September 28, 2006

Recently, a three-member team from the US visited Pakistan to create better understanding and to promote the idea that there is ‘beauty in diversity’ and that there is ‘freedom of, and not from, religion’ in the United States, reports Samina Wahid Perozani

Given the increasing mistrust and hatred that is rearing its ugly head among many countries of the world, it seems fair to build bridges rather than burn them in a bid to bring nations close together. A case in point? The Muslim world and the West, the latter of which is, generally assumed to be the US government and, sometimes, its people.

Thus, predictably, a discussion programme on ‘Muslim life in the US’ at the US Consul General’s residence in Karachi, a joint venture by the Women Media Centre headed by Fauzia Shaheen and the office of Public Affairs, US Consulate General, recently certainly evoked interest, if not surprise.

Declared as a private initiative by the three-member delegation –– Tina Kareema Dauod, a citizen ambassador and foreign affairs officer at the US State Department, Noorain Khan, a healthcare research intern at the Baker Institute of Public Policy Science and Technology Programme, Houston, Texas, and a would-be Oxford scholar, Dr Ikram U. Khan, president of Quality Care Consultants LLC., Las Vegas, Nevada –– from USA, this team invited questions from journalists and educators, present on the occasion.

While the dialogue began with a shaky start of sorts, given the initial hesitation on part of the participants to contribute or question the team, the evening eventually took a turn for the better once the latter brought to the forefront issues that have offended the sensibilities of Muslims around the world.

Of particular interest was a debate over the term ‘Islamic fascists’ used vociferously by the Bush government while ‘philosophising’ over the war against terror, which Tina Dauod pointed out was later regretted by the regime because “it’s simply incorrect and demeaning” (interestingly enough, however, President Bush still could not bring himself to apologise or to admit to the offending nature of the term in a recent interview on CNN in which he deliberated at length over the thoughtless remarks made by the Pope against the Muslims). Espousing that there is ‘beauty in diversity’ and that there is ‘freedom of, and not from, religion’ in the United States, Tina Dauod’s remarks were met with a mixture of scepticism and disbelief by most participants.

Similarly, Dr Ikram Khan further emphasised that being a Muslim isn’t all that bad, contrary to the popular media images that say otherwise, because people there still believe in the goodness of humanity. Citing his experiences during the October 8 earthquake relief efforts that were made possible by his company, he pointed out that people there, particularly non-Muslims, made ‘generous donations to the cause without wondering whether the money would actually be put to use’. He also explained that while there are some people who do look down upon Muslims in the US, he never came across them, save for the torturous process of being interrogated at airports.

It was, however, Noorain Khan, who turned out to be the life of the ‘party’. Given her age and the subsequent enthusiasm, she had some thought-provoking points to make about life as a Muslim woman in the US; a woman who had more in common with her white, Christian room-mate in college, as opposed to her Muslim female friends, because of their similar values. Noorain also had much to say about Muslim women in the US and hijab, especially the fact that “when white Americans discriminate against you based on your hijab, it isn’t as bad as when people from your own community, people who are Muslims treat you with suspicion” –– a point that deserves consideration and introspection, if nothing else.

There were, of course, no definite answers to the problems at hand, but even then, the evening ended on a positive note with the delegation promising to keep in touch and to use their experiences in Pakistan to enrich their lives there.

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