“I haven’t done anything wrong but still I feel hesitant and even ashamed sometimes to tell the people around that I am Pakistani. That is all because of Faisal Shahzad,” laments Muhammad Nasir, 45, Pakistani American living in New York.
The situation, according to Nasir, was actually “very tense” for the Pakistani community in the first couple of days because of a possible backlash. “It was difficult for us to even face each other. I did not go to a market for three days because Faisal Shahzad stared at us from the front pages of all newspapers lying there. Every second person wanted to know if I was familiar with him (Faisal) or his family.”
Khawar Rizvi, a Washington-based freelance journalist says the involvement of a Pakistan-born American in Time Square bombing has led to a sense of insecurity among the Pakistani community in the US all over again. “Christmas-bombing and a couple of other incidents helped in a way to shift the world’s focus from Pakistan, but the Faisal Shahzad episode has changed things for the worse yet again. It has also badly affected Pakistan’s equation with the US as a chief ally in the war on terror,” he says.
Rizvi thinks the general Muslim youth in the US was disillusioned, especially those with roots in Pakistan. “They are based here but their heart is in the homeland of their ancestors. It’s a very dangerous trend. …I will not be surprised if tomorrow somebody bullies me in the street only because I am from Pakistan.”
It is clear that the Pakistani Muslims based in the US are having to fight an image, especially so in the wake of the Faisal Shahzad bombing attempt. They don’t necessarily identify themselves with the perpetrator of the failed bombing attempt, but they don’t have a choice.
For some, the reaction of the American society towards the Time Square attack was strange. Los Angeles-based 35 years old Waqas Nazir who came here in 2005 says he was expecting a good deal of backlash on the very next day after the incident. “I knew I’d be subjected to some spiteful racial taunts. I was wrong. Nobody asked me anything related to the attack, and it was a regular work day.”
Ashraf Qazi, chairman of the Council on Pakistan Relations, an advocacy group for Pakistani-Americans, says that Faisal’s act has tarnished Pakistani community’s image. “The incident is going to have both short-term and long-term implications for Pakistani-Americans. But, fortunately, we live in a civilised society and it is not difficult to win the confidence back. Once we move forward, the incident will become history.
“The average American knows that an act of an individual or a small group of individuals does not mean the whole Pakistani community is supporting terrorism.”
For Qazi, the most disturbing part is the fact that many Pakistani-Americans are not catching up with the reality. “They are in still in a state of denial and believe that it is some conspiracy against Pakistan and Islam. This is very unfortunate.”
He believes that right now the world has the most negative perception of Pakistan. “9/11 was planned and executed by the Arabs but they were granted immunity and nobody pointed a finger at them in the US. We should learn to take care of our community concerns and avoid conflicts.”
– A. Sahi
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