- Muslim activist Shakeel Afsar defiantly protests the screening of The Kerala story in Cineworld, Birmingham.
- He has since been tarnished by the mainstream media for voicing the plight of Indian/Kashmiri Muslims, and objecting to the screening of the film. However, successfully tears down Nigel Farage!
Time and time again when orthodox Muslims or Muslim activists are invited on mainstream news channels, they are perceived and treated as mischief makers. They are often spoken over, asked manipulative leading questions, vilified, and then dismissed. The host chews out the Muslim in the most disrespectful of manners, without any intention of engaging with him/her or hearing the true Muslim voice. This in turn, allows for right and left leaning news outlets to fuel their propaganda machine against Islam and Muslims.
Therefore, it was perfectly comprehensible why YouTuber/Da’ee Mohammed Hijab declined Piers Morgan’s request to participate in his programme “Piers Morgan Uncensored” in October of last year. Brother Hijab was invited to discuss the tensions in Leicester between Muslims and the Hindutva.
Source: GB News
These antics have become somewhat predictable and can be seen in the debate over the film ‘The Kerala Story’, between our brother, Muslim activist, Shakeel Afsar and former UKIP leader- turned GB News presenter, Nigel Farage.
Shakeel Afsar, nonetheless did a fantastic job in debunking the Islamophobic ‘Kerala Story’, and setting the record straight on Indian history. He has was confident in the essential facts he presented.
Afsar led a group of protesters during a screening of The Kerala Story last Friday at Cineworld in Birmingham. Subsequently, Muslim news website 5Pillars shared a video of Afsar demanding the film to be stopped, asking to speak to the manager of the cinema.
When Farage scrutinised Afsar for his actions. Afsar explained how the film is perpetuating propaganda from India’s ruling right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) right-wing Hindutva nationalist party. Farage responded “Modi is the democratically elected leader of India. He has been elected twice and he will probably run again.” It is interesting how Farage attempts to shuts down Afsar’s argument and attempts to frame the debate by mentioning the so-called democracy of India; a state which continues to strip Muslims of their human rights, and has committed the most heinous atrocities against the minority group.
Later in the interview, Farage corners Afsar and questions him about comments he had previously made, in which he says during a protest, “…disrespect of the Prophet will be met with repercussions”. Farage responds, “Under our values, that is very close to being a threat. If I was a copper watching that, I would think that is a direct threat.” Afsar responded very well, explaining that Farage should not imply that he was talking about violence. However, Farage’s manipulation seen here is uncanny.
Afsar is asked, “Do you respect British democratic values”, this question is absurd since he is an individual who has merely used his legal right to protest. Farage also asks the leading question, “So you don’t want this to be an Islamic country”.
Prior to Farage introducing his guest on the right wing news channel, his segment was opened with the following monologue: “If you have communities of Britain coming in from all over the world, you have a degree of integration and assimilation then things will work pretty well but if people come to our countries with other cultures to ours well than we have real problems”. The very premise of what is being said here is concerning. The word used by Farage are ‘assimilation’, implying that Muslims ought to eradicate their identities entirely. This is in stark contrast with the British value of ‘religion being a protected characteristic’. It’s curious that the Hasidic Jews of Stamford Hill, would not be questioned for their lack of assimilation, what with the recent figures of illegal Yeshiva’s being discovered in the area, Hasidic boys’ schools leave Jewish pupils barely able to read or write English (thetimes.co.uk)
Moreover, it’s interesting that assimilation is a topic being discussed, when Afsar is challenging the fallacious and grotesque misrepresentation of events in the film. What Farage is inexplicably saying is ‘your problems are not our problems so we don’t want to hear about them’.
During the news broadcast, Farage also states, ‘The politics of the subcontinent should be left in the subcontinent’. The irony here being that the British Empire had colonised India/Pakistan for over 200 years. In addition, challenging “The Kerela Story” is an act that calls for justice and truth, and surely justice and truth should be called for, irrespective of borders and the colour of one’s skin. It is illustrating defiance against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Hindutva, who have massacred many Muslims and are now attempting to skew the series of events. Some may say, “It’s just a film,” but distorting facts and manipulating the truth will only harm cohesion in our communities at large. Moreover, changing the narrative pushes the masses to accept the mistreatment of Indian and Kashmiri Muslims by Hindutva extremists.
Allah loves the just and he says, “Whoever among you sees an evil action, let him change with his hand; if he cannot, then with his tongue; if he cannot then with his heart, and that is the weakest of faith”. (Muslim, 49)
May Allah swt accept the efforts of Shakeel Afsar. The S2J news team salutes the brother for his unwavering efforts in combating issues pertaining to Muslims.
Really shakeel afsar is unwavering personality. The comment made by S2Jnews on Shakeel afsar for his “unwavering efforts” is making me to watch the entire video of shakeel afsar.