November 21 , 2008
Now That Barack Is President
It does feel wonderful to have voted for the winner. And, more so, to be witness to history for so many reasons. And yet I was not a fan all along; it was an on-again, off-again relationship. The vision, the oratory and the galvanizing of the common man were initial great draws. To the point that I stood in line for hours and was thrilled to be able to see a man who draws rock-star crowds.
And then the jabs against Pakistan began in every speech, one echoing the other, eroding my enthusiasm steadily.
I even went through the phase of wanting to vote independent; impressed by the in-depth understanding of Ron Paul and the economic prowess of Ralph Nader. That was ephemeral. There is a draw to Barack Obama; his elegant dignity, his simple oratory and despite the worst of provocations, his unshakeable patience, almost reminiscent, believe me, of Job.
And yet every time he would say that he would get forces out of Iraq and place them in Afghanistan … and Pakistan. And this would invariably grate on my ears. At least six months ago after a political program in Toledo, Ohio I took it upon myself to speak to Ohio super-delegate Jim Zogby, also an adviser to Obama that this attitude toward Pakistan would be very alienating to Pakistani-Americans. He promised to convey it to Obama.
About a month ago Ohio governor Ted Strickland came to Toledo Ohio for a fundraising among Muslim Democrats. I persuaded him to do what I had said to Zogby, reminding him of the political and financial power of Pakistani-American physicians in particular. Gov. Strickland’s primary question was about the new government in Pakistan. “We must rise above personalities, and America must promote the democratic process in Pakistan”,
I told Gov. Strickland. It is easy to manipulate dictatorships, something America has always loved, and it is much more difficult to persuade entire parliaments. Gov. Strickland promised to convey my thoughts to Sen. Obama, especially about his hackneyed tirade against Pakistan.
Two weeks thereafter was the second debate between Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama. It was a town-hall style meeting and one of the questioners was a woman who asked about Pakistan and its sovereignty and the attacks of the US on Pakistan. Sen. McCain gave a very hypocritical response, saying one should speak with a soft voice but carry a big stick. Sen. Obama said that he recognized the sovereignty of Pakistan as well as its efforts towards terrorism and he would only allow the US to go into Pakistan if Osama bin Laden was sighted there and the Pakistan government was unable or unwilling to go after him. This appeared to be quite a different response to the hackneyed one.
Whether it was my missive or chance that caused that change is unknown and yet it was his plan-change that caused my inner change and vote for him.
Sen. Obama’s campaign was more in touch with the common person. The campaign did not get its multi-millions from big corporate giants but from the $5 and $20 contributions from the common man. This was very endearing. For invariably in American politics the hand that feeds keeps the candidate forever beholden. Very obviously the election of Obama and the potential for the consequent empowerment of blacks and minorities is essentially limitless.
For political expediency and to the chagrin of Muslims, Obama distanced himself from us. The McCain campaign used and misused Obama’s middle name, Hussein, again and again. And yet it appears that most Muslim-Americans voted for Obama, for the economy and the misdirection of the nation are of much greater concern than Obama’s benign ignorance of us.
It is certainly the dawn of a very different era for the world. As Pakistani television networks report it, I notice that the newscasters and commentators are unable to pronounce Senator Obama’s first name properly. I quickly realized that the reason this is so is because it is misspelled in Urdu. Barack is from “burraaq” the winged creature that carried Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to the heavens, or from “baraka” which means blessing. Either way, it is pronounced ba-raak and not baaraak (the incorrect spelling is bey-alif-rey-alif-kaf. The correct spelling in Urdu would be bey-rey-alif-kaaf)
Why are our networks calling him Barack Hussein, instead of Barack Obama? What subliminal massage to our wounded souls is this? What kind of distorted hope does this harbor? To all his Republican detractors and perhaps now to all his hopeful Muslims, Obama has said that he is a “brother in Christ”.
Instead of being obsequious and awarding Sen. Biden and Sen. Lugar Sitara-e-Imtiaz, we should have the most basic of manners and pronounce someone’s name correctly. Especially when he is the leader of the one country we always look to for everything. And while practicing the pronunciation, let us dispense with our religious delusions.
(Dr. Mahjabeen Islam is a physician and freelance columnist residing in Toledo Ohio . Her email is mahjabeenislam@hotmail.com)
