By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: In his famous speech in Cairo Barak Hussain Obama might have emphasized conciliation towards the Muslim world but it is completely belied by the way US embassies and security agencies across the world treat Muslims.
The recent addition to the list of Islamophobia victims is Zia Haq who works with Hindustan Times as Assistant Editor (Political Bureau). Mr. Haq couldn’t visit US as a part of delegation of Journalists because he was denied VISA by the US Embassy in New Delhi.
Additional checks were required
The noteworthy fact here is, while all other journalists in the delegation were promptly granted visas, his case was put on hold because some “additional information” was required.
Those whose visas were promptly granted include journalists M.J. Prabhu of the Hindu,S. Swain of the Financial Express, Vivek Giridhari of the Lokmat, U. Pandey of the Dainik Jagran, Sudhakara Reddy of the Sakshi and Uma Sudhir of the NDTV.
When contacted the visa authorities gave this in writing to Mr. Haq: “We are unable to issue your visa at this time as we require additional information. Further action on your case has been suspended under section 221(G) of the Immigration and Nationally Act until we receive the information indicated below. Your application requires further administrative processing. We shall contact you as soon as the administrative processing is completed. We regret that we are unable to provide with an estimate as to how long this will take.”
Why me for additional checks?
Talking to TwoCircles.net, Zia pointed out, “Here is the ugly fact. Only I was subjected to additional checks. What prompted this? My religion? My faith? My views? Am I to the US what Noam Chomsky is to Israel?”
“Officially, reasons are never cited for visa refusals and delays but it ostensibly has to do
with who I am, a Muslim,” he added.
Instance of Islamophobia
Regarding it as an ostensible case of Islamophobia, Mr. Haq pointed out; “US embassies
and security agencies still remain wary of Muslim-sounding names. In a word, they seem
to suffer from Islamophobia — as much a crime against humanity, in my view, as anti-
Semitism is.”
His is not the only case. In recent past, Professor G. N. Qazi, the vice chancellor of Jamia
Hamdard University and also a former Fulbright scholar and Fayaz Khudsar, an award winning scientist were denied a visa to US.
US embassies can be more effective than Farah Pandit
The whole point is that no law-abiding Muslim should be made to bear the brunt of what Bin Laden has done to America, just as no innocent American citizen should bear the brunt of mindless terror, he added.
He had a word of advice for Obama, “It is not people like Farah Pandit, who can possibly build that critical bridge with the Muslim world, as much as US diplomatic missions and embassies. US embassies touch the lives of Muslims in their respective countries at a more personal level than Pandit herself. They aren’t upholding your words sincerely enough.”
(Important Note:- Email us at [email protected] if your US visa was
denied or pending for more than a month. We want to hear from you– Editor.)