VTMBH Article: Body
The fact that the world changed after September 11th is evident every day in newspapers around world. America has launched a worldwide campaign against terrorism, in which it has many allies and very few targets. All of the targets are Muslim. Now terrorism has a religion. This is a great injustice to Muslims everywhere. Islam is a peace- loving religion that preaches tolerance and humanity. It is terrible that the U.S. media takes the actions of a very few and dumps responsibility on all the followers of a religion.
The attacks of September 11th have been condemned by every nation and by followers of every religion. All the countries that the United States approached to fight terrorism have joined the war. Pakistan has been a frontline ally. Officially, the Bush government is all praise for the government of Pakistan. The U.S media has followed suit and used every superlative to describe General Musharraf. On the other hand, within the Untied States, people of Pakistani origin have been the most harassed since September 11th. Most of the detainees, as well as most of those deported, are Pakistani. Sources claim that among those detained are U.S. citizens of Pakistani origin.
The entire Muslim community in the United States feels suffocated, but Pakistanis in particular never thought they would suffer so in the United States.
General Musharraf, after his trip to the United States, said that Pakistanis here are perfectly safe. It is Pakistans political legacy that the leaders of the countrywhether soldiers or civiliansself-interestedly mislead the people.
For the first time Pakistani community has appeared in the headlines, but in such unfortunate ways. When the United States attacked Afghanistan, the protests on the streets in neighboring Pakistan became the face of extremism in the U.S. media. Nobody bothered to report how many Pakistanis were in those protests. Most of the protestors were Afghan, as three million of them have found refuge in Pakistan since the last Afghan war.
The gruesome murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl again made all Pakistanis seem anti-American in the mainstream presss message. In the news, the Daniel Pearl murder was followed by an attack on the church in Islamabad in which two U.S citizens died.
Pakistan is a nation of 140 million people, a handful of whom performed such terrible deeds.
Blame should be placed correctly. Charged with the murder of Daniel Pearl is Sheikh Omar and his organization, The Army of Muhammad. Sheikh Omar was freed from an Indian jail in 1999, in exchange for hostages taken in a hijacking of an Indian plane. Why did the government of Pakistan allow Omar to live in Pakistan and allow his organization to continue?
It is well known that the Pakistani Armys interests and those of the militants are wedded to similar goals: for example, the Kashmir cause. This is true even in these times. General Musharraf, in some of his statements, has indicated as much. On one hand General Musharraf shows his liberal credentials to the Americans. On the other, he makes stirring statements about Kashmir that could well come from the mouth of a militant.
Today President Bush lauds General Musharrafs government, but his opinion of ordinary Pakistanis is very low, as can be seen from his reaction to the incident of four missing Pakistani sailors in Virginia.
Nineteen of the 27 sailors were Pakistani. Four of them have disappeared. The fact that the sailors were given permission to land though they did not possess visas created a furor. President Bush himself ordered their arrests. The FBI, the CIA and Interpol are all involved. None of the four has any links to a terrorist organization. They are of four of the hundreds of thousands of poor Pakistanis who dream of a better life and come to the United States through legal or illegal means. With the U.S. president sounding tough and the law enforcement agencies acting tough, its no surprise the media shows no compassion in their reporting on this story.
The attacks of September 11th have been condemned by every nation and by followers of every religion. All the countries that the United States approached to fight terrorism have joined the war. Pakistan has been a frontline ally. Officially, the Bush government is all praise for the government of Pakistan. The U.S media has followed suit and used every superlative to describe General Musharraf. On the other hand, within the Untied States, people of Pakistani origin have been the most harassed since September 11th. Most of the detainees, as well as most of those deported, are Pakistani. Sources claim that among those detained are U.S. citizens of Pakistani origin.
The entire Muslim community in the United States feels suffocated, but Pakistanis in particular never thought they would suffer so in the United States.
General Musharraf, after his trip to the United States, said that Pakistanis here are perfectly safe. It is Pakistans political legacy that the leaders of the countrywhether soldiers or civiliansself-interestedly mislead the people.
For the first time Pakistani community has appeared in the headlines, but in such unfortunate ways. When the United States attacked Afghanistan, the protests on the streets in neighboring Pakistan became the face of extremism in the U.S. media. Nobody bothered to report how many Pakistanis were in those protests. Most of the protestors were Afghan, as three million of them have found refuge in Pakistan since the last Afghan war.
The gruesome murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl again made all Pakistanis seem anti-American in the mainstream presss message. In the news, the Daniel Pearl murder was followed by an attack on the church in Islamabad in which two U.S citizens died.
Pakistan is a nation of 140 million people, a handful of whom performed such terrible deeds.
Blame should be placed correctly. Charged with the murder of Daniel Pearl is Sheikh Omar and his organization, The Army of Muhammad. Sheikh Omar was freed from an Indian jail in 1999, in exchange for hostages taken in a hijacking of an Indian plane. Why did the government of Pakistan allow Omar to live in Pakistan and allow his organization to continue?
It is well known that the Pakistani Armys interests and those of the militants are wedded to similar goals: for example, the Kashmir cause. This is true even in these times. General Musharraf, in some of his statements, has indicated as much. On one hand General Musharraf shows his liberal credentials to the Americans. On the other, he makes stirring statements about Kashmir that could well come from the mouth of a militant.
Today President Bush lauds General Musharrafs government, but his opinion of ordinary Pakistanis is very low, as can be seen from his reaction to the incident of four missing Pakistani sailors in Virginia.
Nineteen of the 27 sailors were Pakistani. Four of them have disappeared. The fact that the sailors were given permission to land though they did not possess visas created a furor. President Bush himself ordered their arrests. The FBI, the CIA and Interpol are all involved. None of the four has any links to a terrorist organization. They are of four of the hundreds of thousands of poor Pakistanis who dream of a better life and come to the United States through legal or illegal means. With the U.S. president sounding tough and the law enforcement agencies acting tough, its no surprise the media shows no compassion in their reporting on this story.