Moving forward or falling backwards? By Oroba Tasnim

In today’s world some events jolt you; others put you in shock while very few tend to genuinely move you. The Chapel Hill shooting is just another one of those incidents. I do not say so because I am a Muslim yet only because my heart as a human organ cries for the injustice committed!

Growing up into the second largest religion of the world, I was never told to shoot people based on their religion, color or creed, rather I was taught to love and uphold humanity in every possible way. But as I moved into adolescence, I witnessed the media stating otherwise. What I read in my holy book was keenly misinterpreted and splayed across for all to see, so that in a matter of days, the mistake of a few became the identity of all, and since then the way I chose to live, has become a spotlight for the media and for all hate mongrels to see.

The 9/11 was an atrocity.

The 7/7 was a tragedy.

The Sydney siege was uncalled for and completely unjust.

The Charlie Hebdo attack was a massacre.

Why then is the Chapel Hill shooting only a mere speck in the back cover of the newsstands, or for twitter trends and Facebook posts to highlight? Why do mainstream media feel it completely alright to ignore the lives of three intelligent young, completely innocent humans only on the basis of religion?

How is it that what I’m so often blamed for is exactly what they’re doing themselves, yet when I react, I’m deemed a terrorist, and their act preceded by no hate, no criticism, and no prejudice bears the title of mental illness alone?

I do not ask for you to pity me because I am a Muslim. I do not want your sympathy either; all I want is that you recognize me as one of your own, as a human with aspirations and ambitions. Do not misjudge my silence for criminal negligence, or my innocence to be exploited.

For once realise, that this will lead you nowhere, you may kill me but you can never kill my voice. Because just as Deah, Razan and Yusor were shot point blank, I too may fade away, but the legacy I carry will stretch even further along.

As a muslim, my book ‘The Holy Quran’ teaches me peace, to be a light in the glooming darkness and a star in the hazy dark night. You may keep killing me, and you may keep throwing words of filth and abuse my way but know that I will react with the only weapon I’ve been assigned by my lord, and that is the pistol of peace.

by webmaster@insaf.pk (tkiadmin)