The
Big Picture: Wealth without Vision
The 21st century
thus far is reminiscent of the 1930’s
prelude to World War II. The 1930’s
was an era of depression and of colonial
hegemony. Few knew what lay around the
corner. Fascism was on the rise and
Stalinist totalitarianism was firmly
entrenched. Hitler challenged the post-World
War I order. The Treaty of Versailles
– intended to defang and castrate
German military might – in fact
laid the foundation for German revanchism
and World War II. The Jews in Germany
were caught flat-footed by the advent
of Nazism and thus were unprepared to
deal with its consequences.
The 1930’s – a time of unique
unrest, turmoil, and transition –
also was a time when, it was said, the
sun never sets on the British Empire.
The Pakistan Movement was still in its
nascent stage and yet to be formally
launched. There was already, however,
an aura of foreboding menace and a whiff
of a slow motion shattering of the status
quo.
Today, in the 21st century, the world
again is caught in a global web of turmoil.
Force is seen as the solution by occupiers
whether in Kashmir, Chechnya, Palestine
or Iraq. Yet, while all these lands
have been occupied, their peoples have
not been subdued. Paradoxically, those
advocating the use of force to quell
global Muslim unrest have unintentionally
become recruitment officers for zealotry.
Instead of pacifying populations, the
use of force is inflaming them and also
angering bystanders.
A recent segment of “Jaiza”,
hosted by Omar Khan and aired on Geo
TV-USA, featured a Japanese-American
who was interned in a camp in World
War II, a documentary film-maker, as
well as Muslims caught up in the aftermath
of 9/11. The guests imparted a common
message aimed primarily at the youth:
don’t sit passively; prepare yourself
and fight for your rights.
Americans in the United States of Japanese
heritage considered themselves patriotic
Americans and consequently were stunned
when, in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor,
they were treated as enemies within
and herded into concentration camps
where they would be interned, without
charge, for several years. That happened
in 1942.
In 2004, Michelle Malkin, a Washington
Times columnist, released her new book,
“In Defense of Internment: The
Case for ‘Racial Profiling’
in World War II and the War on Terror”,
in which she advocates systemic and
extensive discrimination against Muslim
Americans and argues that mass internments
of US citizens in the past and in the
future can be justified on grounds of
military necessity.
To date, the moneyed Muslim elites and
the Arab establishment have pursued
wealth without vision. They either will
not or cannot see the big picture. The
challenges today await a serious and
sustained response from both state and
society. It is incumbent upon all, but
especially upon the youth, to take up
the cudgels, not only to acquire knowledge
and the basic skills to be competitive
in a globalized world, but also to become
articulate and persuasive voices for
the Muslim point of view.
Things will not get better automatically
unless they are exhorted for to be made
better. The existing pattern of using
force to subjugate Muslim aspirations
is bound to continue unless there is
an effective riposte to it.
History sometimes repeats itself but
not if the lessons from the past are
heeded.
