'Muslim Americans responded well to overcome
post 9/11 challenges'
Tuesday March 12, 2013 10:27:57 PM,
IANS
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Hyderabad: Muslim
Americans responded well to the post 9/11 challenges by engaging
with the government and the society and countering the
misinformation about Islam, said Muslim Bar Association of New
York (MuBANY) president Asim Rehman here Tuesday.
According to him, 9/11 not only posed a challenge to the Muslim
community in the US as it faced discrimination but also provided
an opportunity to establish itself through civic engagement and by
countering the false propaganda that Islam is at odds with the
modern society.
Rehman was delivering a lecture on "Civil rights and civic
engagement: Muslim Americans post 9/11" organized here Tuesday by
the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy
(CSSEIP) of Maulana Azad National Urdu University.
While noting that the anti-Muslim sentiments in the US rose during
last one decade, he said the community tried to overcome civil
right challenges by building relationship with law enforcement
agencies, providing right information about Islam and through
legal battle.
Terming Muslim Americans as the most diverse religious community,
the lawyer explained how the US is witnessing an interesting
phenomenon with Muslims, who constitute two percent of the US
population, building their identity around the American culture.
He noted how the barriers of race and ethnicity disappear in the
mosques with Muslims from different parts of the world stand with
each other in prayers.
The lawyer of Pakistani origin said the Muslims learnt from other
communities in the US who were under fire in the past like the
Catholics, African Americans and Japanese Americans.
Quoting from Sacchar Committee report about how Muslims in India
are seen with great degree of suspicion not only by certain
sections of society but also by public institutions and the
government, Asim said despite many differences between Muslim
Americans and Indian Muslims, there were also many similarities.
The lawyer narrated what the Muslim Americans went through in the
aftermath of 9/11 attacks. The community faced discrimination by
both private individuals and public institutions. Even some
senators and Congressmen also made anti-Muslim remarks.
"There was an increase in hate crime in anti-Muslim perspective.
There were acts of vandalism, animal parts were thrown in the
mosques, permission was not given to build new mosques and Muslims
faced discrimination at workplaces and in recruitment for jobs,"
he said.
He said even the government started spying on the community by
sending informants to mosques and some officials used national
security policies to target a particular group.
"Muslims were either prevented from flying or were taken off the
planes. They were asked questions that had nothing to with travel.
In a school in New York a teacher asked children how they feel
about their uncle. The teacher was referring to Osama Bin Laden."
Asim gave instances of how Muslims fought legal battle to fight
discrimination, to get permission for building mosques and to
restrain some states from bringing legislation to prevent courts
from interpreting Sharia laws.
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