A closeted gay madman triggers anti-Muslim hysteria
Omar Mateen, an American national of Afghan descent, attacked a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 persons and injuring another 53. In the US the killer has been widely branded an “Islamic fanatic” with links to the Islamic State.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has made no bones about declaring Mateen a “radical” Muslim. Its agents had interrogated him twice before the slaughter took place, but found no evidence he was linked to any militant outfit.
Mateen was in fact mentally unstable and a frequent visitor to the club, a favourite haunt of the gay community. Meanwhile he visited mosques only occasionally. Donald Trump has pounced on the mass shooting and used it to whip up anti-Muslim sentiment in his presidential election campaign. He has criticised the whole Muslim community living in the US and spoke of a ban on Muslim immigrants if he is elected president.
The Orlando shooting must be treated as a case of an unstable person with a disturbed life, not as a pretext to spread anti-Islam and anti-Muslim sentiment in a bid to get elected. The attack is to be condemned in the strongest terms, but using it to undermine Islam and Muslims is an injustice to the US Muslim community.
Mazhar Ali
Khairpur, Pakistan
(Dawn/ANN)
