Extremism vs the liberal ideals – Prothom Alo (English)

Europes resolve is being tested by the extremists as they carry out a series of terrorist attacks in France, Germany and in the United Kingdom. Europe has been the traditional power house of development in the journey of human civilization for several centuries now and the honour was only shared by the US in the last one and now perhaps by China.

Europes history isnt just about worldwide empires and industrial revolution; its also about modernity as a whole. European countries gave birth to great things of human civilization like liberty, freedom, democracy, impartial administration, equality, peoples state i.e. republics, rule of law , human rights, media, civil society and also modern artistic and literary creativeness. As the law of the nature in erstwhile times, the stronger European nations created vast empires and colonies across the globe defeating the local kingdoms. But they spread these modern systems and ideas to those conquered places as well. Places like Asia, Africa and America wouldnt have seen all these in the times they encountered those if it was not for the Europeans.

The Europeans also took in a huge number of people from the countries they previously ruled. America did the same. And the immigrants, like the natives, now get all the amenities offered by these welfare states. It was a matter of great wonder for the people of the Orient and Africa that Europeans accepted people of oriental culture in their country with relative ease. In fact the ideas of multiculturalism and celebrating diversity have been the hallmark of European and North American liberal ideals over the last few decades. A sizable percentage of these immigrants were and, still are, Muslims and they form Muslim communities in those countries. Many families have lived in their adopted countries for more than a generation now. However, the same isnt really the case in the countries from where these Europe bound migrants originated.

Unfortunately, a section of these immigrant Muslim communities has embraced radicalism and carry out heinous terrorists acts in the countries where they live. In the process, these people are earning a bad name for their communities, the countries of their origin and Muslims worldwide. Now it seems that these radicals take advantage of European liberalism to live and spread their extreme ideologies and do everything to destroy those very liberal ideals that have allowed them to practice their faith and culture peacefully in the first place. The whole phenomenon has now turned out to be a complex and perplexing one. Its apparent that a sizable section hasnt embraced liberal ideals of Europe in the true spirit despite taking advantage of those. They are out there to spread hatred and violence with the aim of achieving an improbable and regressive Islamic theocracy in European countries.

The European governments are trying to tackle the situation as far as they can without undermining their liberal values. But its not easy. Nowadays a terrorist doesnt need guns or explosives. A suicidal terrorist can just drive a vehicle into a crowd and kill innocent people. Its about time the Muslim communities in Europe also take care of their community members and cooperate with the authorities to identify and deter radicalization and de-radicalize the already indoctrinated ones. Or else, it could be too late and they may eventually lose the degree of freedom, opportunities and welfare they had been enjoying in the liberal western societies so far like the other citizens. Every situation in the world is contingent upon certain explicit and tacit conditions of civility. If it is breached by one side, then its natural that others will eventually react. And that may not be a good thing to experience.

*Sarwar Jahan Chowdhury is a freelance contributor on politics, society and international relations. Currently, he works for BRAC Institute of Governance and Development, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

View post:

Extremism vs the liberal ideals - Prothom Alo (English)