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Good Afternoon,
My name is Farzana Hassan and I wish to extend a warm
welcome to all of you. You have braved the cold to come here and be
a part of this very important exercise. We are discussing Terrorism,
its history, its root causes and it implications, but we are also
here to make a serious attempt at finding solutions and remedies to
the growing threat of international Terrorism. It is crucial that we
all think about these issues long and hard, because the effects of
Terrorism are felt universally. It creates fear in all of us. Each
one of us, sitting right here in this room is a potential victim
because Terrorism kills indiscriminately. It can kill on the plane, on
the train and at work.
We also need to delve deep into the psychology of
terror. We have often heard that the survival instinct is paramount in
human beings. What is it then, that drives a person to tie a belt of
explosives around his belly, killing not only himself but a whole
bunch of innocent bystanders around him?
Again, we must also explore the ideological roots of
Terrorism. While Islam strictly prohibits Terrorism targeting
civilians, there is a prevalent view among theologians that it may
endorse militancy, which may translate into acts of terror when
implemented by extremists. Although this is true of all Abrahamic
faiths, it is Jihad and its contemporary posture as a religio-political
doctrine that thrives today as a lived ideology. We can no
longer afford to be evasive about the issue by suggesting Jihad is
merely a personal struggle to fight ones evil inclinations. Although
politically correct, such a view would be disingenuous, to say the
least. It is therefore essential to examine the concept by comparing
it to Buddhist ideology, for example. The Dalai Lama has always
preached a philosophy of non-violence even though Tibetan Buddhists
have suffered persecution and subjugation for a very long time. Canada
too, has had to deal with a secessionist movement, yet it is not part
of Canada's political culture to resort to violence in order to solve
conflicts. What is it about certain ideologies that encourage
violence and militancy?
One often hears the view that Muslims are in denial
about Islamic Terrorism. They feel that those who are depicted as
culprits in the media aren't really the true culprits. Several
conspiracy theories have been floated around about the 9/11 attacks
and other terrorist activity. We therefore need to examine the
validity of the conspiratorial viewpoint as well.
Non-violence must be preached as the only option
available to subjugated people because it has moral ascendancy. We
must refrain from seeking moral equivalencies between Islamic
terrorism and Western military action. The two issues must be dealt
with separately. Any cause and effect linkage between the two
amounts to justifying Terrorism. There can be no
justification for it whatsoever.
Before me is a learned panel of speakers who will
examine these issues in depth.
Farzana Hassan
- http://farzanahassan.com
- http://islamtoday.ca
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