Islamophobia reaching unprecedented levels
Latest killings a consequence of right-wing nationalist sentiment
THE murder of 50 Muslims while they were praying at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, last week by a right-wing, self-confessed white supremacist has arguably shaken the global community to its core. While we have sadly been witnessing a growing number of terrorist attacks against civilians across the world, and have perhaps become somewhat nonchalant about such news when we hear it, the brazen way in which the latest murders were carried out is possibly unlike any we have seen before. What are we to make of the public way in which the killings were carried out with the shooter posting a “manifesto” on his reasons for killing these persons and filming himself while doing it? The most obvious observation is that he was targeting Muslims and not just civilians or citizens of New Zealand in general. Since September 11, 2001, we have increasingly seen how acts of terrorism have often targeted residents of either a particular country or city by the terrorists in order to make a political statement. This is usually in retaliation for some action that the government of that country has taken or carried out against a certain group of people or has a foreign policy position that is not popular or liked. In the aftermath of the US invasion on Afghanistan and Iraq, such attacks became seen as almost inevitable as a phenomenon that is reflecting the anger and resentment felt by people who had their countries invaded by foreign aggressors and their lives destroyed by long drawnout occupations. In the past 18 years, terrorist groups that did not exist in 2001 have emerged to join the ranks of those who want to target specific countries and their citizens for political motives. In the past few years, there has been a greater trend towards targeting specific religious communities, whether it be Christian, Jewish, Muslim or other, and for terrorists to enter places of worship and kill large numbers of people of the same faith. The question that arises is whether there is any specific political motive, or whether it is a hate crime that has possibly been incited by certain individuals and/or an existing dislike of certain religious groups. It is clear that in the case of the Christchurch shooting, the motive was hate, based on misplaced and inaccurate notions that the shooter expressed about Muslims. He saw them as people who had “invaded” his country and land. Of course, there could be nothing further from the truth. If he had any rational understanding of migration and “invasion” he would have understood that in Australia and New Zealand, the indigenous communities of the Aborigines and the Maoris respectively (as first nations people) were already there. The real invaders of the lands were, in fact, his forefathers who had displaced indigenous people in an attempt to control the land and resources of these territories, when they colonised them. Any Muslim migrants to Australia or New Zealand had migrated there in either the 20th century or more recently and settled there as part of the countries’ immigration policy provisions, which is a normal occurrence in all states. The attack comes at a time when hatred of Muslims, usually referred to as Islamophobia, is at unprecedented levels globally and has, in some instances, become institutionalised as official policy. We have seen, for example, some states in Europe introducing legislation that prevents Muslim women from wearing certain head or face coverings and they assume that by doing so, terrorist attacks will stop. In other cases, some governments have tried to stop mosques being built, minarets being erected, or the call to prayer being broadcast over speakers, all in an attempt to wipe out the visible presence of Islam in public spaces. The conversation in many European parliaments has recently focused on how to prevent the entry of Muslim asylum seekers and refugees, protected under international law, into their countries. These are mostly refugees from countries like Syria and Libya where the ill-conceived interventions by foreign governments have created disastrous humanitarian crises, forcing the civilian population to flee. Cartoon competitions have been held in Europe to get participants to represent the Prophet Mohammed in disrespectful ways, which would offend Muslims globally.
In Myanmar, the Rohingya community has been denied any form of human/citizen rights by that government, even though the population has been born on that territory and lived there for generations.
They don’t have the means to feed and clothe themselves much less commit any terrorist activity.
In China, the Uighur Muslims have been detained by the authorities in camps in an attempt to “recondition” them to stop practising Islam. It has also been tried to stop them fasting on Ramadaan by force-feeding workers in factories.
In the US, under the Trump regime, official state policy introduced a travel ban on several Muslim countries, preventing families from being together, or students and workers travelling to the US even though they had legitimate paperwork issued by the previous administration.
In India, Muslims are killed for eating beef, even though the consumption of beef is a common practice in other countries where several faith communities coexist and respect one anothers’ religious dietary preferences.
The killing of Muslims in New Zealand is clearly a consequence of an orchestrated process by some sectors globally to whip up right-wing nationalist sentiment against persons of colour, persons of certain faith groups as well as persons from certain minority or ethnic communities. Hence it is not only Muslims being targeted, but various groups who are seen as undesirable, foreign or “illegal”.
However, the Muslim population globally is being specifically targeted. In particular, the language used by some world leaders such as Donald Trump, Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu of late, creating an image of Muslims being “dangerous”, inclined towards terrorism and therefore needing to be “dealt with”, is part of the strategy used to conjure fear of and hatred towards Muslims.
Islam is the only religion where a term has been invented to describe a fear against it. There is no word to reflect a fear of any other faith.
This is in itself instructive as it points out the bias, especially within the English language (which is the common lingua franca), which has been engineered against Islam.
It cannot be denied that extremists have carried out acts of violence in the name of Islam in the past. But the individuals and groups have done so advancing their own political agendas and have hijacked the faith of Islam, claiming that it is the religion that makes them act in violent ways.
Again, nothing could be further from the truth. Islam is essentially a religion of peace and its adherents are expected to co-exist peacefully with members of other faith communities. This is evident in the scriptures of the Holy Qur’an and the teachings of the Prophet of Islam.
If we are to learn something from the aftermath of the New Zealand tragedy, it is that the natural love that human beings have for one another is greater than all the hate that any right-wing nationalist can try to orchestrate and spread.
The people of New Zealand and the rest of the world’s support given to the families of those killed in the shootings, is evidence that no matter how hard the hate-mongers try to spread their vile beliefs, be it against Muslims or any other group, they will not succeed.
● Nadvi is an academic based at UKZN and a community activist. She writes in her personal capacity.