There are several historical and structural reasons as to why at certain points in history some extremist groups can gain power in certain 'communities'. (it is pointed out by many of the members of the Islamic 'community' itself that it is by no means a homogenous one, and local customs and philosophy differ widely from a monolithic comception of Islam). Definitely there are certain groups adhering to Islam who had started out in specific corners of the world as terrorist group, and then spread their power through the support of actually money and arms from Western interest groups (including the US, before the latter started their 'war on terror'). It is perhaps easier for Islamic terrorist groups to spread over the globe since Islam has millions of followers over the globe. If other repressed minority group had similar spread and had to face centuries of xenophobia, who knows they might also had similar terrorist wing. After all even not being minorities in their home countries the Christians had organized crusades, the Hindu extremists are engaging in genocide and even the peaceful Buddhists had lead a structure of oppression and prejudice against the Tamil in Sri Lanka leading to present day terrorist situation in that country.
One can do a detailed analysis of why certain groups gain power at certain times. But that is not the issue here. The main question is that does it really help to blame any and every person who happens to be one amongst a group of trillions adhering to a certain cultural identity. Apart from the fact that it is a gross violation of human dignity, it is actually perpetuates and accentuates the vicious circle of violence. Post 9/11 in the US thousands of ordinary people had their phones tapped, visas denied, jobs not granted or even incarcerated simply because their had a Muslim name. If an ordinary group of people are constantly blamed and looked at with suspicion simply because they belong to certain community then they will become sympathetic to extremist movements. This has happened worldwide with the so called 'War on Terror'. So from what I understood from the last email, it is okay to blame every single person and hence push them towards a monolithic identity (that is all Islam is same) and thereby lead to more polarisation in the world. Like it is okay to blame all Germans because Hitler was a German without understanding the basis of the philosophy modern Eugenics and the structural reasons why Hitler rose to power. To understand is not to support violence, but to look out for structural solutions and not perpetuate an endless circle of violence as the latter becomes detrimental to everybody. Best, Tapoja Chaudhuri.
