This is apropos a Business Recorder op-ed "Run, hit, slap" carried by the newspaper yesterday. The writer, Andleeb Abbas, has argued among other things, that "Starting after the 9/11 Islamophobia has become real and present in the last decade. In the US there has been a marked increase in anti-Muslim activities. One study documents 763 such incidents between 2012 and 2018. Islamophobia is a key element of populist nationalist movements in Austria, Hungary, the UK, Poland, Russia, the US and India."

Islamophobia means dislike or prejudice against Islam or Muslims. According to Wikipedia, "Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general... ." Unfortunately, however, not many Islamic countries are making any meaningful efforts to deal with negative stereotypes resulting in anti-Muslim bias and discrimination.

Samina Rahman (Lahore)

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