A Muslim teen was led out of a Texas school in handcuffs after a teacher mistook his homemade digital clock for a bomb, prompting accusations of Islamophobia and an online backlash. (Source)
After news about the arrest spread, the #IStandWithAhmed hashtag was started on Twitter to show support for Ahmed and his family. According to BBC, a college student named Amneh Jafari started the hashtag because Ahmed reminded her of her brothers and she was shocked by the story. Over 700,000 people tweeted in support, including many tech companies who have offered Ahmed internships and visits to their offices. Mark Zuckerberg showed his support on his Facebook page stating, “The future belongs to people like Ahmed.” (Source)
President Obama tweeted-
Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great.
Hillary Clinton tweeted –
Assumptions and fear don’t keep us safe—they hold us back.
Ahmed, stay curious and keep building. https://t.co/
ywrlHUw3g1
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 16, 2015
Amneh Jafari, who created the hash tag wrote, “If his name was John he would be labelled as a genius. Since its Ahmed he’s labelled as a “suspect”. #doublestandards #IStandWithAhmed.” (Source)
Ahmed is a ninth grade student who invented a clock with the help of a circuit board and a power supply wired to a digital display. The clock and its wirings were all strapped inside a case. He carried the clock to school to impress his teachers but instead of being appreciated he was handcuffed as the teachers assumed it to be a bomb.
This incidence is undoubtedly a harvest of racial discrimination and the so called Islamophobia or anti-muslim sentiment which is nothing but a prejudice to the religion of Islam. This has ignited a fresh debate on the incidences of colour discrimination in academic disciplines of science since there have been similar incidents prior to this which are nowhere related to Islamophobia. In May 2013, a young woman named Kiera Wilmot who was a budding scientist, was accused of lighting a chemical fire during one of her experiments. Her arrest was an averment of the fact that African American children are subjected to harsh discipline rules in schools than their white counterparts. It has put a big question mark on the conviction that everyone gets equal opportunity in the developed countries like America.
The question is whether Americans suffer from a mental illness called Islamophobia even after 14 years of the attack on World trade centre. Is it fair to label a whole faith as terrorists since the protagonist was a Muslim in the attacks? As per the list given by religion for peace, the number of Americans killed by Muslims in America in 75 terror attacks since 1972 is 3,106. The number of people killed in the 9/11 attacks is 2,996 which is enough to raise their concerns towards terrorism but it can not justify the discrimination on the grounds of religion.
Shortly after the attacks of 9/11, President Bush made a public appearance at Washington’s largest Islamic Centre and acknowledged the “incredibly valuable contribution” that millions of American Muslims made to their country and called for them “to be treated with respect.” However, numerous incidents of harassment and hate crimes against Muslims and South Asians were reported in the days following the attacks. Sikhs were also targeted because Sikh males usually wear turbans, which are stereotypically associated with Muslims. There were reports of attacks on mosques and other religious buildings (including the firebombing of a Hindu temple), and assaults on people, including one murder: Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh mistaken for a Muslim, was fatally shot on September 15, 2001, in Mesa, Arizona. Even 2 days before the 14th anniversary of 9/11 attacks Inderjit Singh Mukker, a 53-year-old cab driver was beaten unconscious and taunted as a “terrorist “and “bin Laden” by another driver.
It’s high time when America should work on finding the actual cause of terrorism and not attribute it to any faith, religion, caste or colour.
