Peace, Not Prejudice
By Riaz Haq
www.pakalumni.com

The cover of the Oct 29, 2007 issue of Newsweek has a picture of bearded, young, angry Pakistanis with their fists punching the air. The caption says: The Most Dangerous Nation in the World Isn't Iraq. It's Pakistan.
The crux of the argument it offers is captured in a quote from Bruce Riedel, former senior director for South Asia on the US National Security Council. Here's the quote: "If you were to look for where Al Qaeda is going to find its bomb, it's right in their backyard- in Pakistan."
Needless to say that our greatest threats come from within our own Pakistani society, but we also face potential threats of preemptive action from the international community, including our neighbors such as China and India, fearing for their own security.
This Newsweek story, in my view, represents only the tip of the iceberg of growing concern in the West and our own neighborhood about developments in Pakistan. While we may argue about the content and presentation of the Newsweek story, we must acknowledge that perceptions do matter. So it's in our best interest to pay attention and do our part to stem the rising tide of religious fanaticism as manifested by the scourge of suicide bombings killing large numbers of our fellow Muslim Pakistanis.
While discussing this Newsweek story about Pakistan with my daughter Michelle who is a sophomore at UC Berkeley and a member of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) on campus, I explained to her my feelings about Newsweek's bias and some of the predictable negative reactions by my friends. In response, she told me about what happened at UC Berkeley last week where an anti-Muslim group was having "Islamo-Fascist Week" and how MSA responded to it.
Initially, when the MSA members met to discuss how to respond, there were a few angry voices demanding a confrontational approach by disrupting the activities of "Islamo-Fascists Week" organizers. Fortunately, however, the saner elements prevailed and MSA decided to respond by organizing "Peace, Not Prejudice" week on campus. "Peace, Not Prejudice" was joined by 30 other student groups and turned out to be a great success.
The "Peace, Not Prejudice" coalition success completely overshadowed the "Islamo-Fascist Week" organizers. Even the UC Berkeley chancellor Robert Birgeneau threw his support behind the MSA sponsored events.
What the Berkeley MSA did offers a lesson for all of us about effective alternative approaches to dealing with hostility toward Muslims and Islam.
(Riaz Haq is the Founder and President of PakAlumni Worldwide (www.pakalumni.com) , a Facebook-like social network especially designed to serve the Pakistani diaspora around the world)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
© 2004 pakistanlink.com . All Rights Reserved.