Islam, Cartoons, Hindus

[Guest guest]

violence, murder, and threats. Other communities, particularly the Hindus,

have also suffered their fair share of inaccurate and demeaning assaults on

their religion and traditions in the west. In late 2005, the Toronto Film

Festival and Canadian media bestowed awards and honor on Deepa Mehta, director

of the movie Water. This movie featured a bizarre plot involving widows in the

holy city Varanasi (which is equivalent to the Vatican or Mecca) being forced

into prostitution by Hindu priests. Despite the fact that the movie was

extremely demeaning and depicted practices virtually unheard of in India,

Hindus in the west did not resort to violence or murder to express their

displeasure. This was not the first time that Hindus have been unfairly

stigmatized. In 2003, the Toronto Star, which bends over backwards to flatter

and please some of their favored minority groups,

published a nude picture of a revered Hindu goddess. Again in 2005, the AIDS

Committee of Toronto put on a fashion show which featured semi-nude

transsexuals dressed as Hindu deities. In both these cases, the large Hindu

community in Toronto and the Western world did not burn buildings, destroy

public property, or attack Westerners. Instead, they used democratic and

peaceful means to voice their protest. To understand what gives rise to these

divergent reactions, we need to examine the historical record. Unlike Hinduism,

Islam was imposed on adherents of other faiths through conquest and

subjugation. In South Asia, Islam was spread through a brutal conquest, which

began in the 8th century AD. In fact, famed historian Will Durant has referred

to this conquest as the bloodiest story in history. During this period, many

Hindus were enslaved and millions were massacred. Fear of death, subjugation,

and enslavement

forced hapless Hindu victims to convert to Islam. Fanatical Islamists, who

exercise significant power and influence, continue to nurture these notions and

ideals. These elements are responsible for the violence and murder that follows

each perceived insult of Islam throughout the west. Apologists, whether in

the West or India, often attempt to justify the acts of Islamic fanatics by

arguing that such acts are legitimate means of protest against discrimination

or imperialism. This argument is untenable: Islamist fanatics are not victims

but rather champions of imperialism and bigotry. Their utter disregard for

people of other faiths and their desire to Islamize, through conquest, the

non-Muslim world, including India and Europe, clearly demonstrates their

imperial designs. Democratic societies, both in India and the West, can

dissuade these fanatics only by

demonstrating that legitimate means of protest are more successful than violence

and murder. Fanatical Islamists receive tremendous incentives to continue their

behavior when they find that their methods are more successful than those

employed by groups which utilize democratic means. A just democratic society

should reward good behavior and penalize negative conduct. Western democracies,

when dealing with radical Islamists, appear to be doing the precise opposite.

The West, for its own survival, ought to reconsider this curiously

self-destructive attitude. Ron Banerjee is the director of the Hindu

Conference of Canada. He can be reached at letters (AT) canadafreepress (DOT) com.

Brings words and photos together (easily) with PhotoMail - it's free and works with Mail.