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International columnist, political analyst and senior journalist Ahmed Mohiuddin Siddiqui’s articles are published across Asia, Africa and Europe. He writes for The Moroccan Times, The Tunis Times, India Tomorrow, Kohram News, The Etemaad Urdu Daily and for news papers published from Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. You can follow him on Twitter at: @journopolana[/symple_box]
The European continent is in a new surging wave of Islamophobia. The anti-Islam and anti-refugee voices have become louder in Germany with Lutz Bachmann, 41, a chef-turned-graphic designer and chief of the right wing PEGIDA, who was caught In flagrante delicto at his abusive worst. He had to resign after the German government initiated investigation into his Hitler-style photo splashed across German newspapers. He has apologized for calling refugees ‘‘animals and scumbags’’.
Lutz is notorious for his criminal past of drug-dealing and subsequent jail sentence. For a change, this criminal chef started dishing out hate stuff and designed graphic slurs against the refugees in Germany.
He started an ‘anti-Islamisation’ movement – Patriotishe Europaer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes (PEGIDA) – Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West as a Facebook group in October 2014 and started organizing weekly protests against the so-called rising influence of Islam in Germany. He chose Dresden – a German city, for his every Monday protests. The protest held on 12th January 2015 attracted more than 25,000 protests. Germans from many other cities came to join these protests. The sharp rise of PEGIDA demonstrates the power of social media. From a small Facebook group to swelling numbers of hate mongers, it does not do any good to the image of Germany.
Germany is known for its scientific temperament and state-of-art machinery and vehicles. This makes the people from different continents flock over ther for a better life prospective. The rising number of refugees is also due to the creation of conflicts by the West in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Germany has a large number of Muslims from the Arab world, who are enriching the German life and culture with their intellectual output. The world has become a global village. It is not just the Arabs and Muslims who are coming to Europe but people of other faiths. The westerners are taking away a major chunk of the Arab world by way of petrol and gas. They also sell very expensive war weapons to innocent Arabs and grab their wealth. All this go unnoticed and uncounted because it suits the westerners. When Arabs and Muslims look for better education and life, then it is made out to be a ‘threat to Europe’ and the west. PEGIDA claims that it is fighting to protect the Judeo-Christian culture of Germany. Lutz may have resigned and may be prosecuted too but the nuisance and hatred will not stop here. Somebody else will step into the shoes of hate.
Hate campaign against Muslims and refugees may provoke terrorists to carry out insane acts of violence. The cycle of hate, provocation, action and reaction must stop. A new beginning can be made – Muslims, Christians and Jews are all connected by a rich religious and cultural legacy. The Holy Quran mentions Jews and Christians as people with books – Ahlul Kitaab. The Holy Books must be read again and again for peace and unity of the mankind. The message from our Creator is ‘’peace.’’
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International columnist, political analyst and senior journalist Ahmed Mohiuddin Siddiqui’s articles are published across Asia, Africa and Europe. He writes for The Moroccan Times, The Tunis Times, India Tomorrow, Kohram News, The Etemaad Urdu Daily and for news papers published from Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. You can follow him on Twitter at: @journopolana[/symple_box]
