Condemned: Without a Fair Trial

Stereo-typed bias and campaign of disinformation about Islam is not a new phenomenon. It is a continuous process perpetuated by the western media, sometimes out of sheer ignorance and sometimes deliberately to malign Islam. New words are coined to describe Islam and the Muslims. It is “Radical”, “Fundamentalist”, “Militant” and “Islamist”, which is the latest one coined by the media. The onslaught has increased to a frantic level after the 11th September attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon. United States has still not provided any proof about the attackers but it has waged a war of attrition against the Muslims in the name of “War against terrorism”.

This war mongering and sabre rattling from the United States is understandable. US are the only super power left in the world arena. It has apparently no fear of opposition from any quarter. It has a staunch ally in UK who shares American goal of controlling the oil resources of the Middle East and the Central Asian countries. US are so confident of its prowess in military might that it has recently declared that it will attack Iraq even if the United Nations forbids it. Afghanistan was a test case for the US might and it is surprised to find it so easy target of occupation. Iraq might not be that easy one. But who knows it might be easier one.

The most gloomy and dangerous signals are coming from the Muslims themselves. They have capitulated. They are eager to show that they are not terrorists and at the same time they are moderate Muslims. Surprisingly, no definition of terrorist has been provided by the US and its allies. But the despotic Muslim rulers are not bothered about it. They are dancing to the American tunes regardless of the real American designs. They are happy in perpetuating their rule over their Muslim brothers and suffocating them with their dictatorial regimes.

Aspirations for freedom are being branded as terrorism. The role has been changed. Yesterday’s freedom fighters are terrorists and vice versa. The most painful result of this campaign is the defeatist mentality among the common Muslims. Lack of Islamic knowledge and absence of Islamic practice has made them pessimist and their vision has been clouded by the trivial gains. They are afraid of the “super power”. They can not comprehend how the advancing eagle could be stopped. They have started to use the same terminologies used by the US and its allies. Even the newspapers in the so-called Islamic countries are using them. No body bothers to ask the western media what is meant by “Islamist” or “Fundamentalist”. It is not clear when a Muslim will be cleared from these terminologies. What is to be done to get acceptance as a “Moderate Muslim”?

The American militarism is so evident that many sane voices are emerging from the west. The latest example, to quote one from many, is that of John Simpson, the BBC correspondent has attacked “gonzo journalists” (of America) who are cheerleading the world to war. The veteran world affairs editor was withering in his criticism of US news networks. His ire was mostly directed against Robert Murdoch’s Fox News Channel. According to him the Fox News was “dysfunctional, grotesquely patriotic and embarrassing”. This type of reporting has resulted in the American public being misinformed. “I went to the Ground Zero and I found that many people believed US immigration policy the reason why the America was so disliked. Thank God I don’t have to broad cast to them. There is no recognition of linkage with America’s support for Israel. There is a great hunger for information in America which people are not getting”, he continued.

He further adds: “It was a lot of nonsense that Islam and the west are locked in eternal conflict. It’s purely politics and local politics often at that. Osama Bin Ladin is primarily motivated by wanting to remove American bases from Saudi Arabia and by the Palestinian problem. It is as small as that.”

He said George Bush was a man of below average intelligence and and a “glove puppet of his vice-president, Dick Cheney, and defence secretary Donald Rumsfield”.

It is not the only voice of dissent. Many are trying to put some sort of sanity in the American attitude towards the other nations of the world. US want to be left at its will to do whatever it wants. Surprisingly it uses the words democracy, freedom of speech and new world order. Are they “double speak” as coined by George Orwell in his novel, Nineteen Eighty Four? Primarily it was meant for USSR but of course, Orwell did know at that time that USA will be a greater evil than USSR after its demise.