In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, he Merciful

BLAME WHO?

[Shamim A Siddiqi, New York]

“Terrorist activities” as they are called in the context of the modern polarized world appear to be on increase in proportion to fast accumulating amount of “oppression” [occupations or subjugations] surmounting around the world for the last hundred years especially after the first Great War of 1914-18. While the USA is currently “safe” [except the Tragedy of September 11, 2001 but, unfortunately, its people have been hijacked by its overzealous hyperbolic government by “maintaining” its tempo in the name of “fear” and “unfounded” apprehension to perpetuate the so-called “war on terrorism” and thereby their dominance in power. The bomb blasting in London on July 7, 2005 became the “immediate” cause for Congressmen to renew the Patriot Act by 257 to 171 votes in haste on July 21, 2005. It has ignored all the protest and pleadings to amend its provisions that were directly contradicting our Constitution.

This draconian law was passed in the wake of the tragedy of September 11, 2001 hurriedly within forty five days. The Institution of Civil Liberties Union and many public forums voiced their concern but to no effect. It has given a death knell to human liberties and the minorities, the people of conscience, especially the “targeted” Muslim community of the USA are forced to live under a “suspended life-sentence” for “good” in the country where “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.” are guaranteed. All the hue and cry that is going on in the USA, UK and elsewhere in Europe against “terrorism” was perhaps to provide the expediency to USA Assembly to renew the Act hurriedly though it was expiring on December 31, 2005. It appears that the Senate too will soon pass it on “war footings.”

The Government of the USA has thus equipped itself to face all “eventualities” without ascertaining judiciously who was to be blamed for that mishap of 9/11. The USA for its needs trained a character called Osama bin Laden and coined the “Institution of Al-Qaida” in its “laboratories” and “charged” him pin-pointedly immediately after that national tragedy within hours of its happening as if everything was “preplanned” and well set “conclusively.” There was no judicial inquiry either in the country or outside at Hague. The “9/11Commission” was appointed to trace out the reasons why the internal security system failed to stop this disaster and what measures could be taken to avoid its failure in future. It was never appointed to find out the basic inherent question: “who did it and what for? It is still a mystery. All the Government agencies are keeping mum and no one is coming forward to ask President Bush and Tony Blair:

”Who did it? Muslims have no interest to commit such a heinous crime. Muslims cannot do it as it is totally prohibited in Islam to kill innocent people at all. Could it not be done by your so-called “Crusader-war-mongers” sitting in the Whitehouse and Pentagon or by your close friends sitting on the “same side”? Why are you scared of inquiring into this basic question? You exploited this human tragedy to make your game plan to destroy first Afghanistan and then subjugated Iraq and terrorized the entire Muslim world including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran on false pretext of war on terror.”

The same “drama” has now been staged by President Bush’s intimate friend and collaborator Tony Blair on July 7, 2005. England was the safest place for all the people who have been the prisoner of conscience in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America and for those who were harassed and tortured by the tyrant despotic rulers of Muslim world, enjoying tacit approval of UK/USA. Those involved in blasts are dead but the names of those who were the unfortunate travelers are being used as “suicide-bombers” [one of them is alive]. This is the same pattern as that of “September11” where the unfortunate 19 travelers were “accused” of that suicidal attack [four of them are alive]. All the stories were coined/connected/extracted subsequently to substantiate the drama at both the places. British Scotland Yard and MI 5 were so eager to catch the one “missing” that they killed an unfortunate innocent Brazilian Engineer in a “lynching” fashion.

Bush-Blair crusade against Islam turned their cannons to Pakistan and attacked the religious educational institutions [Madrassas] to give up the teachings of the Qur’an and Jihad. Their henchman, General Musharraf got the opportunity and he turned the table on Tony Blair by counter-challenging him to take care of the people of “Hizb” and “Muhajaroon” who are residing in UK, mostly on political asylum and are working for the ideology they believe. Musharraf pounced upon Madrassas, arrested over 200 scholars and religious teachers. But all these exercises, coercive means and denying human rights through legislation and strict “searching and humiliation” that are applied to stop the spread of terrorism, both of “disparate” individuals and arrogant states, will never meet the desired results as the root cause of these human tragedies and “recurring” bomb blast is quite different than what is being propagated by the USA/UK alliance.

Both President Bush and PM Tony Blair are knowingly avoiding to acknowledge the main cause of unrest in the Muslim world and its direct “repercussions” in the countries that are responsible in putting the Muslim Ummah in turmoil so that they and their forefathers are not caught red-handed as “culprits # ONE”. But Ken Livingston, the Mayor of London has the courage and foresightedness in accepting the blunders committed by Europe and America during the last 80 years in the Muslim world. I would like to conclude this write-up on quoting the statement that he delivered in London on July 20, 2005.

“London mayor says West fuelled Islamic radicalism LONDON, July 20 (Reuters) - Western foreign policy has fuelled the Islamist radicalism behind the bomb attacks which killed more than 50 people in London, the British capital's mayor Ken Livingstone said on Wednesday. Asked on Wednesday what he thought had motivated the four “suspected” suicide bombers, Livingstone cited Western policy in the Middle East and early American backing for Osama bin Laden. "A lot of young people see the double standards, they see what happens in (U.S. detention camp) Guantanamo Bay, and they just think that there isn't a just foreign policy," he said. "You've just had 80 years of Western intervention into predominantly Arab lands because of a Western need for oil. We've propped up unsavory governments, we've overthrown ones that we didn't consider sympathetic," Livingstone said. "I think the particular problem we have at the moment is that in the 1980s ... the Americans recruited and trained Osama bin Laden, taught him how to kill, to make bombs, and set him off to kill the Russians to drive them out of Afghanistan.”They didn't give any thought to the fact that once he'd done that, he might turn on his creators," he told BBC radio.”

Shamim A Siddiqi

Dated: July 24, 2005