With Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik still fresh in our minds with his anti-multiculturalism manifesto, it is but natural to question the direction the UK riots will take sooner or later. In the beginning it was merely reported as a peaceful protest by the relatives of 29-year-old Mark Duggan, who was shot dead on Thursday night by police in the Tottenham area of North London. Later it turned violent as the African Caribbean community protested against the police killing. By the third day clips of both white and black youngsters prowling the streets, mugging and robbing, were all over the internet. And by Tuesday we have reports of the brown people getting together to protect their worship places. Why did the Sikh in Southall West London feel the need to stand guard in front of the Gurdwara? Or Muslims feel the need to protect Mosques?
The rioting in London has become the most discussed topic and it seems that the English mob spirit is not much different than the mob spirit in Pakistan, which has me in a quandary of sorts. I know that shouldn't be the case, because supposedly all human beings are the same and must be treated equally without any discrimination on the basis of color or creed. But despite all these noble ideas, I find it strange to get accustomed to news coming from the ‘tame’ West which can match the reports coming out of Pakistan on some level.
While reading accounts of the situation from bystanders or affectees and the details of what the security agencies plan to do has a striking resemblance to what happens in Pakistan every now and then. The broad difference between the two is that when the same happens in Pakistan, it can easily be dismissed under the garb of Islamic terrorism and its repercussions.
Though terrorism is a part of the problem it is not the 'only' one. There are many other evils that ail the society at large, a major one being unemployment. Currently developed countries are facing an alarming increase in the unemployment rate (UK 7.7% and US 9.1%); however countries like Pakistan have already been battling with this issue. Pakistan’s unemployment rate is quoted at 15% by Google, forcing many people to migrate to greener pastures.
The same working class who is unable to make ends meet in their native country thrives and gets better with time, ultimately financing and sponsoring many of their relatives to their adopted country. They run local businesses, drive trucks, taxis etc and meanwhile keep developing their network, so much so that they end up creating a mini Punjab, or Gujrat in countries like UK, US, Australia etc. This has always created resentment among the native populations of the developed countries. Granted that many natives of these countries are secular in their approach and respect diversity, but still many are around who are far more aggressive and who carry the torch of hatred. In reality the number of haters could actually even be higher, but due to the secular nature of their governments, they are reigned in.
Only two years ago reports had started pouring in about widespread targeting of Indians in Australia which was cited to be random and not racist in nature by many. I fear with the rising unemployment within the native populations of these developed countries, resentment towards brown people will increase. Since we are more in number, and provide cheap labor not just when we live in developed countries, but also when work is out sourced to us, we are a much likely target to vent out frustration at than the local police.
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