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By Shireen Senadhira
A statement that justifes anarchy – “People are going to make sacrifices. People will lose things; people are worried about their businesses, nobody should have to lose their livelihood, people are losing their life, actual human life… Do you know what an insurance check will pay for people’s businesses? One day you will be able to open and recover your businesses. These families are not together getting their family members back.”
Answer to the above statement – “This is one of the most preposterous, incendiary, and insidious statements you have made that justifies anarchy. Anarchy perpetrated by White Antifa liberals or White supremacists to coax Black protesters to fall in the trap of magnifying the misperception of Black violence. What is it about peaceful protests that you do not understand? The changes that are taking place to start correcting injustices would have happened without the violence. Why do you undermine the peaceful protesters and assume that their messages will not get through? By undermining them, you undermine their powerful messages, and you also stick two fingers up at the very eminent leaders of the 20th Century. They moved mountains through non- violent protests and actions, Martin Luther King Jr, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.
Do you understand this? If not, why not? “
Intriguing isnt it? You read the above statement of Linda Sarsour and the answer to it by Hasan Ali Imam. Then you read it a second time. Intriguing as well as interesting and so is the title of the book as depicted above. The book is more or less an entire debate. The book published on 17 October 2020 is of 200 pages. Linda Sarsour is an American-Palestinian Muslim Socialist activist from USA and the author Hasan Ali Imam, a British-Bangladeshi Muslim Conservative from the UK. They both practice the same religion of Islam, but are poles apart politically. This is seen drastically as the pages unforld and therefore, the ensuing discourse, diaogue and debate becomes very animated.
Linda Sarsour’s way of thinking on the incidents mentioned in the book is typically socialistic which Imam says is not how to mitigate a problem. Take for example the George Floyd murder in Minneapolis in May 2020 in the middle of the pandemic and what happened thereafter.
So much venom has also been observed in the violent protests after the tragic murder of George Floyd. The peaceful movement of Black Lives Matter has been hijacked by thugs and Marxists who exploited Floyd’s murder to promote their agenda of dismantling Capitalism through burning of buildings, violence and intimidation. This is addressed in detail and Sarsour’s support of such violence is heavily criticised as well as her comrades’ deafening silence on other gross injustices.
A forty-six-year-old Black American named George Floyd died in a horrific way on 25 May 2020 in Minneapolis. Floyd was killed by a police officer strangling him with his knee on Floyd’s throat when on the ground. The next day, hundreds of protesters, many wearing face masks to guard against covid-19, braved the pandemic to protest at the spot where Floyd died. Nearby police cars were pelted with rocks, and officers responded by firing tear gas. It must be said that within twenty-four hours of the video of Floyd’s death coming to light, the Minneapolis Police Department fired the officer who had knelt on Floyd and three others who had been at the scene.
This deplorable incident was the impetus for thousands of Americans to take to the streets to protest about racism – many for the first time in their lives. Why did this particular tragedy struck such a chord? George Floyd was not the first African American whose death in police custody resulted in protests. There were rallies for others too but this time seemed different, with the response more sustained and widespread. There have been demonstrations across the US – in all 50 states and DC – including in cities and rural communities that are predominantly white. Local governments, sports and businesses took a stand this time – most notably with the Minneapolis city council pledging to dismantle the police department. The Black Lives Matter protests this time seem more racially diverse – with larger numbers of white protesters, and protesters from other ethnicities.
What happened at the incident’s aftermath was how the white agitators too joined in and looted and pillaged enhancing the horror scene. Anger and taking revenge gives such chances to those who are waiting and watching to pounce on such opportunities to aggravate the situation for their own ends. George Floyd’s unnecessary, unconscionable death should be the catalyst to make people realize that both personal and systemic discrimination and racism felt by people of color must end.
People need to adjust with time as time marches onwards never stopping. That’s what Linda Sarsour and her counterparts will not do. They are the same steadfast socialist activists full of fire and angry epithets. Sarsour and counterparts have not displayed any change in their atttitude of answering these drastic problems.
Looking at another event, it is ironic to see how much is lost in terms of the principles for fighting the enemy in warfare. In the middle east, however much people are reminded of the Islamic rules of justice during warfare, Muslim fanatics ignore these and justify suicide bombing and terrorism. Listen to a British colonel’s words, Tim Collins, who gave his troops an inspiring speech before they went into Iraq in 2003. His speech is hung in the Oval Office. Soldiers could do well to learn from him. Here is an extract of his speech:
“We go to liberate, not to conquer. We will not fly our flags in their country. We are entering Iraq to free a people, and the only flag which will be flown in that ancient land is their own. Show respect for them. Some are alive at this moment who will not be alive shortly…. But if you are ferocious in battle, remember to be magnanimous in victory. Iraq is steeped in history. It is the site of the Garden of Eden, of the Great Flood and the birthplace of Abraham. Tread lightly there. You will see things that no man could pay to see- and you will have to go a long way to find a more decent, generous, and upright people than the Iraqis. Their hospitality will embarrass you even though they have nothing. Don’t treat them as refugees, for they are in their own country. Their children will be poor. In years to come, they will know that you brought the light of liberation in their lives. If there are casualties of war, they did not plan to die this day when they woke up and got dressed in the morning. Allow them dignity in death..”
This shows that in all these tussels,confrontations and warfare, there is always a touch of humanity. But people curb these sentiments and allow the other base instincts to rule due to perhaps having a lot to gain or lot to lose.
And so the dialogue continues…
Imam to Sarsour – “ Now, coming back to your statements about supporting violence, do your words closely align with our Islamic principles on justice? I know the principles are embedded in you somewhere. Still, your strong allegiance to the ‘Marxist/Socialist by any means necessary,’ ‘religion is for controlling the working class,’ and ‘religion is patriarchy’ narrative is quashing the Islamic principles that are bursting to get out. If we are afraid of God alone, then they would burst out immediately. But you have people to please and relations to uphold. You don’t want to rock the boat. I get that. That is why I am rocking your boat for you.”
Thus it can be seen this book is timely. It is a refresher for the mind through depolarization of conversation. Written by a British-Bangladeshi Muslim Conservative from the UK, it addresses the poisonous nature of debate in America and the need for better understanding between Conservatives (the Right) and Liberals/Socialists (the Left). After reading the book it can be seen that civil debate is the only way forward, and this book should be viewed as a precursor to a continuous dialogue
The way is to go beyond protests and debate and honor the victims of racism and discuss real solutions. Dialogue and discussion should be encouraged at every turn in this problem. Also to debate the issue of the way forward for improving the lives of people around the world by adressing racial injustices and economic injustices. Structural changes in policy need to happen and from political and economic standpoints. Conservative Capitalism is a way forward to propel ALL communities from poverty to prosperity.
To Shireen Senadhira, writing, especially essays or poetry is an action that moves her urging her to write. A member of the English Writers Collective in Colombo, Sri Lanka, She has written to the Lanka Woman magazine and has done nature and wild life poems and essays for the Loris magazine.
Her book Ehela Ablaze, a collection of short stories and poems was published locally. In this book she expresses her keen insights and draws parallels with life and nature and shows that she is a keen nature enthusiast. Her book, Musings of Culture is a collection of essays.
She has travelled widely and lived in Geneva, Switzerland for many years. She paints too in her leisure hours and also writes children’s stories. Her poems have been published in the magazine of Tower Poetry Society in Canada, Pennine Ink Magazine in UK, American Anthology of the American Press Association and Great Poems of the Western World. She writes free lance for a variety of newspapers.
