Thursday, November 19, 2009

To demolish a mosque.

by Hermilia Banayat-Nas (1st Entry)

Thursday afternoons offer me a respite which I hungrily grab, happy to indulge. I start by devouring the first and second headlines of the dailies and finish off with a dose of Perez Hilton. As darkness overpowers the late afternoon sun, I feel full of news. As I feel now.

I gag when I remember the headline featuring the demolition of shanties surrounding a mosque in Pasay. The news highlighted the fact that the displaced settlers were Muslims. And then mentioned the alleged human rights violation committed by the demolition team and the police.

It is just disgusting to see that by putting the emphasis on "mosque" and "Muslim" the news sidestepped the issue of human rights. I feel disturbed that, once again, religion might be confused with politics. I believe that a more "appropriate" (due respect to freedom of the press) presentation of the news would have me reading violence and poverty rather than religious highlights.

Does it matter what religion one holds when people are driven out of their homes without any offer of settlement or relocation? Would it make a difference if the demolition crew had the police shoot at a non-theist instead of a man wearing a dishdasha? Would a homeless atheist be in any less distressing situation than a homeless devout?

Apparently, sadly, in this country religion matters. Affiliation to any of the saint-heralding associations makes all the difference. It could earn you a headline, or a speech sponsored by a member of the House of Representatives. If only the headline or the privileged speech talked about how law enforcers should stop being trigger-happy or of why demolition teams should not join government-accredited human rights violators. But, no. They were about marginalized religions.

At this point I imagine how may communities occupying land owned by the Philippine Reclamation Authority are driven out of their homes in the same manner as the Muslim community in Pasay were shooed away. At least one every week? I hope the fact that all these other communities suffer loss and displacement as much as any other community would equally, eventually, get this much attention regardless of what they worship.

Next Thursday I would be sampling the headlines and sipping a bit of Hilton again. I hope by then we have demolished a mosque without hurting anyone.

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