Dear Pervaiz Sahib,  

I received a letter (copied below) from Canadian Islam Congress today. I thought I will share it with you and other friends. After reading this letter, the immediate thought that crossed my mind is that we (especially I) can console our selves by the fact that the illiterate and the destitute masses of Pakistan may be over-reacting to the controversial cartoons as they do not know any better. Most of them have not even seen the inside of a school. Some day, when they become educated, find jobs and turn into responsible people, they may not be smashing cars and setting stores on fire to express their disagreements or frustrations.  

But the big question that I am unable to answer is why those who claim to be the leaders of the civilized world, who never stop reminding us about their high morals and superior culture, behave the way it is described in the article copied below. Would our FOTH friends help me to solve this enigma? 

Regards,

Javed I. Chaudry 

THE CANADIAN ISLAMIC CONGRESS MEDIA COMMUNIQUE 

March 16, 2006 

 ISLAMIC CONGRESS ASKS U OF T PRESIDENT TO ENSURE SAFETY OF MUSLIMS ON CAMPUS 

WAVE OF HATE ATTACKS CAUSING ALARM AMONG MUSLIM STUDENTS 

A recent increase in verbal and physical attacks on Muslim students at the University of Toronto has prompted the Canadian Islamic Congress to urge the university's senior administration to take the matter more seriously. 

In a statement prepared for U of T president David Naylor, the CIC warns that "Islamophobia is a serious threat whenever and wherever it occurs in our society. When it breaks out in openly racist actions, whether in print, spoken words, or physical assault, it must be met with immediate consequences for the perpetrators. What has been happening on your campus and others in Canada is nothing less than hate-crime." 

The CIC was asked to respond to a growing wave of campus attacks, including last week's washroom assault on a female Muslim student by a non-Muslim female assailant, who was campaigning in favour of the controversial anti- Islam cartoons published recently in a Danish newspaper. 

This and other confrontations have been accompanied by coarse language, such as "go back to [your] f***ing country and bomb it," and "F***ing Muslim terrorists..." In one incident, female students wearing hijabs

(headscarves) were pelted with eggs 

Although a joint investigation by U of T campus police, Toronto Police, the Office of Community Safety, and the Office of Anti-Racism is ongoing, many Muslim students and community leaders feel the latest string of incidents is not being treated with the concern it deserves. 

"To find such a level of anti-Muslim feeling on a university campus is especially distressing," the CIC statement concluded. "In the places where Canadians are supposed to be learning to build a better world and a more unified human family, racism and bigotry have invaded like a dread disease.

But the cure for it is also among us -- if we act now." 
 

CONTACTS:

Mrs. Wahida Valiante

(905) 771-1023

e-mail: nvp@canadianislamiccongress.com