The Silence of 'Others'

Around two and a half years ago, I set in motion the physical manifestation of an idea, some emotions and a bit of hope. Thus began the development of images and words that could represent the world around me and many ‘others’. What ails my calm now is the need to identify a route for the onward journey. What more is to be done now? A lot more, is the right answer.

The Silence of ‘Others’ began with an objective to document evidences of Islamophobia and to present a balanced understanding of the young Muslim community. To understand many of the people who fail to qualify for an appearance in the formulaic images of Muslims prostrating or burning American/British flags on the streets. This work was consciously designed not to fall for exotic religious rituals or to produce conventional images of veils as symbols of oppression and beards as signs of ‘fundamentalism’. I have worked hard to keep my pictures honest, focusing primarily on human experiences, emotions and aspirations. These images have essentially highlighted the alienation of young Muslims. Exploring deeper into the issue, over the next few months I am hoping to reveal important social, political and economic factors that are fueling this alienation. To photograph what exists is speaking the half-truth; why it exists is the other half that my images should not ignore.

But this is easier said than done. The presence of significantly divergent and extremely polarized opinions on the issue makes this task complex. It will be a tough job to photographically investigate broader social or political factors contributing to the issue and without sacrificing neutrality, to also depict the issue’s impact on communities.

A good idea for now is to begin by reading a lot of books.

Muslims, alongwith members of Neturei-Karta, an organization of Orthodox Jews, protest outside the Israeli Embassy in London to mark the third anniversary of Israel's attack on Gaza. Members of Neturei-Karta refuse to recognize the existence or authority of the ‘State of Israel’ and make a point of publicly demonstrating their position, the position of the Torah and authentic unadulterated Judaism. December 2011.

Ali Kadivar [left] plays a setar as his friend, Lukas Sherry, joins him at their apartment in Chapel Hill, USA. Ali, an Iranian, said, “The image that the western media presents of Iran, as conservative, backward, and homogeneous, is distorted and false. No doubt the Iranian government is oppressive and tries to impose a conservative life style on the Iranian population. But there are many pro-democracy Iranian citizens who defy this imposed life style everyday, in the way they dress, through the kind of books, movies, music, and art that they create or consume.” Ali is a PhD student at the University of North Carolina. December 2011.

A poster in an underground market appealing to support Islamic Relief’s Orphan welfare program. Established in 1984 in Birmingham, UK, Islamic Relief is the largest West- based international Muslim relief and development NGO. October 2011.

Aseem Hasnain at his apartment in Chapel Hill, NC., USA. He said, “I am not only a Muslim but many other things too. To categorize someone primarily in a religious template is a very statist and dangerous practice. Let me be a multiplicity of persons, an intersection of identities.” Hasnain is pursuing his PhD in Sociology at the University of North Carolina. December 2011.

Zaheer Abbas, 35, at his apartment in Chapel Hill, NC., USA. Abbas said, “I’m philosophically agnostic and politically an anarchist. So I guess that makes me a ‘bad’ Muslim and a ‘bad’ liberal. My wife jokingly calls me ‘Papa Bear’, but every time we fly back to the US from India, she insists that I shave my full beard so that we don’t have to wait too long at security checks at US airports”.

Azad Ali, 42, presents his show ‘Your Views on the News’ on Islam Channel, London, UK. In 2009, Ali was suspended from his job as a Treasury civil servant after a newspaper reported that Ali, on his blog, had advocated the killing of British soldiers in Iraq. Ali was later cleared by a Civil Service investigation into the allegations leveled against him. Ali said, “It was a difficult time. But I never lost hope. I always tell my three kids to work hard, with all their honesty and integrity and not to be affected by failures.” Ali holds a number of key positions today including the chair of the Muslim Safety Forum, leading its Counter Terrorism work-stream, working with the UK Home Office, MET Police and Security Services. January 2012.

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