Pankaj Mishra wants us to believe that Islamic terrorism is the product of Western imperialism. The whole article is comedy par excellence but it’s both dangerous and sad that lots of people take him seriously.
We would see how much radical Islamist movements are a creation of certain forces of Western modernity itself. How much they are a creation of imperialist interventions in certain parts of the world.
That’s right. Terror in Kashmir and increasingly, routine Islamic attacks on India, in Indonesia, Spain, England…all these are creations of the West.
What is so amazing about Mishra’s tirades is that he’s blasting a country that gives him the freedom to air such opposition sitting right inside the country.
PS: The whole presents a juicy opportunity for dissection but I sadly lack time.
Tags: Commentary, Indian Politics, International Politics, Islam Watch, Media Watch, Society & Culture, Terrorism & Pakistan, War on Communism
On 09.12.07 Alka says:
I think this subject is beaten to death. If we go by victimization, perhaps most of us can find an excuse to blow others up!These islamist apologists are afraid to speak the truth. Afterall we all love our heads on our shoulders.
On 09.12.07 shadows says:
>>>>> We would see how much radical Islamist movements are a creation of certain forces of Western modernity itself.
==========
Why does Western modernity anger muslims ? Who is stopping them from becoming modern, apart from their own desert cult?
What does he mean by Western modernity ?
Are muslims angry that Western women do not wear those ugly burquas ?
And how is Western modernity responsible for terrorism in Kashmir ??
Damn,, thats the result of too many colleges in every part of the country offering BA in Sociology and History…
Kinda agree with Alka.. if we talk about victimization, its actually us who are the victims of muslim tyranny and oppression (even today in the name of secularism). Just the killings of millions of Hindus by muslims during mughal rule is a genocide far greater than that of the Jews during WW2.
On 09.12.07 kaangeya says:
Pankaj Mishra is like one of those characters from The Wizard of Oz; except that instead of straw in his heart in this case it is sawdust for a brain. Mishra is all praise for a thug like Chavez who has appointed himself president for life, and a Holocaust denier like Ahmedinedjad. I hope the hawkeyed “progressives” note what this guy is prattling about the next time.
On 09.12.07 Ot says:
Two left loons getting together and indulging in some mutual, well, gratification.
On 09.12.07 sandeep says:
hey mate u knw what now RAMA is just creation … as per not Islamic republic crescent belt from pakistan to turkey with saudi in between right here in india Govt of india has given this undertaking !!phew
On 09.12.07 socal says:
Christopher Hitchens has another insight into the islamic march. Bang on as usual.
He ends with poignant observation,
“Only six years on, and already the soft mainstreaming of Islamic imperialism is under way.”
and some more…
“Wasn’t it true that the Muslim leadership in South Africa had actually endorsed the apartheid regime? Wasn’t it evasive of him to discuss the headscarf in France rather than the more pressing question of the veil or niqab in Britain? Wasn’t it true that imams in Denmark had solicited the intervention of foreign embassies to call for censorship of cartoons in Copenhagen?”
http://www.slate.com/id/2173736/nav/navoa/
On 09.12.07 Chandra says:
“Terror in Kashmir and increasingly, routine Islamic attacks on India”
This part is due to Hindu oppression of Muslims and anti-Muslim policies of GOI and, of course, Hindu fundamentalists. (And I forget, Modi’s Gujarat.)
Mishra has similar thesis on communist violence such as Mao and Naxalites, all justifiable.
On 09.13.07 killer says:
is it just coincidental that these muslims are being victimized everywhere?
they’re being victimized so much in southern thailand that they resort to killing buddhist monks there. is that also because of western imperialism?
they’re also being subjugated in the phillipines, hence the violent separatist insurgency there.
scummy gutter seepage like pankaj mishra should be sent to saudi arabia where he can live with his favorite muslims.
On 09.13.07 Dwaiti says:
Please read Fareed Zakaria’s article on Islamic terrorism. It was written immediately after9/11 but the analysis of Islamic trrorism is true even for today. One of the best articles on the subject
Link: http://www.fareedzakaria.com/ARTICLES/newsweek/101501_why.html
On 09.19.07 Joshua Anderson says:
Pankaj Mishra wants us to believe that Islamic terrorism is the product of Western imperialism >>>
Mishra is using a victimist’s wordview.
For starters, a worldview seeks to answer three fundamental questions: 1.where did we come from?
2.what went wrong with the world?
3.how, then, can we fix it?
For the purposes of this conversation, Mishra’s answer to the first question would depend on the specifics of his Islamic beliefs (some Muslims believe in intelligent design/creation by God, others believe in evolution. But that is getting off topic).
The question here is: what went wrong with the world?
Coming from a victim’s perspective, Mishra would state that the West rebelled against Allah, became ‘perverse’, and subsequently attempted to plant its beliefs on the Islamic world.
Now for the next question: how can we fix the problem?
In Mishra’s case, the solution is to eliminate what casued the problem -namely the West. Terrorism is merely the means of doing so. In a nutshell, Mishra is portraying himself as a victim and is seeking to destroy what he thinks are his oppressors.
On 05.29.08 Chiman says:
Mr. Misra does not know Muslim history and his own. I don’t know why they do not like modernization, small families and one wife when your resources are limited. That itself tells a lot. West has nothing to do about terrorism except face it. India and Mr. Misra have lot to learn from the west