November 30 , 2012
Me and We
A message that is more “Me” than “We” shall not have the broader appeal of a winning message.
This is the realization that has crept up in the aftermath of Obama’s win over Romney, which showed the limits of a narrow xenophobic theme.
Exempting any entity, group, or individual from critical scrutiny invites big trouble. The downfall of the media-darling General David Petraeus exemplifies the pitfalls of overdoing imagery.
The foregoing is equally applicable on the foreign policy front. The carnage at Gaza once again drives home the message that the core-underlying crisis of the Middle East is neither Iraq nor Iran. It is the deep-rooted Palestinian disinheritance, which remains unresolved because of the free pass Israel has.
Recently, I addressed a well-informed delegation of visiting Pakistani officials, most of whom had formed an otherwise positive impression of the United States. They were, however, struck by the uniformity and one-sidedness of the official US stance on Israel, which they found hard to reconcile with the basic democratic principles of diversity of opinion.
The other day, I attended the first-ever Congressional briefing on the use of drones, hosted by Congressman Dennis Kucinich, at Washington’s Capitol Hill – seat of the US Congress. Kucinich has written a letter to Obama appending the signatures of 25 fellow Congressmen in which the drone attacks were slammed for having “virtually no transparency, accountability, or oversight”, and further depicting them as “ambassadors of death.”
The briefing detailed the harrowing consequences of drone attacks, which have inflicted mayhem on civilian lives and social fabric, with all its counter-productive outcomes. The US Congress was reminded to play its constitutional counter-balancing oversight role, which thus far it has not. Kucinich asked how Americans would feel if China were to violate US airspace and launch drone strikes on American territory.
Islamabad’s posture is queer. It consents and dissents at the same time. Nations that don’t set their internal house in order invite intrusive encroachment and micro-management by outside powers.
Missing from the American conversation is a visible, coherent, and effective counter-voice. Can a resurgent Muslim voice crystallize with clarity, without calamity being first thrust upon the community?
The inclusion of minorities and instilling in them a sense of belonging makes a society more stable and more participatory. Britain, for example, has more or less accepted that it is a multi-cultural, pluralist society and that has bolstered the participation of Muslims in British mainstream society. The unveiling of a bronze statue earlier this month of Noor Inayat Khan – a World War II heroine and kin of Tipu Sultan – by Princess Anne in London is a case in point.
There are other positive examples, too: of Nasser Hussain becoming cricket captain of England, of Michael Nazir-Ali nearly becoming the Archbishop of Canterbury, of Sayeeda Warsi becoming the co-chairperson of the Conservative Party, of Muslims becoming BBC anchors, of hit British movies inspired by the Pakistani immigrant experience, such as “East is East” and “West is West,” and of Prince Charles’ open acknowledgement of the debt the West owes to Muslim civilization.
In the fight for fairness, the main challenge is not to succumb to defeatism.
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