‘To combat Islamophobia, Khan bridges East and West’ – Pakistan

The following analysis is by Ted Anthony, who covered the aftermath of September 11 in Afghanistan and Pakistan and has written on international issues for The Associated Press since 1995, and Aya Batrawy, which covers the Persian Gulf by The Associated Press and has reported from the Middle East for the past 15 years.

He talked about Islam but used references like those of Charles Bronson "Desire of death"Movie, Monty Python and Japanese Kamikaze pilots during World War II. He built linguistic and pop culture bridges while carefully making his points.

The enigmatic Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, effortlessly projected his mark from the East and West from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, wearing a navy blue blazer over a traditional shalwar kameez while trying to explain the dangers of the Islamophobia and why Muslims are sensitive. to the attacks against the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

In the end, Khan's speech reached its destination: a political attack by a politician against the repression of India in Kashmir occupied by a Muslim majority. However, along the way, he made a familiar appeal to many Muslims, but something extraordinary for a global forum: a defense of Islam at full speed designed for the ears of a Western audience.

“It is important to understand this. The Prophet lives in our hearts, ”said Khan. "When he is ridiculed, when he is insulted, it hurts."

"Human beings understand one thing: heart pain is much, much, much more hurtful than physical pain," he said in his speech, which made the difference between his dual identities: sports star celebrity and his current role as boss of State of the largest Islamic republic in the world.

In what was his first speech before the General Assembly after taking office last year, Khan arrived on the other side of the gulf to be a translator dictionary for two cultures that disagree.

Similar to his life, much of it lived in the tabloids during the 1990s, the 45-minute speech of the prime minister seemed to follow not a script but his own stream of consciousness.

Even if the messenger was very political, the message was humanistic. In fact, he said that terrorism, radicalism and suicide bombings do not belong to any religion or at least not to a religion exclusively.

During World War II, Khan said, Japan deployed Kamikaze pilots as suicide bombers. "No one blamed religion."

But after September 11, the world's Muslims and particularly those in Pakistan and some other nations were blamed for the kidnappers who attacked the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and flight 93.
"The suicide attacks and Islam were equated," he said.

He said Muslim leaders had failed after the September 11 attacks explaining that "no religion preaches radicalism."

Instead, he said, Muslim leaders began wearing Western costumes, and even those who did not know English would speak English "because they were moderate." So afraid of being labeled radical, Muslim leaders became moderate rather than standing firm when they say "there is no radical Islam," he said.

While Khan stood before world leaders, now he said he knows "how the Western mind works and how (the West) sees religion." He spoke as a Pakistani Muslim saturated in Western culture and whose children are half British, who is now married to his spiritual guide and has ascended to prime minister.

The prime minister said he could understand why "a person in New York, in the Midwest of the United States, in a European capital" could equate Islam with radicalism and be stunned by the passionate reaction of Muslims to the ridicule of Prophet Muhammad

He remembered, in amazement, the first time he went to England and heard about a movie that mocked Hazrat Isa's life, an apparent reference to the 1979 comedy "Brian's life of Monty Python", Loved by many British and Americans.

"It is unthinkable in Muslim societies," he said, ridiculing any prophet. Some in the West who have done so have been attacked by Islamic attackers, especially the satirical publication of Charlie Hebdo in France.

For Prime Minister Khan, it all comes down to sensitivity and being "sensitive to what causes pain to other human beings." To address his message home, he drew a parallel to one of the few red lines in the West, saying that the Holocaust is treated "quite correctly" with sensitivity because it causes pain to the Jewish community.

“Do not use freedom of expression to cause us pain by insulting our Holy Prophet. That is all we want, ”he said.

In what was his first speech before the General Assembly after taking office last year, the prime minister came across the gulf to be a translator dictionary for two cultures that disagree. For many generations, most Western views on the Islamic world were broad and even ridiculous. Think of "Aladdin" or "Ali Baba," from the misinformed to the frankly insulting. But globally, what was amplified was the Western vision.

The politician in Khan did what was expected during his speech: he used his platform to follow warnings to India about his policies in Kashmir.

But as he stood on Friday at the UN with one foot in two worlds, he also raised questions that are more than relevant at this time in the journey of humanity. Many of us are sure how we feel about the different of us. Friday's message, intentional or not, is that pain and confusion are universal, but interpreters are waiting.

Header image: Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks during the 74th Session of the General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday. – AFP