Man in Blue at the Sikh Missionary Camp in Bristol
Pim Fortuyn was the first Dutch politician who made the minorities and their ‘alien’ cultures and/or religions his main campaigning point. He was killed by a left-wing green activist.
The event that was a real bonus to anti-immigrant politicians going for the popular vote was the killing of Theo van Gogh, a relative of the great Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh.
Theo van Gogh made a film called Submission about a Muslim woman forced into an arranged marriage, who is abused by her husband and raped by her uncle. A scene in the film showed an actress in see-through garments with a text from Al Qur’an written on her body, which also bore whip marks.
There is a parallel with the Bezhti case, where the playwright confused the ante-diluvium attitudes of many Panjabis with the teachings of the Guru Granth. In the case of Al Qur’an, whatever it teaches about the role of women, it cannot be blamed for the sort of behaviour depicted in the film.
The ‘Muslim’ who killed Theo van Gogh seems to follow Karl Marx’s Verelendung theory : if you make things worse for your community they will rise up and change the Netherlands into some kind of European Iran. Of course neither the majority of the Muslims nor of the other people living in the country want such a state, but that does not stop this kind of idiot.
Theo van Gogh had a good point, but made it badly. His killer had a valid argument against Theo van Gogh’s film, but by killing Theo van Gogh he made things worse for everybody in the Netherlands, and especially for the Muslims, who form about 5.5% of the population.
As a result Geert Wilders, ex member of the right wing ‘liberal’ VVD and now the Leader of the Partij voor de Vrijheid (Party for Freedom) scored about 30% of the vote in the recent European elections. Note that Geert Wilders’ party does not stand for freedom for all, like Guru Gobind Singh or the Dutch ‘Father of the Fatherland’ Willem the Silent, but only the freedom of those he sees as ‘proper’ Dutchmen.
The worst ‘sin’ of movements like this is that they force Muslims on a heap. They are asked to choose between ‘Dutch values’ and Osama Bin Laden, and of course they might not like either of these choices.
Living together with people of different cultures and religions causes problems. These problems can be solved through dialogue and better understanding. Slogan shouting does no good and thinking that you can close your borders is an illusion in the world-village. Worldwide justice and better prices for commodities are the only viable anti-emigration policies.
