Why countries are rising against Muslim tourists? By Rohini Verma

Post 9/11, there have been many terrorist incidents of killings and blasts across the world. In the last few months, the world has seen terror of groups like ISIS. The throat cutting videos and fanatic fatwas from Muslim clerics have forced the world nations to look at Islam with a new approach. This approach is influenced by Islamophobia. There have been many incidents of killing innocent people, rapes and demolishing buildings related to other religions. So, various countries are taking steps to control Islamic activities.

Recently, Austria passed a law banning foreign funding of mosques and Islamic organisations. This step was taken so that Islamic radicals can't arrange funding for terrorist activities. Such laws controlling the funding are very much needed in our nation too.

Apart from such laws, Muslims are unwelcome in many countries. This applies to Indian Muslims too. We can not forget the incident of detention of Shah Rukh Khan by US authorities in 2012 for 90 minutes at White Plains airport near New York. In 2009 the actor was detained for two hours at Newark airport and was released after India's embassy in the US intervened. The actor said then that he was stopped because he had a Muslim name.

In 2009, America's Continental Airlines apologised to former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam for frisking him before he boarded a flight to the US. This incident also happened due to a Muslim name. In this way, innocent Muslims across the world are seeing discriminatory treatment in all across the world.

According to the Global Muslim Travel Index, Ireland is among the least friendly places for Muslims to visit. Muslim tourists demand the presence and accessibility of “halal” restaurants and the provision of prayer rooms at airports, shopping centres and hotels. They are also considered a serious threat to nation’s security there.

According to this index, Mexico is the least Muslim-friendly country in a list of 25 countries with Ireland being at second-last place. The United Kingdom was at sixth place and the US was the 14th most welcoming country for Muslims. According to the index, Muslims prefer the nations where they get halal meat and where mosques are easily available.

With an increase in Islamist militant attacks, most of the nations have rising anti-Muslim sentiments. However, there is no such problem in countries like Malaysia which is the most preferred global destination for Muslims. Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Indonesia followed Malaysia in choice of holiday destinations by them. The Muslim tourists wearing Hijab and skull caps are seen as threats to the local liberal cultures in increasingly large number of nations now.

Unfortunately, Muslim tourists have also been engaged in different crimes in the countries that they visit. Recently Charlie Hebdo massacre took place in France. When a moment of silence was to be observed for the victims, Muslim students yelled “Allahu Akbar!.” They refused to comply with the moment of silence. In another incident, a group of young Muslims dishonored the moment of silence, telling their teacher, “You reap what you sow,” the Washington Post reported. At another school in Seine-Saine-Denis, some 80 percent of students refused to honor the moment of silence, saying that the Charlie Hebdo staff “deserved what they got” for insulting Prophet Muhammad.

In another incident in 2014, a Georgia Tech Muslim student Saamer Akhshabi was making a bomb when it detonated. He had third-degree burns over 90 percent of his body. He later died due to his injuries.

In another incident a British Muslim student killed 20 in suicide bomb attack in Somalia. The 21-year-old student blew himself up at a military checkpoint killing up to 20 soldiers in the southern Somali town of Baidoa.

Similarly, a Muslim student was involved in the Boston Marathon bombings. Tsarnaev, 21, had carried out the attacks to avenge the deaths of Muslims overseas after learning how to build pressure-cooker bombs through Al-Qaeda propaganda. The bombing killed three people and wounded 264, on April 15, 2013. There are hundreds of such incidents involving Muslim tourists and students in violent crimes.

Let us see the other side too, where people of different faiths visit the Muslim countries and the treatment they get there. Generally, the non-Muslim tourists are considered threats to Muslim culture. Various Muslim nations have issued guidelines and even threats for the western tourists visiting Muslim nations.

For example, Turkey is a very popular destination for tourists from the west. But it shares a long border with war-torn Syria where murderous Islamic State fighters operate. Turkey’s beaches are toured by devout Muslim men who hand out leaflets to foreign women telling them to cover up and dress from head to foot. The tourists are given the examples of local Muslim women who wear all-in-one bathing costumes that cover their bodies from head to foot. These fanatic Muslims have threatened tourists especially women that if they do not follow the guidelines issued, they would be attacked.

According to an estimate one out of 66 people in Istanbul is the victim of a crime each year. The most common crimes involve theft, pick-pocketing, bag-snatching, and purse slashing. Criminal incidents involving foreigners tend to be concentrated in tourist areas. There have been violent criminal acts committed against tourists. Foreign women are verbally harassed, stared at, pinched, or followed.

In many Muslim nations people are forbidden from following their religious practices in open. Under these circumstances, people have to think carefully before they visit any Muslim country. On the other hand, due to Muslim tourists and students’ involvement in crimes, the innocent Muslims are suffering. Many Indian innocent Muslim students and tourists visit nations like the UK, USA, Europe and Australia. But due to actions of few people, the whole community is suffering. Due to crimes committed by few, the general sentiment about Muslims across the world is turning negative. 

Courtesy: http://www.irishtimes.com/, http://www.dailystar.co.uk/, www.bbc.com, http://www.breitbart.com/, http://www.dcclothesline.com/, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/, http://www.skynews.com.au/