Why can’t we help create a fund from Muslim donors to assist Muslim communities facing disaster?
ISLAMABAD: It is almost every day now that you open the newspaper in the morning and see a picture of the Rohingya Muslim migrants cramped in rickety boats anxiously waiting for a country to be their saviour. Although one is merely looking at their picture in the newspaper, one can still sense the torture they are bearing on a daily basis. The stranded passengers have been afloat for the past few months. The captain and the crew have abandoned them. They have no resources or provision for food or water on the boat and rely heavily on assistance from any country willing to accept them. The passengers are both females and males of all ages. But, so far, the countries these migrants have approached have all shown reluctance to accept the influx of 6,000 to 20,000 refugees into their lands so as to avoid the consequent burden on their economies. Myanmar, considered to be their homeland, has refused to acknowledge them as their own citizens, hence rendering the community stateless.
The tragedy I find deplorable is not just the conditions these displaced people are suffering in, but also the negligent attitude of the Muslim community towards them. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was established almost 50 years ago to “safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony”. Where are the advocates of such peace and harmony today? Why do we always wait for the UNHCR or other such international organisations run by Western governments to take care of communities, especially the Muslim community? Why have we decided to remain aloof and callous towards their plight? Muslims have faced much misfortune in the past decade, be it the people of Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria or, lately, Yemen. Why can’t we revise the pedestals on which the formation of the OIC was laid and help create a fund from Muslim donors to assist Muslim communities facing disaster? In this way, the countries providing shelter to them will not be burdened and collectively, the Muslim world can share the financial constraints of the host country.
Maria Khawar
The Express Tribune, May 25th, 2015.
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