Living in the twenty first century, even the deep rooted conventionalists would understand that it is high time for racism to end. Religious intolerance, discrimination and chauvinism have to go because the world has changed now. We are no longer separated by the traditional lines; it’s an age of intermingling, acceptance, flexibility and tolerance. The only way to prosperity and survival is this… but does everyone believe that?
The United Kingdom is a country with a heritage that is competed by only a few when it comes to its deeper roots, complexity and vastness. Yes, there were times when religion, caste, creed and color decided what treatment a person would get –times that are supposed to be long gone by now. The point to ponder is; if the aforementioned is true, why do we get incidents that make us rethink?
Looking only at the most recent incidents, we can clearly see that prejudiced elements still exist even in countries like the UK. We can say that endemic racism still exists; when we are told that writers like Peter Hitchens of The Mail still found the need to warn people how the ‘real Islamist threat to Britain comes from mass immigration and multiculturalism’ –something that happened only a month ago. Looking at things a little more closely, we see that such rhetoric and apparently vindicated form of racism against Muslims at the hands of Christians has become a norm. Every now and then, we would see an anchor using a random subjective matter of a certain Muslim to depict the whole class. Not too far from that, we would see people vandalizing mosques, drawing caricatures where Muslims would note, planting burning crosses on newly moved in Muslim family’s doorstep and so on.
The situation does look aggravated beyond limits; it seems as if we are heading towards an ultimate clash of races that would end in total or at least irreparable destruction! But there always is hope. No matter how some of us have gone the farthest from each other, there are always minds that think of hope and betterment, and then there always are hearts that strive for it. Only a few months ago, the Muslim community of Blackburn teamed up to collect donations so that the poor could be fed –without discriminating between Christians, Jews or Muslims. Their spokesperson was of the opinion that this is how they have decided to react to the post 7/7 Islamophobic sentiments and anti-Muslim bigotry. Just like hatred plays its part, love does so to; Sarfaraz Manzoor, a writer for The Guardian married Bridget and believes that their daughter Laila is a living proof that Muslims and non-Muslims can live together in harmony.
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