There is no stopping to the business of terrorism brandishing Muslims as terrorist. Now this idea has caught the imagination of those who conceptualize games for the children.
The latest news comes from GVK-1 Shopping Mall in Hyderabad, Deccan where a franchise of an US company named "FUN ZONE" has put up a shooting game stall for children called "Killing a Terrorist."
The inquisitive kids are given a gun and asked to shoot two statues put up in the stall resembling Muslim characters. There dress naturally identifies them as Muslims. One of the statutes wore turban and a long beard and other had skull cap, with clean mustaches and long beard.
This inflamed the sentiments of some Muslims in Hyderabad and Majlish (read Muslim!) Bachao Tahreek (MBT) took up the matter with the owner of the games stall. MBT leader Mr. Amjed Ullah Khan, Corporater Azampura Ward, asked the games owner of the franchise, why he has chosen only Muslim characters for the shooting game "Killing a Terrorist."
Mr. Balasubramanyam, the owner of the games stall defended himself saying the concept of these characters were designed in the US and he had no role in dressing them look like Muslim characters. .
The agitating the MBT workers however were not convinced and launched a complaint against the owner of games franchise at Panjagutta police station in the heart of the city of pearls.
Following this, the police to swing into action and removed the statues from the stall and arrested its owner Mr. Balasubramanyam on charges of breaching communal harmony.
Well this could be an isolated event in a small town of India. However, this episode poses a larger question, how does one cope up with a situation when the world continues to brand Muslims as terrorist?
Does not it provide ammunition to those muddle headed folks who may jump up to exclaim, didn’t I say; there is no place for logic and rationality in the lexicon of the self appointed rulers of the world. They are almighty lord of the universe and can demonize anyone whom they choose to do so. The choices are limited either to bow before the lord or to hit it back and teach a lesson.
This debate is endless. Where to begin; from the provocateurs or the provoked? Such canard is entrenched in action and reaction syndrome. Can’t there be any sanity into this madness?
There are numerous such instances when such provocative stuff is dished out in the market and there is people’s uproar to such products. One wonders why this has happened in this case of "FUN ZONE" and this product is allowed to sell its franchise worldwide.
In a multicultural society like India, such provocation are detected and some remedy being thought of but imagine in homogeneous societies where a dominant color and creed exists, what kind of havoc such game may create among the young minds.
It seems that global agenda to fight terrorism is drifting apart and the business of terrorism is busy making hay while sun shines. The buzz word is to create terrorist first and then launch a campaign to lead fight against terrorism! It seems this business is turning out to be billions of dolor industry, and there are could be many stake holders in building this industry.
It’s a vicious circle, where people have lost the beginning of the plot of terrorism and there is no end to it in sight. Each looking at the symptoms of it and none interested in curing the disease. This makes one ponder whether "Killing a Terrorist" may solve the issue of terrorism from the face of the earth?
I think there is no ready made answer to this scourge facing the humanity. The irony is no one is trying to find out answers to it and creating a space where peace and harmony can gain precedence over, conflict and barbarism.
In such vacuum, what is happening is, there is no stopping to the peddlers of the idea hate. The propaganda mill is busy leading the campaign that “all Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims,” no matter how much the voices of sanity delivers the punch line; ‘My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist’!
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a working journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com
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