by Apoorva S. Thapa (Kathmandu, Nepal)
Disclaimer: Please do not read this in the light of a formal essay, but rather in that of a personal reflection. The opinions that have spilled into this write-up (politically driven or of other sort) are completely introspective in nature, absolutely up for debate, and are not meant to impose upon those who think otherwise.
The start of this essay – probably to your surprise – will not be a reflection or reminiscence of the time before the 8 of us embarked on our month long excursion to Morocco on the 1st of July. The start of this essay, spontaneous and unplanned for, is now: September the 1st, exactly a month since the program came to an end, as I sit in my school library, studying the history of Soviet insurrectionary thought for my IB history class. Irrelevant as it may sound, I came across these words written by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, an outspoken (and now deceased) critic of Soviet totalitarianism and terror.
“It’s a universal law – intolerance is the first sign of an inadequate education. An ill-educated person behaves with arrogant impatience, whereas truly profound education breeds humility.” Aleksander Solzhenitsyn.
At the very least said, the moment I read these words, I was transported back to a time before I ever imagined I would spend my summer in Morocco or even yet know that the Student Diplomacy Corps existed.
Before travelling to the United States for my junior and senior year of high school, I spent 5 years studying in the foothills of the Himalayas in an Indian Boarding School. My last year in India (2014-15), was the year of the prime minister-ship elections, and the two candidates at the podium were leftist leader of the Aam Aadmi Party- Arvind Kejiwal, and conservative rightist frontrunner Narendra Modi. One of the central themes Modi ran his campaign on, was the revival of a nationalistic, Hindu dominant India. His message, implicit as it may be, was clear: India is a nation that belongs to the Hindu people, and should be run according to ‘Hindustani’ doctrine. I vividly remember this one particular conversation I had with a shopkeeper in Mussoorie, the hill-station my school happened to be in, regarding all this political heat that the election was bringing. Upon asking him on why he supports Modi’s conservative policies, this is what he told me(paraphrased), “Islam is the enemy of humanity. Islam is a religion of violence and war. It is a religion of destruction, and all those who follow it mean only harm to those who don’t.”
Fast forward to a year later…
I arrive at the United World College – USA. America, what I had been lead to believe all my life as a nation that values freedom and liberty, a nation where one can be proud of who they are, and where they come from, as the very majority of the population – white people – are (historically) immigrants themselves!
But hey! Don’t jump there too fast, Apoorva!
As the year progresses and I immerse myself in the ‘American way of life’ (you know: Netflix, Wal-Mart, Snapchat and Instagram), I begin to wonder, if, maybe, all those stories of the free and glee America that exist back home: America: the ‘Salad Bowl of Cultures’, are farce fallacies of the media and corporations.
Why? You may ask.
Well, besides the multiple “Go home, you Mexican!” shout-outs I received in the cities of New York, Tucson, and San Antonio (I am not Mexican, just brown skinned), we must not forget the words of wisdom that media magnate Donald Trump spews out of his rather large mouth each day. Trump literally gained political momentum and consolidated his campaign based off hatred and bigotry towards those different from himself (Muslims, Mexicans, African-Americans, women), and managed to beat all the other Republican candidates and secure the most republican votes in American history[1], in the process. Saddest part of it all, you realize as an outsider that even those who genuinely believe in a world of equality, understanding and diversity, slowly start doubting themselves and their beliefs due to the legitimacy this man receives, even though multiple researches and checks show that a lot of what he says, is factually incorrect![2]
Coming back into relevancy…
My point of saying all that I did above, is to simply show you that I have lived in parts of the world where the general view of Islam has always been negative, and more importantly so, has always been dictated to the people by ‘leaders’ in positions of power (Modi in India and Trump in the United States). Of course, the conscience and humanity that exists within me prevented me from blindly accepting these definitions laid out by manipulative and politically driven hypocrites, but I knew all along that I would never be able to be sure until I could experience it myself. In other words, as a wise man once said, ‘never believe until you see’.
Fortunately, this past summer, I was given this opportunity to see, and to experience, a life in Morocco: a nation that considers itself to be synonymous to Islam.
There is not the slightest of exaggeration when I say that the stereotypes of Islam we are accustomed to by now, created in the light of xenophobia and chauvinism, are completely misguided and manipulated. The trip was filled with instances where we came to realize this, but here are a few that stand out to me personally. In Rabat, we learnt about how the Hijab –considered oppressive and patriarchic here in the West- in reality is a symbol of independence, freedom and pride by those women who choose to wear it. In Boulaouane, a village nestled in the foothills of the Moroccan Mid-Atlas Mountains, we found out that the word Jihad –propagated by those who don’t know it as a word that indoctrinates violence and terrorism- is in actuality a term used in the Qur’an to urge people to go through a process of ‘fighting against one’s own desires’, an introspective process of self evaluation and detachment from material possessions in order to bring one closer to to Allah, the all knowing. Today, with no doubt, I firmly believe that Islam, when practiced in the absence of extremism, misinterpretation and manipulation, is a religion of Peace. In fact, to the surprise of all those who depict it as a religion of violence and hatred, the very word ‘Islam’ means none other than peace.
Therefore, with all my integrity and sincerity, thank you SDC. Thank you for forcing me to step out of my comfort zone right from the start of this journey in February, by offering me a program that was not even on my initial list of program choices. Thank you for allowing all 8 of us to develop a relationship amongst ourselves and also with Morocco, each being unique and authentic in its own way. Thank you for choosing leaders who never once imposed their opinions, ideas and beliefs upon us, consequentially allowing us to develop those of our own. And most importantly, thank you for valuing diversity and cultural understanding as crucial building blocks required to build a world in which one day we hope to see prevailing peace, a world that today, unfortunately needs these building blocks the most.
A final thought:
I realized that I never came back to the words written by Solzhenitsyn. In retrospect, those words made me realize that all along, for the most part, it was never the religion of Islam that was ‘intolerant’. The intolerance lies amongst many of us, as we refuse to think for ourselves – think outside that of what is considered the ‘norm’ – as we let those who we instated in power determine our opinion of those different from us.
SDC Morocco: Songs for Peace – Moroccan Culture through Music and Art, 2016
The Student Diplomacy Corps 