“Do You Possess Any Explosives?”: What Being A Muslim At An Internatio

[JANASENA]

“Do You Possess Any Explosives?”: What Being A Muslim At An International Airport Means

 

 

The discomforts attached to being from a minority community in India had never affected me in glaring proportions. So whenever I heard or read about Muslims being rejected accommodation or job applications because of their surnames, I believed it to be just a few isolated incidents. But a much bigger stigma attached to being a Muslim, which supersedes the hackneyed Hindu-Muslim conflicts in India, is the rigorous profiling that a Muslim name elicits at an international airport. Hence it was only during my first international travel, that the novelty of religion-based discrimination stung me.

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While having luckily escaped the more vehement means of intrusive questioning like strip searches or screening, I initially failed to understand why some people ahead of me at the immigration-check queue had to answer just a few cursory questions while a few others were grilled a lot more and then ceremoniously accosted to another room for questioning. Apart from the regular questions like purpose of visit, or “who are you travelling with’, there was a lot of cross-checking during my turn to make sure of a clean past record before being stamped in. And all this for a name! While at the Heathrow Airport, London, the lady who stood guarding the check-in line had the most ridiculous volley of questions for me, ‘Where did you pack your luggage?’, ‘Was there anyone else present when you packed it?’, ‘ Do you possess any explosives?’! I found it hard to fathom if she grilled every check-in passenger with the same ridiculousness or was I an exception. Under the garb of ‘routine procedure’, I felt, that a “you are a Muslim” interrogation was being carried out. Call it guilt by association, but an ‘Abdul’, ‘Mohammad’ or ‘Khan’ is sure to ring a bell for US Homeland security who then employ the border security personnel and TSA to meticulously perform a special screening for the few whose name might match some ‘legitimate suspects’ in their covert online directory.

More than a decade after 9/11 where Islamic terrorists employed airplanes to fulfil their unholy ambitions and brought shame and disgrace to the entire Muslim race and Islam faith, American Muslims as well as most Muslims travellers from countries deemed as “harbouring terrorist activity” are still paying the price for no fault of theirs. The memory of 9/11 has definitely not been erased from the American psyche and rightfully so, since it was one of the most outrageous assaults on American soil causing a colossal loss to thousands of lives and the annihilation of two of the most important pillars of American economy and defence, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. America has not forgotten and nor have the extremist Islamic groups who trace back their barbarism to the unjust US policy in Middle East. While such ‘holy wars’ and excessive display of fanaticism can never yield success in the right measure because the means do not justify the ends, it is the common Muslim man who is caught in the crosshairs of these radical over-reaches of justice by the Islamic zealots and the excessive vigilantism and repressive measures of America.

A regular Muslim who has to undergo several background checks to extend his/her work visa at an American embassy, a woman wearing a hijab who automatically triggers the need for screening or a devout Muslim with a beard who will be ushered into a room to be questioned about his faith and religious and political affiliations- they are the ones who get hit the most, since airports have become hotbeds for potential terrorist hunts. People from Muslim-dominated countries like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Indonesia or Somalia attract the attention of surveillance on the mere basis of their looks, attire, last name or nationality.

The US security also maintains a no-fly list and a selectee list. The former disallows the Muslims in that list to qualify for international travel while the second list makes it indispensable for all the Muslims in the list to undergo a special screening every time they travel. The reason for their names being part of those lists has never been explained and the Homeland security remains tight-lipped about it since it forms part of its counter-terrorism measures. The list includes not only temporary workers who work in America but even Muslim-Americans who have lived in the country for almost 35 to 40 years. Such extreme measures not only highlight the intensive racial profiling of US security without providing adequate reasons but leave innocent people at a loss from exercising their rights like other fellow American citizens.

Rather than invasive screening methods that pigeonhole the Muslim people on flimsy basis and make them prey to fear and indignation, coming up with alternate effective counter-terrorism measures is a solution that should be provided by US Homeland security. Every Muslim should forego their silence and speak up against injustices meted out to them based on their name or a mistaken identity so that they do not become a victim to the vicious circle that consists of those who mindlessly blow up planes and behead people in the name of religion and the retributive actions that follow in the aftermath of these acts.

I choose to live in a world where my Muslim name is not enough to raise a red flag against my integrity as a peace-loving human being. Even though I cannot boast about having followed every written word in the Quran or offering namaz five times a day, I prefer to follow the language of peace and goodness which Islam preaches to all but has so often been glossed over by religious dogmas. With the growth of organisations like ISIS and their reckless beheading of American and British nationals, the atmosphere of distrust and suspicion grows thicker, worsening the situation further.

While addressing the problems at large, a veritable solution remains elusive and Muslims all around the world have to carry the ‘burden’ of their name and association to a faith which has been besmirched by elements who justify the holiness of their actions under the shield of religion. While maintaining their duty of providing security and waging the war against terror, the US security needs to take these humanitarian issues under consideration and maintain the integrity of American constitution which frowns upon any kind of discrimination based on race, colour or religion.

 

 

[JANASENA]

LTT

[ManOnFire]

gp

[teliyadu_nuvvu]

prevention is better than cure - in view of them

 

 

I was traveeling from Hungary (Budapest) to Italy by BUS  - at midnight 3AM our bus entered Italy border .. group of persons boarded bus and checking for passports ...I was only person in the pass carrying passport other than european and UK nations.

 

first they glanced me for two mins and asked me to get down the bus 

 

They have taken me toll plaze booth kind of thing , strip searched .. asked so many questions ..and after validating the passport .. they allowed to board the bus - it took 15 mins.. 

 

When i entered the bus ... all the people gave different look .. which i cant ever forget..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Maximus]

[maverick23]

Tappuledu...They deserve it...appudayena shittly religion ne vadilestaaru

[Akkumm_Bakkumm]

Tappuledu...They deserve it...appudayena shittly religion ne vadilestaaru

Agreed...

[JANASENA]

Tappuledu...They deserve it...appudayena shittly religion ne vadilestaaru