Mr. Cole, I first was introduced to you through your book on the Lucknow Shiite Kingdom...was a great piece of work.
On your comment above, I have a couple of disagreements...
1) I think the argument that you put forth saying "400 joined and the others have nothing to do with it" is disingenious...in almost all violent phenomena, those that actually pick up the gun or the sword are usually way less in number than those that subscribe to the ideology that leads to violence (combination of factors, fear, cowardice, insufficient motivation)...and it is that strand of hatred that is Wahabbi/Salafi inspired that is gaining currency....as a non-white, non-christian immigrant living in the USA (happily I must say), i do have to say that over time, we can sense this radicalization gaining currency
2) You mentioned how the guy running the Twitter feed for these thugs that actually turned out to be someone in Bangalore...that I think is what makes the problem more global and hence more dangerous...thats part of the "We are part of the Ummah" mythology that the salafites have been able to sell....no conflict is local....in their minds, Kashmir becomes a holy cause for all Muslims, so does Kosovo, so does Bosnia(the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 were orchestrated by a caucasian american convert)...and thats what makes it so fearful for non-Muslims...to sweep the apprehensions and fears under the carpet as nothing but Islamophobia would be fool-hardy and counter-productive....
Would love to hear your comments
Mr. Cole, I first was introduced to you through your book on the Lucknow Shiite Kingdom...was a great piece of work.
On your comment above, I have a couple of disagreements...
1) I think the argument that you put forth saying "400 joined and the others have nothing to do with it" is disingenious...in almost all violent phenomena, those that actually pick up the gun or the sword are usually way less in number than those that subscribe to the ideology that leads to violence (combination of factors, fear, cowardice, insufficient motivation)...and it is that strand of hatred that is Wahabbi/Salafi inspired that is gaining currency....as a non-white, non-christian immigrant living in the USA (happily I must say), i do have to say that over time, we can sense this radicalization gaining currency
2) You mentioned how the guy running the Twitter feed for these thugs that actually turned out to be someone in Bangalore...that I think is what makes the problem more global and hence more dangerous...thats part of the "We are part of the Ummah" mythology that the salafites have been able to sell....no conflict is local....in their minds, Kashmir becomes a holy cause for all Muslims, so does Kosovo, so does Bosnia(the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 were orchestrated by a caucasian american convert)...and thats what makes it so fearful for non-Muslims...to sweep the apprehensions and fears under the carpet as nothing but Islamophobia would be fool-hardy and counter-productive....
Would love to hear your comments