I know this is not really relevant to Thal, but it is relevant to the world we live in today, in general, and sometimes our lives, in particular. I debated about this a lot before posting (with myself and a few friends), but in the end thought it important enough to put my thoughts to paper (or html, as the case may be!), given the current strife that we are living through. This is not to take pot shots at anyone or any group, but just to provide some food for thought to those who are interested. This may not be the absolutely right forum for this post, but we have discussed this before and I thought it was an appropriate continuation.
And, Sajid, although I am using your post as a starting off point, this is not a criticism of you and your beliefs, in any way. I sincerely mean that.
When will you understand that these terrorists are not Muslims and they don't deserve to be called Muslims. The word Muslim is derived from the word Islam which means peace and thus Muslim is one from whom everyone remains in peace. These terrorists are not following the teachings of the Holy Prophet and The Holy Quran and it is a simple rule: "One who does not follow the teachings of the Holy Prophet and The Holy Quran is not a Muslim"
You can't just blame Muslims/Pakistanis for the ill doing of a particular group that have nothing to do with Islam.
Sajid makes a very valid point above, that in the current environment we run the risk of tarring an entire group for the acitivity of a few deluded individuals. It also takes a lot of courage to make the above point, when these highly visible individuals are saying it with bombs and guns. So, major hat tip to Sajid for that.
But, if I look at what is happening globally .... I only hear aggressive, threatening statements from "Islamic" groups (Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda, Jaish, Lashkar, etc) or governments (Iran, Syria) being broadcast both by global and Arabic media. Countries with belief systems different to these groups are threatened, literally, on a daily basis. What I don't hear is the moderate voice. I don't hear moderate Islamic countries and groups stand up to these groups and say .... ENOUGH. Maybe they condemn the terror but their voices are being drowned out by the fringe elements. Or maybe, their efforts are disjointed. Or, maybe they are just too scared to protest. Or maybe, heart of hearts, they believe in the radical cause.
Whatever be the cause, if the moderate groups (who I believe are still the majority today) don't stand up to the radicals, then that IS bad news for the entire community, because then the entire community risks being tarred by the same brush. And, this rebuttal has to happen at an institutional level. Because it is the radical institutions that are causing the mayhem, moderate institutions have to stand up to them, or risk being taken over by the radicals. And, once the moderate institutions are taken over, then all moderate voices eventually get stilled.
This has happened once before, in recent history, with dramatic consequences for a significant number of people - the rise of Adolf Hitler and WWII. One by one (between 1930-1938), German institutions capitulated to the rising power of Hitler and the Nazis. They could have stopped him at multiple points, but did not, either due to fear, intoxication from his vision or his sloth. Until, he ruled all of Germany, until finally there was no Germany, but a Nazi one. At the same time, people like Chamberlain treated his rise with tolerance, and sanctioned many of his pre-WWII conquests in a bid to keep peace. Chamberlain did this when Germany had not fully rearmed and could have been stopped easily. Everyone knows the fall out.
But, there are two consequences I would highlight: the German people carried a sense of shame for the Nazi atrocities for many decades (even today, gatherings at the Berlin Stadium were compared to the Nazi marches) and the English people were destituted (because the cost of beating Germany later was too high) for their earlier inaction.
I post this today because I see stunning parallels betwen what happened in 1930-38 and today. This is a huge challenge for the Islamic community globally in how they deal with their radicals. It is a huge challenge for the global comity of nations and the lone superpower, too, in how we deal with this situation (hint: invading Iraq is not the answer!).
We, in India, live directly on one of the fault lines, so this is of paramount importance to me. I apologise if I have bored the pants off everyone else.
Poirot