Pakistani-Americans Must Condemn Times Square Adventurism

Pakistani-Americans Must Condemn Times Square Adventurism
Posted on 04 May 2010 by Ibrahim Sajid Malick
Like an exogenous bad news that suddenly stunts the market and everyone – no matter how risk averse, above board they may have been – are negatively impacted – every Pakistani-American felt a ton of bricks when Attorney General Eric Holder announced that an individual from their community may have driven an explosive laden SUV to Times Square.
Among many aspects that I admire about my new ‘homeland’ one that is most precious is the justice system. I understand Faisal Shahzad’s presumption of innocence and I am sure when he has his day in the court he will be afforded that right. I am hoping he can miraculously explain why he bought a SUV and paid cash for it, how did his SUV showed up in the middle of Times Square with explosives and why he was going to Dubai and not Pakistan?
But candidly speaking – that is my wishful thinking.
For a minute, let’s assume that Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani-American who lived in Connecticut was indeed the individual who attempted to wreak havoc and harm innocent people. What than should we do? We, the hyphenated Pakistanis who have made this country our own- how do we purge our communities from poisonous, misguided individuals?
I feel there is larger and more complex question that plagues us but we are not the first immigrant community to face this challenge.
In the post 9/11 world the key issue around which debate, hopes, and hostilities often crystallizes is religion. Religion has become an emblem of cultural and personal identity for many. I believe ‘Pakistan’ as a nation state does not have such an animosity that an individual of Pakistani descent will risk their own life and attempt such a heinous plot.
And, I want to stress that because pre 9/11 I didn’t find that many young men and women in New York with accentuated religious identity. Heck – I was a young man not long ago and the only person I knew somewhat religious left America after completing his residency. He realized that with his world view he was better off living in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan.
Bill Maher is right: Secular values are non-negotiable
Those who migrated to this country in search of a secular society (trust me there are plenty of Pakistani atheist and agnostics in New York as well) find themselves in rather vulnerable situation. And, majority who consider religion their personal matter also find themselves under microscope. But that is the exogenous bad news impact – even when you are not responsible your equity shrinks. Tough luck!
Last week Bill Maher said something very interesting:
“Although America likes to think it’s #1, we have to admit we’re behind the developing world in at least one thing: Their religious wackos are a lot more wacko than ours. When “South Park” got threatened last week by Islamists incensed at their depiction of Mohammed, it served—or should—as a reminder to all of us that our culture isn’t just different than one that makes death threats to cartoonists. It’s better.”
I totally agree and that is one of the main reasons why I am at home in East Village, New York. Problem arises when Bill Maher says “their religious wackos” many with Muslim names and backgrounds are unsure if they are part of “their” or “ours.”
I know this binary is rather linear and their can be a horizontal way of looking at cultural community as well.
Talking about Indian writers in England, Salman Rushdie suggested these individuals who are neither completely English nor 100 percent Indians have “access to a second tradition.” And he argues that this tradition is one of cross-connections, not roots. He writes: “the cultural and political history of the phenomenon of migration, displacement, life in a minority group,” constitutes its own community “cross- and intraculturally.”
If we agree with Rushdie and locate ourselves in the “cross-connected” community and do not assign much value to the “roots”, it becomes much easier to grasp and respond to the post 9/11 identity crisis that has put many young men behind beard and young women behind veil.
The politics of identity is a constant process of negotiation. I have written earlier that identity is fluid and contextual. I am a Pakistani when someone in New York asks me ‘where are you from?’ When the same question is posed in Lahore, I am from Karachi. I am a ‘man’ when around women- I am a ‘straight man’ around gays and an ‘old man’ around young kids. This relationality – different agenda joined within the same contested historical space – is central to the concept of identity.
Trust me – I did not digress. I wanted to make sure we are on the page and we define ourselves as hyphenated or “cross-connected”, and if we have made this land our home – we must categorically and unequivocally condemn this misguided individual.
And, we must stay on high alert. Remember those five men from Washington DC, Virginia areas were nabbed in Pakistan because their family and community pro-actively sought solution. If someone was keeping an eye on Faisal Shahzad, we may have averted this too.
We should keep an eye on every individual who we suspect of becoming a religious wacko. We should discourage our young men and women from accentuating only one aspect of their identity – that is “religion.” We should absolutely remind them that “secular values of America are non-negotiabl