban may again gain grounds. Amid the fear of the return of Taliban in some form, US is desperate to step up pressure on Taliban while shift the focus of US people away from the issues. Iran, being a non-friendly nation to the US and strategically important Neighbour of Afghanistan is an easy escape goat. To date there has been little credible evidence to support Iran’s involvement in arming the Taliban. In fact, history tells us that the Taliban was ousted with silent support from Iran.

In Iraq, US and allied forces are struggling to keep hold of their grounds. The country is in chaos with little progress in sight. Despite the best efforts of the US soldiers, the security situation is in dire, the economy is frail and confidence of people is extremely low. There has been little movement towards stabilisation and the growth of democracy; the government is in tatters. More and more nations are bringing back their forces back, leaving US to sort out the mess it created alone. The opposition to Iraqi occupation is increasing in the US with the election eminent. The Bush administration is failing to keep up its commitment. Yet again they need an escape goat in order to wash their hands off the incompetence and arrogance and who better to blame than a worried neighbour, Iran? Of course the story is familiar; Syria has also been blamed but since Syria poses little significance these days, Iran as the most influential nation in that region suits better. Note again, there has been little evidence to make a compelling case against Iran in arming the Iraqi fighters.

Supposing, for the sake of argument, that Iran indeed is harbouring resistance to US occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, would US be justified to take the measures it is taking against Iran? I doubt it especially if US is to follow its own standards. Meddling in others business, destabilising nations and violating sovereignty of other states have been a common feature of successive US administrations. Even to date, US justify all kinds of actions based on its ‘self interest’. Is it not in the interest if Iran to have a favourable government in its strategically important neighbouring states?

With regards to Hezbollah and to some extent Hamas, Iran have been an open supporter of their causes. For centuries nation after nation supported independence struggles of the people against occupation. US itself fought bloody war to achieve its own freedom. Hamas and Hezbollah have been created under very specific conditions to achieve clear objectives. Both these movements are based on popular support within their respective communities. There is little evidence that they force people in supporting them, in fact, both these movements gained reputation for being fair, just and not corrupt. People in their respective areas see these movements as saviours of their cause. Yet the US and its allies continue to support increasingly isolated forces accused of corruption on mass scale. US talk of democracy and freedom yet denies ground realities and throws her weight behind occupying forces and corrupt, self proclaimed leaders with waning public support.

There are other accusations against Iran which deserves to be discussed with much importance. However for today we shall limit our focus on the issue of terrorism. It is clear to any reasonable person with a fair mind and sense of justice that the accusations against Iran of supporting terrorism are based in thin grounds. If anything, it has been the US continuously threatening Iran from all around with huge force. Iran has reason to believe that it may be subject to an attack from the US and may take precautionary measure. As such, it is conceivable that Iran is being forced to improve their strategic understanding with the forces opposing US hegemony.
The attitude of the US amounts to clear disrespect for international Institutions and the sovereignty of independent states. She has violated the sovereignty of more than one nation and continues to threaten more. This kind of attitude reflects the arrogance of the neo-conservative led administration and poses the greatest danger to our world’s security. Let us hope that the presidential election being just round the corner, common sense will prevail and a major shift will be in place in the US to prevent us going back to the olden days of cold war.

Let Burma be our moment of Reckoning

2007-10-01T04:34:00.000-07:00

Situation in Burma continues to be tense with each side determined to see the end. The military junta continues to do all it can to suppress protesters while the pro-democracy activists demonstrate despite the harsh realities. The world, despite some sound bites, observes as bystander. In the mean time, some of us wonder what future holds for Burmese people and the significance of this latest development at the international scene.

For decades now, Burma has been governed by the military elites who established tight control over the state apparatus. They have ruthlessly suppressed all efforts of the pro-democracy activists and imprisoned the leaders. International community only managed to occasionally express concern in words but nothing beyond that has taken place. Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, in the name of ensuring democracy and ushering new era, global powers undertaken expansive military adventures result of which is the messy Iraq, dysfunctional Palestine and the increased uncertainty over global stability.

The test as presented by the Burmese experience is this: how far can international community can go to ensure ‘democracy’ in a state? From what we are experiencing, the answer is that the extent to which international community can go to ensure democracy, rule of law and respect for fundamental human rights is very limited. Of course some would argue that the case of Burma is different in that it does not offer much respite for the only super power to intervene, nor does it inconvenience any of the global players. To proponent of this view, Anglo-US axis has no moral vision and shows little regards to defend democracy; rather they are driven by self interest. While those that sees the axes as the sole custodian of democracy will argue that the Bush lead west perhaps with active participation of the European Union should if necessary take military stand against the Burmese government to ‘free’ the people of Burma from the unimaginable sufferings implicated upon them by their own government. In reality, both of these camps are impractical and unrealistic in the views that they hold.

The war on Iraq, the Palestine Crisis and most recently the increasingly eminent war on Syria points to us that war can only break our peaceful world into suspecting blocks where suspicion, mistrust and lack of cooperation makes it almost impossible to achieve peace and stability. It is also witnessed over the years that however powerful a nation or group of nations may be, they still are unable to mount military challenge in every land where the values of commonly acceptable civility is being violated. We have seen that action in Darfur has been limited to diplomacy and verbal condemnation, Chechnya, Dagestan, Kashmir etc have long been forgotten. In fact, as recently as last week, the British Foreign Secretary himself admitted that while there is victory, there is no military solution. This is extraordinary given that it was this very person who was the tsar of Tony Blair’s policy making.

SO leaving aside the rhetoric, it is now time to take a pragmatic approach to our world’s problems. Our approach should be one of re-conciliation between parties, building bridges and mending differences. War is easy but bringing peace is difficult. There are enough conflicts and potential conflicts, there are far too many potential issues that can divide our world and lead us to devastating consequences. With Burma now dominating the airwaves, we do not need yet another military solution, yet another war in whatever form it may take place. What we need is real courage and determination to come up with creative ideas that will pave the way for a better Burma and indeed a better world.

To this end, it goes back to the old argument in which international institutions like that of UN must be strengthened and their authority well established. TO do so, all nation and most importantly the powerful nations must respect the authority of these institutions even if at times the interest of these nations are not well served. Along with this, we also need to develop an infrastructure, a culture in which no nation is left to be isolated and cornered into little cells. We need effective means of communications with regimes like the one in Burma so we can talk in time of crisis. For this to happen, the authorities in such countries must not feel threatened. We need to create an interdependent world in which no government is able to run its businesses entirely on its own. That way when there is a problem we can apply real pressure that will work.

Isolating countries whether it is Burma or North Korea, be it Iran or Syria, will only make the leadership of such nations ever more determined in going about doing just the kind of things we want them no to do. Allowing them space and time may in short term seem giving way to the ideologically wrong kind of people, but in long term it allows us to weaken those regimes by making them more reliant on others who in turn can force these regimes to change. For the regimes, since they would be used in communicating and cooperating with other regimes, it would be unthinkable for them to isolate and do their businesses alone.
Let therefore our message be one of reconciliation, peace and perseverance. Let us say in loud and clear language, no more songs of wars, no more aggressive tactics to ensure ‘democracy’ but to create space for everyone and give them time to learn to dream of a better world. We want to see an end to the bloody clashes in Burma, but that must be achieved without creating more bloodshed at greater scale. Burma should be our moment of reckoning where we resolve to strengthen international institutions and increase our capacity to deal with this kind of regimes.

Confronting Terror

2007-07-09T01:38:00.000-07:00

An interesting article on Christian Science monitor catches the mood of thinking minded sensible people on the issue of terrorism. The author quotes the surprise findings of surveys revealing public attitude towards terrorism. A few points rose in the brief article reflecting on the survey results from countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Indonesia and United States deserve more attention and space.

It has been asserted, validly in my view, that Muslims are no more supportive of terrorism than any other communities of religious and other groups. Terrorism steams out of misguided ideology energised by anger, mistrust and ignorance. Those that seek to kill innocent people indiscriminately do so out of their evil desires. Such actions as unfolded in various terrorist attacks in NY, London and other places are utterly condemned by all people from all socio-religious groups and rightly so. Unfortunately however, some powerful quarters of western political establishments have continued to wrongly accuse Muslims directly and indirectly of not going far enough in condemning such attacks. Many of them go as far as blaming Muslims for harbouring and supporting terrorism. These powerful elements of our political establishments, ideologues of a kind, and their allies in Muslim lands created their own brand of ‘war on terror’ which is equally divisive. At the core of the current strategies adapted by Washington, and to some extent London, lies an unholy desire to pick a fight with wider Muslims societies all around the world to impose ‘western values’ on Muslims world over. This strategy is either fuelled by an arrogant worldview of certain leaders and thinkers who view their ways of life to be so superior that it deserves to be imposed upon others, or that their understanding of Muslims and Islam is so shallow and misinformed that they totally fail to understand the very nature of Islam and Muslims thus adapt policies that instead of befriending Muslims, it offends them. As a result, in what should have been a relatively simple criminal matter in which everyone would sign up to, their policies antagonises Muslims and convinces many of a hidden agenda to subjugate global Muslim communities thus increase sympathisers to Al-Qaeda likes.

The war on terror in the main has been used both in the west and in the East as a powerful weapon to silence Muslim groups which has been fighting for equality, social justice, freedom, democracy and reform. These groups, though in some ways may be different from prevalent western political establishments, are groups that deserve our support rather than being condemned. The puppets, dictators and corrupt rouge elements occupying power in most Muslim lands are enemies of civility, justice and freedom and deserve to be opposed. West, in its support for these governments, lost its moral credibility and only ignited the feelings among many Muslims that they are the subject of a world wide witch hunt.

Islam is a global religion with a very active and clear socio-political and economic vision. As such, many Muslims feel that it is their obligation demanded by their faith to work towards bringing about a society in which their values are appreciated and established in the political apparatus of the state. This, however disliked by many, is a legitimate desire that any groups of whatever ideology can and should hold for so long as they do not seek to impose upon others by force. Westerners feel their ways of life is the superior and they have the right to think in that way, similarly, Christians, Jewish and all other believers of various faiths feel the same regarding their faiths and it is their right which we should respect. Why should than the Muslims be different? The current trend in the global struggle against extremism seems to deny this right to Muslims and seek to silence all political movements, peaceful popular organised, which find its inspiration in Islam.

Of course, the shallow and rather one sided media coverage, the ability of the Neo-Conservatives and their allies world over to twist and spin truth and mobilise public opinion using powerful propaganda tool means today Islam and systems inspired by Islam has been demonised to the extent that the moment a westerner hears of Islamic State, Islamic System, they instantly feel frightened and imagine of some back dated draconian ways of life which has nothing to offer to modern progressive societies whereas in reality nothing can be far from truth. The issue of equality, freedom of speech, freedom of belief, justice and fairness are the fundamental principles that underpin any Islamic system. For centuries, when Islam was firmly rooted in the political, social and economic life of Muslims, they went on to make extremely valuable contribution in enlightening our world through scientific discoveries, mathematical excellence and development of various humanities disciplines. History, astronomy, medicine and mathematics are only but a few of the areas in which Muslims contributed enormously. Today the Muslim world is in disarray, political-socio-economic condition of Muslims is dire. There are good reasons to suggest that at the heart of this direness of Muslims is the legacy of colonial rule and a planned and carefully orchestrated strategy of decapitating Muslims in the colonial error which continues to date in many shapes and forms. And it is not only Muslims who suffers from this utterly despicable condition of the Muslim communities; the non-Muslims alike suffer from it. When Islam dominated the lives of Muslims, non-Muslims were flourishing in the Muslim world with dignity, honour, safety and security. Classic example was the decadent Ottoman Empire in which many westerners fleeing from persecution at home found refuge; Jewish enjoyed relatively better life and a lot of influence. For Islam guarantees freedom for all religious groups and forbids any kind of biasness towards them by the Muslims.
Cutting things short, it is suffice to say that the current strategy to support puppets, marginalising islamically inspired political and social movements is a wrong strategy which in long term will continue to strain the relationship between Muslims and the wider world. This strategy is also doomed to be failure for it fails to recognise the rights of Muslims to be heard and valued. TO Muslims it is not the guarantee of economic prosperity, technological advancement and political authority that means most, though they are very important. What matters to Muslims most is their faith and the integrity of their faith. Let therefore the Muslim community decide for themselves as to what they want, what kind of ways of life they want. Let us not mix up a mere criminal issue with wider aspiration of Muslims to see their ways of life glorious and flourishing. Terrorism is a criminal matter which must be dealt with as such. In the process we should attack the justification of Al-Qaeda type groups for this kind of attacks and not get into a petty propaganda assault to condemn their stated objective of bringing about Islamic state. For every Muslim wants to see Islam prevail at all level of social strata. It is not the desire to see Islam being established politically which is wrong; it is the mean in which one seeks to establish Islam as the political force we should be concerned about. Only than and than alone will we be able to truly confront terrorism in all its evil shapes and forms.
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This article was first published on The Daily Star, leading English daily in Bangladesh, on 8th July 2007.

Terrifying Terror, the course of Justice and our values

2007-07-03T04:27:00.000-07:00

First Published on The Daily Star (http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/07/05/d707051502118.htm)
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Britain once again stands frightened by the prospect of terrorist attack. A group of misguided individuals commit themselves to mindless act of carnage and violence. It is right that our government and people condemned such act of outrage with utmost disgust. Praise therefore is due to those who responded so well to the threats to lives of so many. Praise indeed to our security forces, political leadership and emergency response teams throughout the UK. I note particularly the statements of Alex Salmond and Jacqui Smith, both of which emphasised on the need to remain united. Alex Salmond’s reassurance to the Muslim community is particularly noted with sigh of relief and gratefulness.

Having so praiseworthy of our security forces, and largely of our politician, it is fair however for us to pick on those that either deliberately use events like this to further their own narrow interests. One such quarter is of course our media. As always, I note that media once again failed to be responsible and continue with their outrageously biased and inflammatory tone. At a time when we need conciliation, calm and measured coverage of events which is perfectly capable of giving rise to wider social instabilities, media words and tunes its voice in manners which only can flair up the heat causing enormous distress to so many innocent people.

Listening to BBC Radio4 this morning, I felt very concerned for all those doctors from Asian Countries, in particular those from Jordan and Egypt. In fact, the questioning was so outrageous that anyone listening to them would assume that presenter of the programme was convinced that those doctors of Arab origin, in particular from Egypt and Jordan are guilty of crime and pose serious threat to our national security. I wondered where the fine principle of criminal justice which says: ‘innocent until proven guilty’ was? I wondered too of Radio4’s objectivity, respect for due process of law and impartiality. I wondered how would she have reported was this incident to take place in a developing (preferably) Muslim country and some westerners were to be arrested and reported in the same manner in Iranian National Press? I hear some mutter ‘well we cannot be compared with Iran’ and that is where the problem lies.

Terrorism is a threat to us all, it has the potential to destabilise the entire world. The terrorists seek to create confusion, chaos and suspicion between communities and citizens to destroy the normality of our daily lives. Through creating division and suspicion they seek to fracture our social fabric which in turn will give rise to panic and anger. Anger and panic will lead to desperate acts which in turn will lead to backlash and instability thus bring an end to a harmonious way of life. This way eventually terrorists will achieve their objectives without being defeated which is to destroy our society in which people of all faith and none, races and nationality flourish side by side in mutual cooperation, respect and trust. Media and for that matter all those who acts irresponsibly give up fundamental values of our society, and let their prejudice, emotion and hatred lead their judgements only to play to the hands of terrorists in furthering their objectives.

All those people who have been arrested in suspicion of involvement with these notorious attacks should be treated fairly; justice must follow its own course and give them their due. Presumption of their guilt not only violates the basic principle of our justice system, it seriously threatens their prospect of being treated fairly. Furthermore, assuming them being wicked, hinting all their fellow professionals of similar ethnic and religious origin of being a threat to national security, will only help to create mistrust, anger and resentment, more reasons for many to be convinced that society and social institutions being biased against people of a specific religious affiliation. IN addition, not letting justice take its own course indirectly implies that our justice system is incapable of coping with new environment which of course is not the case.

IN conclusion, let me just add one more thing, the discussion of increasing the power of police and giving them more time to detain without charge is unhelpful. I applaud Brown’s reluctance to rush new legislation and hope that commonsense will prevail. There is nothing to suggest that any of the terrorist attacks could have been prevented by longer detention without charge, nor does it follow commonsense. The culture of detention without charges fuels anger and resentment, it makes more innocent people victim of a biasness and abuse of power by our security forces. Extremely low rate of prosecution, and even less success in conviction and the mistakes of Forest Gate, Charles De Menezes are only a very few cases sufficient to highlight the needs for restraint in bringing about new draconian measures. Many citizens of this country concur with me in finding a comparison between some of our harshest laws brought about in response to these terrorist threats with those that existed in places like apartheid South Africa. No one would agree that those laws were effective in keeping the ‘ANC terrorists’ away from realising their dreams, it only helped those activists to strengthen their resolve. We need to be able to stand confident and trust our people of all colour, nationality and faiths. Let us not play in the hands of the terrorists and let our much dared, precious freedom for which so many of our previous generations fought and so many of our fellow humans continue to struggle in many parts of the world prevail.