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The Big Picture: Wealth without Vision
By Mowahid Hussain Shah

The 21st century thus far is reminiscent of the 1930s prelude to World War II. The 1930s 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 1930s – a time of unique unrest, turmoil, and transition – also was a time when, it was said, the sun never set 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, or Palestine. 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 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.