By Waseem Aslam (ROCHDALE)
"Winston wondered how far this falsification would go. Given the inexorable nature of the Party’s project, sooner or later, they would declare that two and two are five and if he, Winston questioned it he would probably be a lunatic and 'in a minority of one".
These are the words of Winston Smith the fictional character in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four , in the book Winston is a clerk in the Ministry of Truth, his job to rewrite historical documents to fit the current party line.
Winston writing the above in his diary ponders on how far the party, which in essence represents "the state" would go to rewrite the truth to fit it's own purpose, to you and me this means propaganda, to shape the views of people in a deliberate manner for a pre-conceived end.
Propaganda was something Gordon Brown in his first public outing as the new Prime Minister talked about on the BBC's Sunday AM show (Sunday 1/7/2007). Interviewed by an almost apologetic Andrew Marr when asked if he (Brown) thought there was a direct link between Iraq and London he commented
"The terrorist threat we're dealing with is about a long term and sustained attack on the values that we represent...... And that's why the cultural effort, almost similar to what happened during the Cold War in the nineteen forties, fifties and sixties when we had to mount a propaganda effort, if you like, to explain to people that our values represented the best of commitments to individual dignity, to liberty and to human life being taken seriously. And I think that's what we are going to have to talk about in the next few years".
This statement sums up the message Brown and sectors of the government have been giving since the failed attacks in London and Glasgow, the script reads "It's about them hating our way of life, they think our women are slags, they want to kill anyone that doesn't believe in their way of life", and this line has been spun out in a manner that would make the spin doctors of the early Blair years green with envy.
The discussion of values and ideas hasn't been limited to government circles with Channel 4 News, BBC Newsnight amongst those discussing these points too. A picture is now being painted about a cultural war between the West and the ideas of an evil ideology, an ideology which will rest at nothing to destroy the very fabric of modern western society, that calls for Shariah and the Caliphate in the Muslim world, and a people motivated by nothing but a hatred for the "freedoms" of the West.
A few days after the attacks BBC's Newsnight pitted Shiv Malik against Inayat Bunglawala of the MCB. One would think in this current climate the discussion would centre around the events in London and Glasgow and possible causes. However Shiv Malik's agenda was something different and the questioning centred around Suicide bombings; killings of British Soldiers in Iraq and the MCB's support of Hamas; none of which are relevant to the discussion about motivation for the attacks. This tone has been carried throughout the last week, condemnation is not enough the only thing will do as Brown made so clear is acceptance of Western values and acknowledgment of the fantasy that there is something intrinsically wrong with Islam which is in need of reform.In the same week as the incidents in London and Glasgow , 2 US Marines where charged with the murder of the 3 Iraqi civilians in Iskandariyah, Iraq. This brings the total number charged with murder to 20 .
In Afghanistan the number of civilians killed by air raids was over 100 from just two incidents. The link between the incidents in Iraq and the UK is obvious and clear.However as Winston understood the propaganda machine is not concerned with the truth but a twisted version of it, that fulfils it's long term goals. Winston would be the first to understand that the British government is no longer trying to get a point of view across but twisting falsehood into truth, and furthermore showing the truth as something only a lunatic fringe could ascribe to.Winston concludes his diary entry with a definition of freedom - "Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows". This is being able to articulate the truth without fear, this is not a feeling Muslims are used to in the current climate.
As for what Brown calls individual dignity from the eyes of a Muslim it is in fact intellectual slavery to the Brown line.Over the past week raised voices of condemnation have been shouted down as irrelevant and meaningless to the debate about ideas and values. It is in times like this that the responsibility to understand and articulate the truth is most paramount. A defensive stance of mere condemnation will just bring a sense of justified accusation, an attempt to highlight the peaceful nature of the individual aspects of Islam will hand intellectual victory to those who malign political Islam.
Only real effort from the community to support the truth and ideas of Islam such as Caliphate and the right to question foreign policy will aid the cause of Muslims in Britain.As for Winston his actions failed to follow his ideals and he eventually towed the government line and buried the truth under his own cowardice and self interest, one just hopes that this analogy won't apply to the Muslims communities up and down the country.
Source: Moh Bloggs
