tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post819363343952503592..comments2024-03-27T15:36:44.737-07:00Comments on Haq's Musings: Will Obama Deliver Change?Riaz Haqhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-28203433338344060602008-07-19T09:26:00.000-07:002008-07-19T09:26:00.000-07:00Nasser, the Shah of Iran and Arafat were nationali...Nasser, the Shah of Iran and Arafat were nationalists. Unfortunately for their people, they were also autocratic, corrupt and incompetent. Their bad governance created opportunities for Islamists who were free to use the mosques while other legitimate, secular political opposition was suppressed. When these leaders left, they left vacuum or chaos behind which was filled by the resurgent Islamists. The US partiality to dictators in Middlle East has been part of the problem that prevented genuine secular, democratic forces from gaining strength. And the blind, unqualified US support of Israel has helped push many Muslims into the arms of the merchants of hate in the Arab and Muslim world. So there are many factors. But, you are right, the bottom line is that Muslim nations have been cursed with leaders from hell. And these leaders emerged from the population after the colonial rulers left them to their own devices.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-62051079889581569232008-07-18T20:00:00.000-07:002008-07-18T20:00:00.000-07:00This domination of one identity over the other is ...This domination of one identity over the other is very interestingly point and is comprehensively broken down and analyzed in Amartya Sen's "Identity and Violence". I think the Jews are the most successful in turning the collective sense of persecution and channelize it in a positive way and rewarded judiciously by those efforts with their "Never Again" spirit.In case of Muslims, I think the wrong people took the role of torchbearers in different points of time(in modern times) like Nasser,Arafat,Nasrallah etc all with selfish political objectives. This is the most telling aspect, in his interview Samir Kuntar said he want to be known as the "amazing arab".I deduce that then this is a leadership problem, there is no honest popular leader catering to this dominant identity of "Muslims". On top of it there are viral concepts like Wahhabism infecting places like Kashmir,Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Thailand,Indonesia(which hitherto had their own tolerant islam) etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-57348018777949395062008-07-18T10:12:00.000-07:002008-07-18T10:12:00.000-07:00Each one of us has more than one identities: natio...Each one of us has more than one identities: nationality, ethnicity, religion, race, gender etc. Depending on the individual, one of these identities becomes dominant in their lives. So, if some commentators choose to emphasize their Muslim identity, I have no quarrel with that. But it still does not make all Muslims a uniform monolith. They still retain their other identities alongside their religious identity. Only when a certain people begin to be persecuted because of one or more of their identities that it becomes important in the eyes of the world. History is full of examples: Black persecution in America, Muslim persecution in Bosnia, Jewish persecution in Europe etc etc. Unfortunately, Muslims find themselves a target of hate in many parts of the world today because of the actions a few misguided co-religionists. In fact, Muslims themselves are the biggest victims of these fanatics amongst them, who have killed far more of their own co-religionists than people of other regions/nationalities. So, most Muslims see these fanatics as a problem that must be dealt with seriously.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-3457494196471029422008-07-18T09:15:00.000-07:002008-07-18T09:15:00.000-07:00First of all about my understanding of the muslims...First of all about my understanding of the muslims,two of the female muslim friends i have are the ones i admire and respect becoz of their unbelievable integrity and sincerity(i wouldnt like 2 mention about the guys & spoil the post) though religion is a detail that seldom affects our contacts.<BR/><BR/>I mentioned Saudi Arabia and Malaysia deliberately since both are very racists, though Malaysia have a facade of modernity but follows 'bhumiputra'<BR/>policies and aggressive with sentiments of ethnic minorities.Saudi Kingdom is the epitome of stone age and barbaric behavior who happens to ban slavery as late as 1962.<BR/><BR/>As to where i picked up "muslim sentiment" is to why "muslim" commentators use muslim as a homogeneous category when there is no such category in practice. Of course there is so much artificial political inventions like islamic charities(that only cares abt tsunami& earthquake effected "muslim" regions),islamic countries,islamic terrorists. I think the main problem with "muslims" is they think islam as a culture rather than religion. There is pasthun culture,Bengali culture,Punjabi,Sindhi culture,Indonesian culture,Malaysian culture but i dont believe there is an islamic culture pervading all these dissimilar countries. Becoz for a culture some sort of homogeneity in language,way of life etc.<BR/> just my thoughts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-74402213912592776172008-07-18T07:29:00.000-07:002008-07-18T07:29:00.000-07:00I am not sure where you picked up "Islamic sentime...I am not sure where you picked up "Islamic sentiments" and in what context. I do know that there is Muslim vote in America, just like Jewish vote and Christian vote. Although Muslim vote usually gets ignored in US politics, it could become the deciding factor in some battleground states such as Michigan, Florida and Ohio, where winner takes all even if he/she gets 1 more vote than the other candidate.<BR/><BR/>On Sen Obama, I agree that he is a wild card, although he has a lot of people, including American Muslims, excited by his message of change after 8 disastrous years under Bush.<BR/><BR/>When you mention "child-killer" reception and Saudi Arabia and Malaysia in the same breath, your are assuming that over a billion Muslims from all parts of the world are a monolith with identical views on all issues. This is painting a fifth of humanity with single broad-brush. You need to learn more about the Muslim world before making such broad generalizations. <BR/><BR/>On Palestinians, I am sure you would give a damn and not call it an "ego problem" if you were on the receiving end of the daily torture of occupation, checkpoints, closures and humiliation after most of your land had been usurped from you.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-18915344938512635922008-07-18T02:54:00.000-07:002008-07-18T02:54:00.000-07:00I don't know what "Islamic sentiments" means! Sen....I don't know what "Islamic sentiments" means! Sen. Obama surely did some flip-flops and only time will tell how he performs since he is a wild card. I think the initial promises made by Obama could be his attempt at "product differentiation" as against the mighty Sen.Hillary to throw her off balance. But now as a candidate he will give more ear to strategic analysts than the "street" which always is emotive on issues. Its a good sign if that is the case, becoz USA though imperfect is the best available world policemen and don't have the luxury of mistakes. I think so called "Islamic sentiments"(relating more to Islamic than a human being sharing earth) would be side-lined more and more in Western World after people see sights like grand reception for "child-killer" in Lebanon.The main problem is credibility - because the main torch bearers of "Islamic sentiments" like Saudi regime and Malaysia regime are unbelievably racists and contempt for human rights are well known. So Tony Blair's "peace loving religion" cliche speeches will be the norm, since everyone know the ground rules. Plz admit it nobody gives a damn for Palestinians, its an ego problem and its about anti-Israel than a humanitarian sentiment.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com