Muslims feel like Jews of Europe – UK Minister
What an alamring statement coming from a Minister in the UK.
LAHORE: Britain’s first Muslim minister has attacked the growing culture of hostility against Muslims in the UK, saying that many feel targeted like “the Jews of Europe”, The Independent reported on Friday.
Shahid Malik, who was appointed as a minister in the Department for International Development by Prime Minister Gordon Brown last summer, said it has become legitimate to target Muslims in the media and society at large in a way that would be unacceptable for any other minority, according to the British newspaper.
Malik made clear that he was not equating the situation with the Holocaust but warned that many British Muslims now felt like “aliens in their own country”. He said he himself had been the target of a string of racist incidents.
The MP said the negative portrayal of Muslims in the media was a key example of how his co-religionists were being alienated from the mainstream.
He said, “It’s almost as if you don’t have to check your facts when it comes to certain people, and you can just run with those stories.” daily times monitor
I know all about racism. I also know about feeling like an alien in what is supposed to be my own country. In fact, I am aware of the possibility of facing ridicule on account of my religious faith every time I step out of home. I am a practising Sikh.
Don’t you sometimes wish that we didn’t carry any outward manifestations of our faiths/nationalities/ethnicities… pretty much like an anonymous blogger. We’d be recognized for what we actually do! The world would be a fairer and thus a happier place!
@Sidhusaaheb
Your situation is quite worrisome. I guess, Pashtoons of Pakistan might be able to relate to your situation to some extent.
However, trust me, to be a muslim and live in a western country all alone is a lot more difficult than what you are caught into.
@IMeMy
What we actually do is (and/or should be) a manifestation of what we believe in and/or what we claim to believe in. That being said, generalizations on the basis of one’s religious, cultural and racial backgrounds are not right.
Shahid Malik’s unusual comparison of muslims to jews is not out of place; especially for those Muslims who live in the west and have to face directly every sort of dirt thrown on them every single day of their lives. However, thanks to certain common muslims, their violent nature and their actions do not win respect for Islam and its followers either.
The pity is that westerners equate being Muslim with Islam. KKK doesn’t mean every American is a terrorist. Nor does IRA proves every Irish is a killer.
“Nor does IRA proves every Irish is a killer.”
IRA are not terrorists. The real killer is the British government who continues to occupy northern Ireland.