Mystified Justice

President Obama delivered his long promised address to the Muslim world today in Cairo. While many are still skeptic over Egypt as the venue for the address , the speech had much more that needs to be talked about.  Throughout the Islamic world despite cultural, political and sectarian diversity there is a unanimous consensus on ending the clash of east-west. It is actually much more about the western ‘policies’ with respect to Muslims . According to an NYT article the initial reactions before the speech didn’t reflect much hope .Obama’s speech started off carrying the same gesture he had promised ‘reconciliation’ :

I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: assalaamu alaykum. *Crowd cheers*.
* Now for the real deal*

We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world – tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate. The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of co-existence and cooperation, but also conflict and religious wars.

It’s interesting to see the term ‘religious wars’  which precisely just directs towards ‘Jihad’ and ultimately Al-Qaeda and its incentive.

More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations. Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam.

The acknowledgment in itself is something we need to keep strong and steady . Again it is the western policies that are viewed hostile and not necessarily the west. We are all aware about the massive number of protests carried out in America by Americans against the Iraq war. Its very important therefore to lay emphasis on the ‘foreign policy’ instead of generalizing it to the ‘west’. He then talked about the post 9/11 scenario triggering hostile feeling from the Americans and the rest of the world regarding Islam. The violent exploitation  by a group of people that has bred mistrust and a view of Islam being ‘inevitably hostile‘. An outraged reaction immediately after 9/11 was natural but we must acknowledge that it was abrogated just as immediately. By the  time Bush was panning to attack Iraq most of the west wasn’t supportive and wasn’t Anti-Islam. Quite interestingly post Iraq war sympathies and understanding towards Islam and Muslim increased even more in the west. Its interesting that most of the people didn’t even have an idea about Islamic teachings pre 9/11 as compared to now where almost everyone acknowledges Islamic beliefs. President Obama laid strong emphasis on compatibility between Islam and the west and its importance in the world today. Trying to shed the hostility and skepticism held by Muslims against the west . A reference of his and his families religious orientation was a smart choice making the address on a more personal level.

Talking on the religious aspects one cant deny that Obama’s speech did have the  rare compassion towards Islam, but the question remains is that enough?. Uttering a few gesture in Arabic and providing Quranic verses in advocating only shows a brief understanding of the principles of Islam. However that’s what  America wanted us to believe even in Bush’s era, that the war on terror isn’t against Islam. The only difference here is the ‘comfort’ level President Obama shares by showing an understanding of Islamic teachings. Throughout the speech the President continued to quote various versus making an inter faith dialogue between the three major beliefs.  Showing great respect and understanding of the religious beliefs with respect to peace,hijab,and inter faith compatibility.

Photo Courtesy: Getty Images

On addressing the post 9/11 scenario the president said :
I am aware that some question or justify the events of 9/11. But let us be clear: al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 people on that day. The victims were innocent men, women and children from America and many other nations who had done nothing to harm anybody. And yet Al Qaeda chose to ruthlessly murder these people, claimed credit for the attack, and even now states their determination to kill on a massive scale. They have affiliates in many countries and are trying to expand their reach. These are not opinions to be debated; these are facts to be dealt with.

But Mr. President  how about the numbers of innocent civilians killed in Afghanistan ,Iraq and Pakistan  on the basis of this?. We strongly condemn the actions of Al Qaeda and the innocent loss of life in 9/11 but no way can it be used to justify the killings of  innocent civilians in Iraq. All these promises of military evacuation from Iraq doesn’t sound helpful when the damage has already been done. Life in Iraq has been crippled by the US invasion,  evacuation is needed more by the US itself than the people of Iraq. The loss of innocent lives, damaged infrastructure and most importantly the scars of war cant be overlooked.

With respect to Pakistan which is now reference  by Mr. president as the Af-Pak region  about $1.5 billion each year over the next five years has been promised ,to partner with Pakistanis to build schools and hospitals, roads and businesses, and hundreds of millions to help those who have been displaced. This too has been marred by accusations that this money will be utilized to build
The US cant choose to be neutral on injustices done on Muslims and expect to be vocal about the ‘so-called’ reactions from the religious extremists.Overall the Presidents speech was well put and might also achieve a ‘soft corner’ in the hearts of many.However  we have evolved from our past experiences as skeptics and so it will not be easy to convince us . There is need of action more than of mere words now. The intensifying Anti-American sentiments in Pakistan and the rest of the world are a result of American policies. We demand strategic change in the policies in order to shed the hostility. However irrespective of the western policies the ‘hate all American people’ gesture isn’t common among the ordinary Pakistani. We aren’t Al-Qaeda , neither are we religious extremist we are people who liberated  on the basis of theocracy. The religious fundamentalism was fueled in by the United states itself and now can’t be shed off at the normal Pakistani. There is far too much that can be said in various aspects about President Obama’s address. To summarize we need  reconciliation in action.  The ordinary Pakistani looks for the reinstatement of our national integrity on the global front. We cant tolerate dictation on our democratic and military strategy. If the American President firmly believes in ‘democratic’ freedom we demand just that. If  anything the United States shares the fair burden of ‘doubts and skepticism’ hurled at Pakistan, as the US itself was ‘partner’ in ‘Talibanization’.The only way out is ‘mutual’ trust,  after all the US is equally responsible for the miscreants we face today. The trust bridge has to be mutual with America acknowledging the rights ,freedom and integrity of muslims and Pakistani’s, only then can this cascade into a ‘New Beginning’.

Note: Reactions can be read and delivered at the BBC World Have Your Say BLOG