Sometimes, the right to criticize religious bigotry is both necessary and compelling. Secular preachers practising the unwritten blasphemy law normally, use this phrase: “It’s not moderate Muslims’ fault.” and prevent any criticism of ‘Islamic Jihad.’
In the celebration of being a celebrity, even sharp people sometimes unwittingly or otherwise echo the Left-liberal-cabal and fall into their trap.
The whole discussion would end the moment the so-called “Moderate Muslims” start despising the actions unequivocally, without any ifs and buts, without any paradoxical attempt to detach ‘Islamic-Jihad’ from Islam. But no.
Instead, those who have an audience defend such behaviour by saying, “people who indulge in such acts cannot be Muslims, The Quran does not teach that.” Also, the rest ask: “why would you want to criticize religion if it causes so much hassle?”
My answer to them is -look back at history. From the last quarter of the 12th Century, from Somnath to Martand Sun Temple, from Kashi to Mathura to Ayodhya, both the Quran and Sharia only provided the basis for enforcing Islamic destruction of Hindus and Hindu civilization.
Not so long ago, when key Jihad ideologues Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki were dead, and the Arab streets embraced peaceful uprisings unseating entrenched regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, the secular preachers hailed the end of global jihad movement.
The new dawn, we were told, was breaking.
Soon occurred a series of events of horrifying reality – the terrorist siege of the Westgate (Kenya), a suicide attack outside a church in Peshawar, in Baluchistan province and Iraq, killing scores over that weekend. The Nexus and network of the perpetrators can’t be missed.
The briefest and concerted resurgence of the global jihad can be easily traced to the conflict in the Levant. Today ISIS and its affiliates have attracted foreign fighters from across the world because the Quran & Sharia provide the basis for galvanizing the global jihad movement.
However, the politicians across the world, consistent in their message that “terrorism, is a global threat” avoid saying that it is Islamic terror which is a global threat. If we do not start being honest in identifying the sources of terror, we will never defeat it.
Some imperceptive “war on terror” without getting to the root is doomed to fail. The public opinion considers the subject too unfashionable, too confusing and on them, weariness has descended. The mainstream media knows it and leads the way in their consistent and willful censorship.
The censorship has gotten so bad that both the news and government agencies bend over backwards not to bring Islam into the picture, even if the perpetrator of a terror act has admitted to acting in the name of Islam. Watch this video:
In this interview of Islamist Geelani, where he keeps on saying Kashmir is a religious issue, but the interviewer, a secularist, keeps on asking in different ways: ‘but is it not a political, economic, and social issue? Anything but religious!
The dishonesty and pusillanimity of the mainstream media and secularists in addressing this critical issue of identifying Islamic terrorism as Islamic will spell doom for the free world. Today Islamic terror continues relatively unabated, with shocking appeasement of all kinds.
Principally, all such laws restricting criticism of any religion should be rejected at once. If we wish to be entirely fair, all terrorism and violence done in the name of any religion should be identified as such. Be it Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism or Islam.
The fact that it is the Quranic teachings which is the root of much of the world’s terror.
As we might guess, these are some of the Islamic teachings that continue to drive Islamic Jihad. Wouldn’t these teachings constitute hate speech under the same laws that are being tossed up all over the place to protect Islam?
We need to acknowledge that such double standards will ultimately harm Muslims the most. Insulating a religion from criticism, surrounding it with an electric fence called “respect” keeps it stunted at its most infantile and fundamentalist stage.
I have many Muslim friends and colleagues whom I interact for the better part of the day. These are all very nice guys. They also respond the same way, the moment there is an incident in the name of Islam by fundamentalists: “These guys cannot be Muslims.” A daily routine of unconscious censorship.
The majority, that is the smart, questioning and instinctively moral Muslims learn to be silent or are shunned. I believe that the Muslims in India are safe and secure enough to deal with these tough questions. It is condescending to treat the Muslims like excitable children, assuming they cannot cope with the same probing and mocking treatment we hand out to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists. Let them deal with it.
Ever thought what would Christianity be like today had Bertrand Russell, Mark Twain et al. been pulped?
However, there is now a pincer movement trying to silence critical discussion of Islam and Islamist Jihad. On one side, the fundamentalist fanatics threaten to kill you, and on the other, the secularists call you Islamophobic, to stifle any criticism of Islam.
Ignoring the threat of domestic radicalization and international terrorism won’t make it go away. The leaders and politicians should address it loud and clear, for which they also need the support of the “Moderate Muslims.”
In my opinion, it is their fault too, if they don’t understand that merely opposing ISIS is not enough. As true moderates, they need to resist the idea of a religious state of any kind and extend support to real democracy, support freedom of speech and universal human rights.
It is time we threw the political correctness in the garbage bin, where it belongs, and called out those who wish to insulate any religion from criticism using the bogey of moderate Muslims.
