Warsis frank advice

Baroness Syeda Warsi has bravely raised her voice against the racial prejudice Muslims have to suffer at the hands of Britons. Her words assume all the more importance, given her position as the Chairperson of the Conservative Party that currently holds the reins of power. The British public, it is hoped, would seriously dwell on their conduct towards Muslim diaspora, especially those belonging to Pakistan and the Middle East who are usually victimised on racial grounds. She cautioned against the tendency of compartmentalising Muslims into absurd categories of 'moderate and 'extremists. This discrimination, she rightly posited, was itself a source of creating misconception about Muslims and she warned that it was creating divisions within the British society. The British as well as the Westerners need to understand that Islamophobia is one of the biggest bogeys that have been raised by some of their short-sighted leaders and must be removed from their minds before it is too late. With incidents like 9/11, the evil minded groups like the neocons and other power-hungry politicians were able to create a false scare about Islam. Unfortunately, the public at large, took this ill-intentioned propaganda as a gospel truth. The result has been a deeply divided society ill at ease with itself. A majority of Westerners seem to be forgetting that it was the composite nature of their culture that had brought them unrivalled progress and glory and that Muslims have co-existed peacefully with them for ages contributing to the development of society with enthusiasm. This is an indication of the fact that they have been no less patriotic than other Europeans or for that matter Britons. There is dire need to wean the ordinary Westerners away from the message of those who want hatred to be the order of the day. Leaders like Baroness Syeda Warsi have shown that Muslims could be as loving as others and would not want to hate others on religious or racial grounds.

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