As we say farewell to 2015, I hope the world unites in saying goodbye to the voices of intolerance, division and hate
TORONTO: As we say farewell to 2015, I hope the world unites in saying goodbye to the voices of intolerance, division and hate. I hope that as Canadians overcame the voice of intolerance and welcomed a voice of hope in their general election, Americans will follow suit to reject the policies of fear and hate and elect a voice of sanity that will bring people together. I can’t imagine what our world will look like if Donald Trump becomes the commander-in-chief of the most powerful nation in the world. My hope is also to see a positive and real change in European countries where radical conservatives have dominated the arena. We only think of a particular faith community when we discuss radicalism and fanaticism. The reality is that there are fanatics in every community. Imagine if a radical like Trump is given the power to press the nuclear weapon button and the impact his actions can have on the world. Given his current rhetoric, one can only imagine him nuking Mexicans, Muslims and others whom he considers troublemakers.
As we have seen in Trump, radicals come in different sizes and shapes. As in the case of Muslim radicals, where we attempt to find the reasons of their radicalisation, we need to figure out who played a role in radicalising people like Trump. Sadly, humanity as a whole is marginalised and voices of sanity are muzzled. Fanatics have hijacked the arena and are the only ones playing in the playground. I hope we can all unite to reclaim ground from these fanatics who are ruining our planet and creating mischief. They need to be confronted and told that the universe is vast enough to accommodate all of us, irrespective of colour and creed. We should learn to live and let live. The world is not as narrow as they portray it to be, where they draw a line in the sand and say you are either with us or with the enemy. We need to show these radicals, Trump and others alike, that the universe is bigger than them and their narrow-minded ideas.
I hope the new year will be a prosperous one where people will once again rediscover their sense of humanity and try to resolve their issues with reason and dialogue instead of the barrel of a gun and by spilling more blood. My ultimate hope is to see the US and its allies avoid resorting to bombings, which never brings peace, but only creates more death and destruction and fuels instability and chaos. Instead, I hope to see them using their intellect and sanity to tackle the crisis we as humans are facing around the globe. I really hope to see our planet become one where humans respect one another again and live in peace and harmony.
Abubakar N Kasim
Published in The Express Tribune, December 25th, 2015.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
