Am I terrorist, a Kafir or a Samosa?
A terrorist, a Kafir or a samosa? Who am I? And who decides who I am? They are all my identities but I play no part in choosing them or becoming one. I am made and unmade in the eyes of others who decide who I should be. The West insists that I am a Muslim and nothing else. And while that’s not officially stated, it’s obvious that what comes to most Western mind when the word Muslim is uttered is ‘terrorism’. On the other hand, the Muslim ‘Ummah’ insists that I must have only one face, the Islamic one. But I am a Bengali, a Bangladeshi, a South Asian and many other names. They don’t matter to those who decide who I am. *** The latest controversy around the building of a new mosque funded by a wealthy Arab family near Ground Zero is a good example. Over 70 percent of Americans are against the building of a mosque there because they blame Muslims for the 9/11 attack. As an American said, letting a mosque being built near ground zero is like letting the Japanese build a triumphal monument
