LogFAQs > #891445231

Pakistani President Mohammed Zia ul-Haq executed a military coup to come to power. Among his first actions, Zia signed an executive order targeting Pakistans Ahmadiyya Muslim minority to which we belonged prescribing fines, arrest and even death should we dare practice our faith. Zia hijacked media to claim Ahmadis hated Pakistan. He called us a cancer and accused us of spreading false information even as he shut down our mosques and schools. He spent his questionable presidency empowering right-wing religious fundamentalists, elevating fascist ideology, and mixing religion and state. We didnt stick around to see what would happen next. By March 1987, we immigrated to America.

Fast forward to 2017. Now Im a human rights attorney and American Muslim citizen living in Washington and Im experiencing deja vu. During Trumps election campaign, he suggested Muslim ID cards, contemplated shutting down mosques and claimed, Islam hates us. Almost as soon as he took office, he signed an executive order targeting Muslims coming to America. He has also empowered right-wing fundamentalists, elevated fascists, delegitimized media as fake news, and mixed religion and state. With every tweet, Trump seems to reach a new nadir. On Wednesday, the president retweeted three anti-Muslim videos from the leader of a British far-right extremist organization.