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)
