Islamophobia and Oxford Blues laid bare
BORN and bred in Kwazulunatal, one is enriched by the diversity of people and cultures.
We become hypersensitive about discrimination even if it happens well beyond our shores. Imagine the horror of reading of blatant discrimination in one of the great schools of the world.
Karma Nabulsi, writing in the London Review of Books, lays bare rabid anti-islamic bias at the nominally enlightened Oxford University.
She recounts galling cases – a Muslim woman student bizarrely asked if she had been radicalised after she disclosed treatment for depression; a colleague of Arab origin asked to have a “senior” academic confirm the real purpose of a meeting when he tried to book a seminar room; and a Sikh student overheard reading prayers in Punjabi had her room searched in her absence by “scouts”.
Not too many people at the university appear to be standing up against this steady erosion of its hallowed freedoms. Three terror attacks in as many months in the UK by Islamic extremists appear to have deepened the apprehension, but it’s still no excuse to tarnish an entire faith.
Credit must go to the Muslim women, mostly in hijab, who lined Westminster Bridge a few weeks ago, holding hands in silence in solidarity with the victims of the indiscriminate terror attacks.
For the terrorists to hear they have no place in our society, we must all speak up.
A friend made light work of extremism in a Whatsapp text. A man is stopped at an Islamic State roadblock. Asked to recite a verse from the Qur’an, he obliges and is allowed to pass. His wife admonishes him, saying it was a verse from the Bhagavad Gita. The husband’s The Muslims are Coming! classic reply was that, had the sentry read the Qur’an, he would not have become a terrorist.
In my beloved Bangladesh district in Chatsworth, we were a melting pot of faiths, cultures and languages. All of this enriched our life experiences.
Whatever our backgrounds, we all merrily sang along in the church Sunday school. During Ramzaan, we sometimes joined our neighbours in the fast, but more frequently feasted with them when they broke fast.
Hindu worship of the Mother Goddess, Ammen, had the neighbours queueing for the delicious soured porridge.
Childhood experiences of reaching out meant that we could enjoy the Zulu tradition of the first fruits ceremony with His Majesty, Shabbat with Jewish friends and sit for hours on the ground with followers of the Prophet Isaiah Shembe.
From Nabulsi’s recommendation, I am looking forward to Arun Kundnani’s book, The Muslims are Coming! Islamophobia, Extremism and the Domestic War on Terror.
Let’s turn to each other rather than on each other.
l Higgins promotes #Readingrevolution at Books@ Antiquecafe in Windermere and #Hashtagbooks in Reservoir Hills.