Shah Fahad
I think Islam hates us…” a statement given by President Trump during his presidential camping to CNN. When the interviewer asked if the hatred originates from the religion itself Trump replied with “we have to figure that out…”. For far too long Muslims and Islam have been the subject of tough scrutiny and criticism by the world. Especially after the 9/11 attacks the hate crimes in the US rose dramatically. The western world started picturing Islam and Muslims as terrorist and the US bombed countless innocent people under the name of war against terrorism that sowed the seed of hatred in the hearts of Muslims.
The history of blaming other religions, people of other faiths or ethnic or minority groups is not new in the West. During the 14 century when the Black Death was haunting the world, Jews were blamed for the spread. It was believed that Jews intentionally contaminated the waters with the plague to inflict pain and suffering on Christians. That triggered the persecution of Jews across Europe. They were captured, tortured, butchered and burned alive. Many Jews’ quarters were attacked and in one incident, around 2,000 Jews were burned alive.
After the spread of the recent covid-19, there are reports of growing hate crimes from around the globe. People of Asian descent, especially the Chinese are being subjected to brutal xenophobic violence. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “The pandemic continues to unleash a tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating and scaremongering”. Since the virus originated from China, people believe that Chinese people or Asians might carry the virus and could be dangerous. These ideals are no different from the hatred that rose against Jews in the 14th century or the hatred the world has against Muslims with terrorism.
The most irresponsible and damaging statements are coming from the White House itself. On various occasions, Trump has called covid-19 “China virus” or “Wuhan virus”. The World Health Organization stated that calling the virus by any particular geographical location will increase the hate crimes in the societies. However, Washington once again ignored their warning just as they ignored their warning about the severity of the virus. We have seen that Hollywood supports the official stance of the government of the US, hundreds of movies and TV series were funded by the Department of Defence. Given present circumstances, Hollywood might change its Arab villains to Asian villains in the future blockbuster.
When Trump began his election campaign back in 2016 and used anti-Muslim stance, the hate crimes against Muslims rose 67% and after his Muslim ban, the anti-Muslim incidents rose 90%. Due to the President’s anti-China statements, a similar situation is unfolding right now around the globe. According to an American based Organisation, Asian American Advancing Justice, two thousand hate crime incidents have been reported so far. Most of the hate crimes go unreported because of the mistrust of people on the law enforcement agencies or because they are too afraid to report them. Ipsos and the centre for public integrity reported that 32% Americans believe that people of Asian descent are directly responsible for the virus. A similar survey from the Asian American community states that 60% of them have witnessed hate crimes against them.
Asian Americans have contributed towards the US in almost every field and especially medical. Forbes reported that 17% of the doctors and 10% of the nurses in the US are of Asian descent. Asian Americans also contribute to the technological field and many have won Noble Prize in the field of Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics. The Asian American community, especially the Chinese are afraid because of the increasing hate crimes and have started buying arms and ammunition for self-defence.
The anti-Semitism did not end in Europe even after the plague was over and hatred against Muslims is not over even after a two-decade-long war. Covid-19 might not completely disappear as warned by the WHO in a recent statement. If that is true then in the coming years, the hatred will only increase and soon innocent children will be getting bullied in schools for being Asians. This situation requires serious attention from the governments to avoid any future catastrophe otherwise after the lockdown is over; the social unrest will ignite a fire that will burn the international peace.
