I think we can all agree on the fact that Islamophobia exists and has quite a negative impact on this world. One such recent example of this prejudice against Islam is how April 3 was declared as ‘Punish a Muslim Day’ in Britain. A very disturbing letter was circulated among people and even Muslim MPs. It detailed of a point-based system which rewarded people with different points for performing violent acts against Muslims.
Of course, this created a lot of fear and anxiety amongst Muslims and precautionary measures were discussed, like urging Muslims to not go out on that day. Another suggestion was that the women who wear hijab should swap it with beanies or scarves for a day. Needless to say, it’s downright disgusting that we have to go through all this hatred in the 21st century.
But looks like this day did more good than harm because the number of people who came out in support of Muslims was overwhelming. When #PunishAMuslimDay started trending on Twitter, it was met with a counter hashtag #LoveAMuslimDay and many others like #WeStandTogether. People also organised initiatives like ‘Protect A Muslim Day’ to help Muslims feel safe on that day.
So what happens when all this hate is spewed out against a certain community? Let me answer it in pictures:
The overwhelming response of people gave me so much hope, although we all must acknowledge that this thing is not just limited to a certain day and is happening all over the world in different forms. So, the least you can do is to make people who face hate crimes feel safe through such initiatives and make the world a better place to live in. In conclusion, please take a moment to appreciate Hasan Minhaj’s optimism about this day:
