Another victory for the forces of bigotry

By Shaukat Qadir(writer is a retired brigadier and a former president of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute)

On July 22, Anders Behrin Breivik, a blond blue-eyed Norwegian and a Christian, suddenly went berserk and began indiscriminately shooting people at a campsite in Oslo, killing 76. A moment’s silence, please, let us share the sorrow of their families.

The perpetrator was caught red-handed and confessed, yet in Norway, there was total disbelief. This could not have been one of their own; such an act in Oslo; not by a Christian? There had to be a Muslim connection! Sounds familiar? Yes, for years we, in Pakistan continued to delude ourselves too. Muslims don’t kill Muslims! There had to be an Indian, or Israeli, or CIA connection! But whether there was a connection or not, Pakistanis Muslims continue killing their brother, sisters and children.

In Oslo, there was a Muslim connection. Breivik says that he was enraged by the thought that Muslims were beginning to occupy Norway! But who did he kill? And I am not going to dwell on whether he was part of an organisation called ‘The Army of God’, and there is also considerable speculation and some evidence to indicate that he may not have been alone. Why did he target this camp and these Norwegians?

He alone knows the real reason or, if he was part of a group, other members might know. Based on media reports, I can merely speculate and, considering that Breivik was a victim of Islamophobia, the reason has to be connected to Islam. Apparently, the Norwegian foreign minister visited this particular camp the day before the tragic killing spree and was greeted with an unapologetic call for the rights of Palestinians with placards reading ‘Boycott Israel’! Could that have caused him to target the Utoeya Labour Youth Camp?

Doesn’t that sound familiar? Try crying out for the rights of Ahmadis, or Hindu or Christian minorities, or against the laws on blasphemy in Pakistani streets and join Salmaan Taseer!

Ironically, within hours of the incident, The New York Times (NYT) published an online report quoting an unnamed analyst, saying that an unknown Islamic organization, Ansaar-al-Jihad-al-Aalami, had claimed responsibility! It turned out that someone, using a false name had posted an argument on a website which translated to ‘This was Allah’s punishment for the evil that the west is doing in Libya and Afghanistan’!

Accusations of the NYT again acting on CIA’s instructions to stoke anti-Muslim rage in Europe ran rife and the online report by the NYT quietly disappeared! A well-known American radio show host, Alex Jones, is already referring to the Oslo incident as a “flag terror attack” intended to incite Islamophobia in Europe. Directly or indirectly, innocent Norwegian citizens; men, women, and children have died because of Islam. Breivik hated Muslims and killed innocent Norwegians (if my earlier speculation is correct), for supporting the cause of oppressed Muslims.

What will this lead to?

There will be some ‘rednecks’ for whom this will be enough to further stoke Islamophobia. This line of thinking goes something like this: If Muslims weren’t such evil beings, guilty of such crimes, no poor Christian Norwegian soul would have hated them so much as to kill these innocents.

For others, more reasonable people, it will be a clear signal not to support any cause relating to the oppression of Muslims.

Doubtless, there will be thousands of courageous Norwegians who will be even more determined to support the oppressed; any oppressed, irrespective of religion, colour, caste, or creed, but they are bound to be in a minority.

Whether or not it was a conspiracy, as Alex Jones thinks it is, the end result is inevitable. The ultimate global victors are forces of bigotry and obscurantism; those who cannot help spewing hate.

There can be no peace in the world so long as hate continues to thrive and this tragedy in Norway cannot but cultivate increasing hate.

Source: Another Victory