The US perception of Muslims is worrying

There is a serious concern on the perception that some members of the US administration hold against Muslims living in the US and elsewhere in the world. Obviously, the statements from those belonging to the right-wing groups have stemmed from utter ignorance of the reality that the great majority of Muslims don’t endorse violence.

Yet, the fringe groups, who claim to be the genuine representatives of Islam have done enough damage to the religion of Islam with their atrocities and diabolical behaviour. In fact, if these groups had any real intentions of portraying Islam as the true faith that is built upon love and peace, then they wouldn’t have resorted to the heinous acts and condemnable behaviour. So, it is quite obvious that the true intentions of these groups are nowhere related to the spreading of a peaceful religion as its tenets clearly demonstrate, but it is all about grabbing power and acquiring wealth under the guise of piety.

Unfortunately, many people fall prey to the devious tactics of groups like Daesh, who have members that have either voluntarily offered themselves to join or having been recruited with attractive packages. However, one cannot deny the fact that the West has always been welcoming to the migrant communities, whether Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists.

It was only perhaps September 11 that brought a change in perception about Muslims. It was the US who started by interfering in Middle East politics by arming the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to fight against the Russians. By all means, it was a proxy war waged by US against the occupation of Afghanistan. Although, the US won the war — the whole exercise got the Mujahideen equipped with what they needed in terms of training and arms. Such development gave birth to a new phenomena that witnessed the consolidation of hardline groups across the globe.

However, out of the one and half billion Muslim population around the world, the violent actions of a few hundreds have thus created a perception that has put the religion under a microscope. But those who criticise Islam have failed to see the broad picture and have failed to look at the events objectively.

— The reader is an Indian business development coordinator based in Dubai