When Nilanjana sent me this graphic earlier today, I have to admit that after my initial anger, my second reaction was one of resignment. After all, the arrest of Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad earlier this week brought with it the usual blanket condemnation of all things Pakistani. Even funnyman Stephen Colbert milked laughs with his emphasis on the name ‘Faisal.‘ Was it so unreasonable to think that the New York’s Metropolitan Transportation System would issue posters saying ‘If You See Something, Say Something. Even if You’re Pretty Sure He’s Just a Pakistani?’ Given the treatment of Japanese-Americans during WWII, I was not at all convinced this was a hoax. 
Luckily, both Nila and I were mistaken and this poster is not, in fact, an actual MTA poster. Gawker got it from a blog called The Daily Salty, whose author wondered back in 2007 whether or not the poster was genuine. He wrote, “Just how are people supposed to know they are Pakistani? And say not Sri Lankan? or from Trinidad?’ And of course as we all well know, folks living 10 miles apart on opposite sides of the Wagah border look very, very different (snark).
A comment on the post led to the creator, a graphic designer who created a series of gag posters as a joke. (Although it turns out it did actually get him a real job designing subway posters). Whew, good to know. Otherwise a real mutiny was about to go down up in here.
Honestly, he doesn’t look particularly Pakistani to me… he mostly looks like an unfortunately computer savvy Tamil dude…
It’s happening right now, in some jail in Manhattan.
You know what? I take it back. We should scream “BLOODY MURDER!!!” and run around like chickens with our heads cut off, murder all Muslims and turn the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan, and Afghanistan into glass parking lots. Then we can go after Indonesia, the Phillipines, Malaysia and Uighur country.
Good day, sir.
I agree its not Pakistani thats the relevant factor here, its Muslim.
The love-fest for Pakistani audience has not abated on this site. If the potential death of fellow Americans or Indians is not enough, maybe denial of jobs because of your brown skin and funny name will purge you of all liberalness and see the parasite Pakistan has become.
We have no idea what is happening there. Unless you know more.
You know what? I take it back. We should scream “BLOODY MURDER!!!” and run around like chickens with our heads cut off, murder all Muslims and turn the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan, and Afghanistan into glass parking lots. Then we can go after Indonesia, the Phillipines, Malaysia and Uighur country.
We obviously haven’t done that. If we had, I doubt we’d we’d be having this discussion.
Good day to you too. Hope you don’t get too roughed up at your next activist rally.
Faisal Shahzad’s family has ties to militants in the Pushtun heartland of Waziristan.
I am a Muslim with ties to Pakistan. Pakistan is a failure. The “Islamic nationalism” of that country goes contrary to traditional Islamic concepts. I am a Pushtun nationalist, before the Wagah line there was the Durand line which partitoned Afghanistan. India ends at the Sindh and the Punjab. The Punjab is the western frontier of the Desi world.
Muslims are not a threat to India. Many Indian Muslims are loyal Indians.
Partition was a mistake! We have the British to blame. Yes, historically Muslims ransacked and pillaged the norther Deccan. However, the Mughals originally from Uzbekistan stayed on in Delhi and Agra, creating a hybrid culture which married Hindu indigenous culture with Middle Eastern and Centeal Asian Muslim culture.
Faisal Shahzad does not speak for me as a Muslim.
Pakistan’s military has played a role in radicalizing that country. General Zia, as a dumb Islamist idiot who changed Pakistan’s history books by erasing it’s pre-Islamic heritage and stating the history of the country began in the 13th century. Even educated Pushtuns are aware of the Brahmanic-Vedic, Indo-Greco, Persian, and Zoroastrian heritage. Zarathrustra was born in Afghanistan.
As much as I regret the partition of British India, Jinnah was quite wise in his vision of Pakistan. General Zia and his ilk on the other hand, destroyed and poisoned the soul of that country.
Good day, sir.
Reason can never match the fervour of passion. This is true whether that passion comes from religious fundametalism or leftwing idealism. Both regard disagreement as arising from lack of morality.
That got messed up. Trying again:
You know what? I take it back. We should scream “BLOODY MURDER!!!” and run around like chickens with our heads cut off, murder all Muslims and turn the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan, and Afghanistan into glass parking lots. Then we can go after Indonesia, the Phillipines, Malaysia and Uighur country. Good day, sir.
Reason can never match the fervour of passion. This is true whether that passion comes from religious fundametalism or leftwing idealism. Both regard disagreement as arising from lack of morality.
I
And rightfully so.
Pip Cheerio!
“Even educated Pushtuns are aware of the Brahmanic-Vedic, Indo-Greco, Persian, and Zoroastrian heritage. Zarathrustra was born in Afghanistan.”
This strain of Pathan nationalism is reminiscent of secular Iranian nationalism. On paper it looks interesting but its a very hollow and not very well defined.
As a Pakistani (British now) I find the Baloch and Pathan agitations to be slightly humourous; 60% of Baloch don’t speak Baloch and 70% live outside of Balochistan. An estimated half of Pathans do not live in NWFP (10 million live in the “Indian provinces” of Punjab and Sindh”..
“India ends at the Sindh and the Punjab. The Punjab is the western frontier of the Desi world.”
Really depends on what you define as India; if we equate South Asia and India then there is some legitimate arguments that it ends in the Hindu Kush (Hindu mountains) in Afghanistan. Furthermore if you run through the argument that we must sub-divide Pakistan then the Derajat and the Suleiman ranges are the truer ranges of Indic-speaking Pakistan (the Hazara, Hindko and Sindhis overlap)..
I would argue that Pakistan is the blending zone between the Islamic world and India; its so hybridized that its very very difficult to draw a line across (even linguistic analysis is faulty- substratic analysis of Pashto shows Dravidian influence, odd for an Iranian language).. As they say Pakistan is either the Western Frontier of South Asia or the Eastern Extremity of the Middle East; there are reasonable cases for both..
“Faisal Shahzad does not speak for me as a Muslim.”
I completely agree Pakistanis and Muslims need to vitriolacally and vocally condemn such acts of violence. As I say we could do with Gandhian non-violent philosophy much much much more (in so many ways Jinnah provides a template for peaceful and successful Muslim successes, possibly the only man of the 20th century to do so, which could explain why he was so revered)..
vitriolically not vitriolacally
Tomato Tomahtoe
I think you mean “Tomayto, tomato”
“As I say we could do with Gandhian non-violent philosophy”
-actually Gandhi’s philosophy better suits the terrorist, as Gandhi said its better to die than fight back
http://www.scribd.com/doc/30729870/Gandhi-A-True-Mahatma-Complete
So…if the IRA was terrorizing the protestant population of England with trashcan bombs and car bombs, does that mean that a disproportionate number of Catholics were terrorists?
Or am I the only one who remembers the Troubles?
Ah, how quickly we forget…
Yes. Was this supposed to be a trick question? I suppose the main difference between the IRA and the Islamists was that the IRA’s goals and methods were limited–they weren’t, for example, trying to acquire a nuclear device and detonate it in the UK (nor did their territorial ambitions extend beyond Ireland). If the Islamists aren’t stopped, they probably will acquire and use a nuclear device, and then hundreds of millions of Muslims will be dead within months–in whose interest is that?,
@ Metal Mickey,
Some American Irish supported the IRA during the Troubles.
Some Muslims, including American Desis, do support and condone malignant Islamism. Turkey is ruled by a benign Islamist regime. I’m a secular benign Islamist. I do not agree with the imposition of violence to coerce others to convert or practice Islam. Religion is a personal matter. Gandhi studied Islam but was a Hindu. Guru Nanak studied Islam but raised a Hindu. All religions have their merits. The issues we see in the Muslim world are rioted in conflict, scarce resources, tribalism, sexism, misogyny, racism, ethnocentric thinking, ignorance, prejudice, and bias.
India was remained loyal to secular nationalism, Pakistan acquired a “theocratic nationalism” which was promoted in the military and has become cancerous.
” Darth Paul on May 6, 2010 2:23 PM Looks like TP propaganda…”
At first glance I thought the TP was for toilet paper (my shorthand for my shop list.) Then I realized it must be for “Tea Party” – correct me if that’s wrong. Most tea partiers are strange & scary characters and quite capable of propaganda.
The MTA poster, which is supposed to be a joke, reflects the reality especially after the events of 9/11. As a brown Hindu born and raised in the US, I see strangers giving me and my family creepy suspicious looks -people are scared. How does a local WASP (or any white American) know the difference between a Hindu/Muslim/Brown/whatever. They are all lumped together as a suspicious group. My daughter has an acquaintance from school who is Pakistani (with pale white skin and light brown hair – she looks more like a northern Italian or French girl) and has similar coloring like the nutcase Failsal Shazhad. In the media pictures, Shazhad doesn’t look like a typical Desi at all. So should people who look French or Italian be watched? It’s crazy.
The commenter Mustafa brings up some valid and interesting points. It seems it’s always the loud obnoxious idiots that are trying to represent a religion of over a billion people, who are overall a peaceful group.
This is my opinion only, but I’m not sure if it’s a religious war going on. It’s more like a white vs brown issue to me. I believe Islam came directly from Judaism, and the followers of Islam observe the Old Testament & the 10 Commandments, believe in the Christian/Judaic concepts of angels, monotheism, etc (the angel Gabriel was supposed to have given the Koran to Mohammed – or something like that) Hindu/Buddhist/Jains are quite different. Of course there is some overlap like, Thou shall not kill (like Hinduism’s ahimsa) and so forth. To me, Islam has much more in common with the Jewish & Christian religions than with Hinduism/Jainism/Buddhism. So if there is a religious war, I would think Hinduism and Buddhism would be the first targets, not Islam. (Although there are Pat Robertson types and lots of other Bible Thumpers who hate Hindus and other brownie religions with a passion.)
” So if there is a religious war, I would think Hinduism and Buddhism would be the first targets, not Islam. (Although there are Pat Robertson types and lots of other Bible Thumpers who hate Hindus and other brownie religions with a passion.)”
That’s crude and simplistic. First of all, there is very, very unlikely going to be a ‘religious war’. One of the reasons being that religion is at best something part time in the Western world, particularly Europe. Secondly, while the origins of Hinduism and Buddhism are different than the so called “Abrahamic’ religions, there are other factors about people and countries falling under those religions that would prevent any serious hostility breaking out. In fact some of them, India being outstanding, have other features like freedom, democracy, pluralism, openness, the English language, commitment to modernity etc, that are attractive and worthy of support. Religious difference isn’t everything; for many people, it’s negligible or nothing.
“It’s more like a white vs brown issue to me.”
Interesting that you mention this! Just yesterday, I was talking to a Black Christian originally from Guyana, who also happens to be a Christian teacher. Guess what? This guy is completely comfortable with Hinduism- imagery, devotion and people. He said he sees no conflict between his Christian affiliations and going every now and then to a Hindu temple. What a contrast to the neanderthal, ignorant, crude, bigoted Pat Robertson and Billy Graham types. It’s more the white Christian, specifically the devout, zealous kind of white Christian, who propagates the nonsense of Hinduism being a false religion, and Hindus in need of conversion.
Varun, I’m with you 90%. If Kashmir cooks off again, won’t that be a “religious war,” though? My (crude?) read of European history is that their religious wars ended in 1638. After that it the wars were over nationalism and then, political ideology, at least the big ones. But it’s parroting Euros too much to think that somehow “religious” war is more uncivilized than ethnic war. . . .
gm, I think “Abrahamics” as a useful term fades in importance once you know more. Muslims are the only one whose holy book says “slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them. If they repent and take to prayer and render the alms levy, allow them to go their way. God is forgiving and merciful.” (Sura 9:5) Sure, there’s the “out of context” claim, etc., etc. but that’s a firm textual basis for the jihadis like Hafiz Saeed. And just look at the history of the subcontinent (which I’ve learned the real truth about since coming to America, since Indian textbooks are censored on the topic of Islamic invasions and temple destructions).
Thank you so much for exposing HATE PREACHERs like AHMED QURESHI.
Such people brainwash young minds and preach hate against WEST but will never point out the mistakes of our own nation.
Faisal Shahzad is Pushtun, that explains his fair complexion. I am ethnic kin to him. But while his family joined the Pakistani military, my family served in the Royal Afghan Air Force prior to the Saur Revolution and Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
Pushtuns are Pakistan’s Achilles Heel.
This man’s conversion to militant Islam is sad but not surprising.
My favorite Hindu bhajan is from the film Jodha Ackbar called “Manmohana” by Muslim convert AR Rehman.
cant we all just get along? i say this not for lack of something more productive to say, but after thinking long and hard, and erasing my pennyworth of pseudosophiticated rant. god knows we have enough people here to make no point at endless length.