The attack at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster has once again underlined the perils of dealing jihad with kid gloves. The real cause of terror, radical Islam, is rarely mentioned; the link between violence and Islamic beliefs is seldom pointed out; and any attempt to monitor suspicious persons is construed by the liberal establishment as racial profiling, racism, etc.
So, it is not surprising that the British-born assailant, Khalid Masood (52), was convicted several times earlier. Further, UK Prime Minister Theresa May told the House of Commons, “The man was British-born and, some years ago, was once investigated by MI5 in relation to concerns of violent extremism. He was a peripheral figure. His case was historic. He was not part of the current intelligence picture.”
In other words, the guy was not only a felon but his links with Islamic terror were also known. Evidently, he “was not part of the current intelligence picture” because this could have led to a barrage of criticism that the security agencies suffer from Islamophobia—the most dangerous term that the apologists for Islamism have coined. It can be thrown at anybody and anything—at terrorism experts, cops and soldiers combating jihad, scholarly works on Islam, et al.
Consequently, meaningful discussion and useful observations are frowned upon, while platitudes are welcomed. Thus, May said, “An act of terrorism tried to silence our democracy. We are not afraid and our resolve will never waver in the face of terrorism.”
In a similar vein, UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd said: “The British people will be united in working together to defeat those who would harm our shared values. Values of democracy, tolerance, and the rule of law. Values symbolized by the Houses of Parliament. Values that will never be destroyed.”
Is she talking about all British people? The natives, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, atheists, agnostics, and… Muslims? Values “shared” by all? An April 2016 ICM face-to-face survey of over 1,000 British Muslims found that over half of them want homosexuality to be criminalized, about a quarter favor the implementation of Sharia in some areas of Britain, around a third support polygamy, and a majority of said they would personally intervene rather than report ISIS activities to the authorities.
More frighteningly, 4 per cent of them supported suicide bombings and other acts of terror. Now, 4 per cent Muslim in Britain are over 100,000 people. It may be recalled that it took just 19 terrorists to carry out the September 11 attacks in the US that killed about 3,000 people and 10 jihadists to wreak havoc in Mumbai in November 2008 that led to the death of 166 people.
Against this backdrop, it is not surprising that the ISIS continues to attract Muslims in Britain, and elsewhere, to its cause. “The perpetrator of yesterday’s attack in front of the British parliament was a soldier of the Islamic State and the operation was carried out in response to calls to target coalition countries,” said Amaq. Amaq, according to the New York Times, is the ISIS’ “unacknowledged wire service.”
Politicians and intellectuals will soon come up with such fairytales as ‘Islam is the religion of peace’ and ‘no religion preaches violence,’ but what they need to do is answer a few questions: Why is it that of the various religious communities in the UK and elsewhere, it is only Muslims who indulge in terroristic activities? If there are racism and religious bigotry in the UK, France, Germany, the US, etc., why don’t Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists also complain about it? If Muslims are so keen to live under Sharia laws, why don’t they emigrate to Saudi Arabia and other orthodox Islamic nations? Why do they go to Europe and the US in the first place? They want Sharia and burqa in non-Muslim countries, but would they allow homosexuality and other un-Islamic activities in Muslim countries? Muslims also need to answer these questions.
The establishment needs to do more than giving the right answers; it also has to start working on the right answers.
Photo courtesy: www.abc.net.au