In a latest and rather surprising move, Prime Minister Imran Khan, along with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad have agreed to jointly counter anti-Islam forces. Three leaders reportedly took part in a trilateral summit on the sidelines of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Wednesday where they agreed on possible measures to counter Islamophobia. PM Khan is known for his vocal and upright position on the subject. He has been seen many times schooling western media persons and experts on the subject.
President Erdogan, PM Mahatir and myself had a meeting today in which we decided our 3 countries would jointly start an English language channel dedicated to confronting the challenges posed by Islamophobia and setting the record straight on our great religion – Islam.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) September 25, 2019
PM also announced on his Twitter handle that a TV channel was going to be launched by these three countries. “President Erdogan, PM Mahatir and myself had a meeting today in which we decided our 3 countries would jointly start an English language channel dedicated to confronting the challenges posed by Islamophobia and setting the record straight on our great religion – Islam.”
He further noted that “Misperceptions which bring people together against Muslims would be corrected; issue of blasphemy would be properly contextualized; series & films would be produced on Muslim history to educate/inform our own people & the world; Muslims would be given a dedicated media presence.”
Misperceptions which bring people together against Muslims would be corrected; issue of blasphemy would be properly contextualized; series & films would be produced on Muslim history to educate/inform our own people & the world; Muslims would be given a dedicated media presence.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) September 25, 2019
According to Pakistan’s permanent representative Maleeha Lodhi, the states have agreed “to promote the narrative of Muslims to counter Islamophobia and to cooperate in the area of film and also establish a joint TV channel”.
The three countries, she added, affirmed to pool their talent and knowledge, as well as, collaborating in research and development.
It is important to note that since the end of the 20th century there have been deliberate efforts by the western media and scholars to present a violent image of Islam. In this regard, Edward Said wrote an insightful book titled ‘Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World‘ and presented a factual analysis of the situation. He outlined how the western media deliberately initiated a war against imagined violent Islam.
Pakistan has been on the victims of sectarian violence which resulted in the killing of many prominent scholars from different Islamic traditions.
The leading newspapers in the United States in the 1990s published countless anti-Islam articles. In 1996 an article titled Seeing Green; The Red Menace Is Gone. But Here’s Islam was carried out by the New York Times which cultivated hatred against Islam by dividing people between Us vs. Them. The campaign against Islam resulted in what now the Western Media terms as “hate crimes”. The white supremacists do not want Muslims to be there at any cost. Now it is questioning the order within developed societies e.g. USA, UK, and Australia.
Political analysts and experts believe that Pakistan along with other Muslim countries should work on countering the propaganda against Islam. In this age of information warfare, it is pivotal to tell the world truth about Islam. In this regard, the efforts of the Prime Minister are appreciable. However, there is much which still needs to be addressed at home i.g. sectarianism. Pakistan has been on the victims of sectarian violence which resulted in the killing of many prominent scholars from different Islamic traditions.
Read more: Erdogan calls for Kashmir Solution based on justice and equity
Meanwhile, the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) asked India to reverse its decision of revoking the special status of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and allow “full and free access” to international bodies, including OIC and United Nations (UN), to independently investigate reports of “gross and systematic human rights violations taking place there”.
The statement by the 57-member bloc of Muslim countries was issued following a meeting of foreign ministers of OIC Contact Group on Kashmir held on the sidelines of the 74th session of UNGA.