By Abubakar N. Kasim
No matter how horrific the crime is, no one seems to bother taking action against the gun lobby or to question the ideology of the suspect and his upbringing.
So-called “experts” will control their reaction. So will the media. No one else, including the wellconnected gun lobby, will bear any blame.
No religious community will be forced to issue a statement of condemnation.
No priest will be pelted by reporters with questions on why one his followers would do such a thing.
My condolences to those who have lost their lives and those who have been injured in Las Vegas and elsewhere.
I wish we would have treated this senseless and heinous crime the same way we treat all other horrific and senseless crimes.
But unfortunately, it will soon be forgotten, until another mass shooting take place.
Tight-lipped experts will philosophize whether the gun is to blame, or the human using it. The debate will turn into chicken-versus-egg; which one comes first?
The only way the media gets excited about such madness is when somehow dots are connected between the crime and the faith of more than 1.2 billion followers.
Had those responsible in U.S. mass shootings been Muslims, there would have been swifter reaction.
Aside from U.S. President Donald Trump calling them “losers,” he would have rushed to sign executive orders and soon other people who might be connected to the perpetrator would be questioned and interrogated.
We need to wake up from our double-standard and treat a crime as a crime no matter who is behind it.
We should not call it a terrorist act only when it is orchestrated by a Muslim.
We should call it one when it is committed by a person who doesn’t follow that faith, as well — no matter how many innocent lives are lost.
We ought to treat these horrific crimes the same way in our reaction, in the media’s handling it and in the investigators’ approach — as human life is the same no matter how it is being lost.
ABUBAKAR N. KASIM
Toronto
Email:[email protected]
