I was born and raised in England. I’m British. On forms, I’m given the option to tick a box that says ‘British Asian’, which quite pisses me off because my background and cultural heritage do not influence my nationality.
The events in Woolwich were shocking. I don’t think anybody I know wasn’t stopped in their tracks by last week’s horrific happenings. My thoughts and prayers have been with those directly affected since I heard the news. I have a sick feeling in my stomach as I’m becoming aware of what humans can do to one another. What has stunned me, more than anything, are the reactions and comments of those not directly linked to what happened. The aftermath.
Within hours of the chilling news breaking, I had been invited to join several patriotic groups on Facebook. Not religious groups but ‘British’ groups, yet those inviting me were slating Islam. One support page hadn’t even got the charity’s name right (Hero’s – belonging to one hero. Heroes – plural of ‘hero’) They had images of the Union Flag in their profile pictures. They were shouting, in various ways, ‘DEPORT THEM!’. UKIP, the BNP and the EDL exploited the fear and ignorance some displayed. Enoch Powell would have been proud. Are we back in the 1960s?
What made me proud of the country I was born in was its acceptance, tolerance and diversity. What made me like some of the people I know were the same things. My pride in my country and liking of people has suffered increasingly since Wednesday. Seeing the Union Flag fills me with fear. We are not a country united. People I know and am distantly related to are calling for immigrants to be deported. I am the child of immigrants. I am British. My uncle, who came to England from India when he was three years old, has served with the British army and is now part of the Met, is an immigrant. Should he be deported? Also, those who called for Muslims to be deported should perhaps be told that Brits cannot be deported from Britain. The ignorance of some people has baffled, as well as unsettled, me.
People are labelling Islam as an evil religion. When has it ever been okay to stereotype and generalise? My favourite tweet this week asked if we deemed all white men as racists when Stephen Lawrence was murdered. Seems an absurd thing to even consider, doesn’t it? So why are we labelling a whole religion as evil when two men acted in such a barbaric way? It makes no sense. I’m not coming at this from a Muslim’s point of view, I am not Muslim; I’m coming to this from a human point of view. Those shouting that we live in a Christian world, what about the Ten Commandments? I don’t remember there being one stating that we should judge people by others’ acts. I may have misinterpreted what Moses was told on Mount Sinai though. Were all Christians called terrorists when the IRA bombings were a regular occurrence and innocent lives were lost? It is simply bonkers to blame the act of two men on a religion and those who follow it. Religion, race and background are not nasty, people are.
The aftermath of Wednesday has left me feeling like I did in the middle of the London riots, almost two years ago. I’m saddened by the mob mentality people seem to adopt at such time. It’s a different feeling to after the 7/7 bombings. Devastating events brought everybody together, and though completely different circumstances, the next time I felt such unity was at the London Olympics.
One of my idols is Mahatma Gandhi. “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” Fire does not fight fire.
I have issues with the way the press has dealt with the happenings in Woolwich. But that’s for another time.
We, as a society, seem to have a need to blame tragedy on something or someone. The brutal killing of an innocent man, on Wednesday, was not due to a religion. Blame the right people: two men who are under arrest.
I hope there is a time when unity, tolerance, acceptance and diversity are at the forefront of Britain’s beliefs again. And I hope, as a humanist, it’s very soon.
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