Sohail Raza: Islamophobia – Is it A Trap for the White Man?

Last week the daughter of Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan was assaulted and injured by unknown assailants. According to news reports, Silsila Alikhil was on her way home when her assailants got into her car, took her to an undisclosed location and beat her. She was treated in hospital and released. The Afghan Foreign Ministry said it was recalling the ambassador and other senior diplomats “until all the security threats are removed”.

My father was in military intelligence of the Pakistan army and later an attaché at an embassy abroad. So, I know for a FACT that embassies and their personnel are under constant surveillance – especially those from neighbouring countries with a certain degree of hostile relationships like Pakistan has with India and Afghanistan. 

So, there is no question that Pakistani Intelligence Agencies (touted to be among the best in the world today) were unaware that the above incident was taking place. 

What would you call this? Does it fall under the heading of ‘Islamophobia’? Can the war in Yemen be termed ‘Islamophobic’? Were Pakistan’s systematic rape and killing of East Pakistanis (now Bangladesh) in 1971 be claimed as ‘Islamophobia’? 

Or is Muslim upon Muslim violence exempt from ‘Islamophobia’? Or is it that ‘Islamophobia’ is just a word used to provoke the “white man’s guilt” in Western countries as directed by The Muslim Brotherhood?

This is why China’s genocide of Uighurs and East Turkmenistani Muslims is never termed as ‘Islamophobia’. It is not even on the radar in Muslim countries when dealing with human rights abuse. 

I wonder if these issues of deep concern where killings, kidnappings, and rapes have occurred will be discussed, especially by Muslim members of Parliament, at the upcoming Emergency National Action Summit on Islamophobia which MP’s unanimously adopted as a non-binding motion in Ottawa. The date for the summit has been announced as July 22. 

This Emergency National Action Summit on Islamophobia came about in the aftermath of a horrific tragedy in London, Ontario where a Muslim family was killed. But in my opinion, it is a great insult to the memory of the deceased to politicize their deaths in a dishonest way that seems that only one particular community (which is represented by nearly a dozen members of parliament) has been the target of hate when we know that all communities and ethnicities have faced racism, bigotry, and hate. Segregating only one community to score political points will lead to more problems whereas integration and education are the answer to the problems

Why is there no summit or questions raised on the recent burning of churches? 

Of course, Muslims Facing Tomorrow and other ordinary concerned Muslims have not been invited to attend the summit.  

I wonder why?

Syed Sohail Raza is Director of Muslims Facing Tomorrow