From The Times of India
December 15, 2013 | by Malini Nair
Arsalan Iftikhar is one of the best-known faces of Islamic pacifism in the US. An international human rights lawyer and founder of TheMuslimGuy.com, a website dedicated to pacifist Islam, he jolted America’s conscience recently when he tweeted against the defacing of a GAP ad featuring Sikh model Waris Ahluwalia in a New York subway station. This resulted in a huge public uproar in the virtual world and the fashion retailer responded with heartwarming speed — it put the ad up as its Twitter background photo in solidarity. He tells Malini Nair that people should use social media to speak out against racism because their story might just help empower millions around the world
What was your first thought when you saw the defaced GAP ad featuring Waris Ahluwalia at a New York subway station with racist graffiti — the ‘Make Love’ scrawled over with ‘Make Bomb’ and ‘Please stop driving taxis’ thrown in?
Since my parents are originally from the Punjab in Pakistan, it made me very proud to see a Sikh American featured in a Gap ad campaign. So when I saw the offensive and racist graffiti on this photograph, I wanted my 40,000 Facebook/Twitter followers to see that racism was still alive and well in America. Of course, I had absolutely no idea that my small social media campaign would turn out to become international news, but I hope that this makes people see that social media andthe Internet can be used for good things.
You have commented that the idea of a postracial America is not a reality yet. Despite several initiatives by members of diverse communities why do these racial stereotypes survive?
In American history, the concept of the ‘other’ has always been an important part of society. During the Cold War, it was the “Red Scare” with communist Soviets. Now, in the post-September 11 era, it is Arabs, Muslims, South Asians and other “foreign” brown people. Sadly, as a civil rights lawyer, I know that Sikh men who wear turbans and Muslim women who wear the hijab have been especially targeted in post-9/11 hate crimes, including the first hate crime murder after September 11 being a Sikh gas station owner named Balbir Singh Sodhi.
