Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said online hate is segregating the world we live in and called for strict action against it during an interview to CBC’s chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.

The PM said the use of terms Islamic extremism and Islamic radical started after the publication of Salman Rushdie’s book and then after the 9/11 incident that has driven a wedge amongst humanity.

He highlighted the grave issue of Islamophobia in the Western world, talking about the four members of a Pakistan-origin family in Ontario who were killed last week by Nathaniel Veltman, a Canadian, because of their religion.

The prime minister said the use of the term “Islamic radicals” indicates there is something wrong with the religion which makes people radical. Contrarily, terrorism has no religion as extremists are found in every society, he added.

He called for closing the gap as Muslims living in western countries were suffering due to Islamophobia.

“Everyone is shocked in [Pakistan], because we saw the family picture, and so a family being targeted like that has had a deep impact in Pakistan,” Prime Minister Khan said.

He said the recent pattern of domestic terror in Western countries demanded immediate attention to online radicalization.

He said the condemnable act of terrorism revealed the growing Islamophobia in Western countries. “Islamophobia needs to be countered holistically by the international community,” he remarked.

‘Some world leaders do not understand the problem’

The prime minister told the interviewer that he had raised the issue with his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau, describing him as a leader who understood the importance of fighting online hate and Islamophobia.

He urged other leaders to make such a commitment and reiterated that there was not enough motivation and that some international leaders, or leaders in Western countries, actually did not understand this phenomenon.

Secular extremism

He described Quebec’s Bill 21 — which banned public servants, including teachers and police officers from wearing religious symbols at work — as a form of “secular extremism” that led to intolerance against Muslims.

He asked as to why it became a big issue when someone wears Hijab or grows a beard in the west. “People objecting to Hijab and a beard is quite bizarre for me. In liberal democracies, why this is an issue,” he questioned.