Intolerance without boundaries

Intolerance does not have a religion; it is a state of mind and conduct existing in all countries and societies in different degrees. It is also a basic inhuman trait easily adopted by humans. Intolerance is supposed to be part of an extremist mindset. An extremist mindset has supposedly become attributed to religious refuge. Religious refuge has become attributed to Islamic radicalism. These suppositions are ill founded as no religion teaches intolerance. Preachers of religion sometimes preach intolerance and extremism. Preachers of this kind exist in all religions. The question then is why Islam has become the bane of all extremism? The answer to this question needs soul searching and social researching.

While Islamic radicalism has become the buzzword in western circles as stated repetitively by US and French Presidents, Islamophobia has become a word that needs more Islamic leadership backing to counter the narrow interpretation of intolerance. Phobia is psychological disorder. It is explained in the dictionary as an inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation. It may be hard for the afflicted to sufficiently determine or communicate the source of this fear, but it exists.

The continuous provocation of sacred Islamic personalities or the holy book is evidence of the western radicalism but it is not termed as that while any violent incident happening is investigated with the bias that it may be an Islamic zealot. The latest incident is an evidence of that. Lars Thorsen, a leader of an anti-Islam group, set fire to a copy of the holy Quran, while another leader of the far-right group Arne Tumyr desecrated two other copies of the holy book by throwing them into a trash bin during a demonstration organized by their organization. This is a clear evidence of Western extremism but nobody dare call it so.

Islamophobia is now being accepted, albeit reluctantly, as a reality. It is described as an exaggerated fear, hatred, and hostility toward Islam and Muslims that is perpetuated by negative stereotypes resulting in bias, discrimination, and the marginalization and exclusion of Muslims from social, political, and civic life. The objection that Muslims have against this treatment is not that radicalism does not exist but on its sweeping generalization by the west and consequently the exclusion of Muslims as the major violence creators in the world. Add to that, similar violent incidents conducted by non-Muslims are just dismissed as acts of insanity. Most studies prove this bias. 52% of Americans and 48% of Canadians say the West does not respect Muslim societies. Smaller percentages of Italian, French, German, and British respondents agree. According to "Fear, Inc.," a report by the Center for American Progress, a network of misinformation experts actively promotes Islamophobia in America.

Islamophobia is a deliberate media narrative established by the mainstream media of the west. Playing with photographs and figures they present such a horrifying picture with sweeping generalizations that the images penetrate almost every mind to form the perception. For example, Time magazine published a photograph where Muslim soldiers were shown offering prayers while carrying guns. The caption of the picture was, "Guns and prayer go together in the fundamentalist battle". This half-truth is a deliberate deception as it did not clarify that those soldiers were praying on a battlefield in Afghanistan while on war.

Thus the western media through their global reach spread fear and hatred by:

1. Splashing tabloid politics - Bearded men and veiled women have been made villains. All pictures on newspapers and social media show these gun-trotting men with long beards with blood-stained hands. While this image is rampant this segment is a tiny minority of the 1.6 billion Muslim population. What about gun-trotting violence being carried out in schools and universities in the US quite frequently. This month alone two shootings have happened resulting in deaths of scores of young students.

2. Half-Baked Figures - Every think-tank in the US will be hiring scores of Asian and Western scholars to do research on violence and extremism in Pakistan and its root causes. These figures may be correct. As a five-year analysis showed that over 5,000 people had died in violence-related incidents in Pakistan. What they do not show is that in the US at the same time, over 50,000 people died due to gun violence. Also, most surveys show that religious extremism has risen much faster in India than in Pakistan in the last five years but the perception is contrary.

3. Varying Standards - Freedom of expression right is wrongly used. Disrespecting holy figures is considered freedom of expression while curbing the right to wear head-gear is not freedom of choice. The Niqab ban in France has totally exposed the Western double standards and is creating a reaction in Muslim countries that sometimes results in uncontrollable consequences.

The solution for reducing Islamophobia and improving perception of Pakistan in particular and Muslims in general is:

1. Have a Counter Narrative - Seeing is believing. The West has made sure that only what they show gets seen. That they do through building up global media penetration. The purported joint Pakistan, Malaysia and Turkey television is a good start. However, penetration in main Western media through representatives like Mehdi Hassan and other strong Muslim narrative builders is a must.

2. Highlight the Complete Truth - Research sponsored by Qatar Foundation and other Islamic foundations needs to be extensively carried out and massively dispersed on social media on the growing violence in India, and the Western countries.

3. Creating Western Ambassadors - People in the West love coming to places like Pakistan and then talk about how different it is from what they see on the media. The Joint media products of Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia need to identify Western role models who could act as sponsors of the more moderate and progressive image of women, Islam and the Muslim world. These ambassadors will be covered by Western media like CNN and BBC to give credence to the narrative of changing perception.

While social media has provided voice to the voiceless it has also provided an opportunity for those who have a voice to plant fake voices. Thus the imagery presented in the media on Muslim societies about women, etc., may have truth in it but it does not represent the whole picture. It is the job of the Muslim world and countries like Turkey, Malaysia and Pakistan to start sifting through these images and create counter images. This needs unity of thought and action. If the US and the UK have achieved complete image changes in the last few decades though a united Europe and the US policy, it is about the Muslim world competed in this psychological game of mindshare.

(The writer can be reached at [email protected])