Day before yesterday, we were in Kamloops for an inevitable work. Alhamdulillah, the journey itself was such a detox: driving amidst firm mighty mountains gave goosebumps, and I was wondering that when these mountains are so عظيم (azeem, great), then what would be the azmat of The One Who has created them and has made them firm?
Being in the mountains for so long, surrounded by them from everywhere during the long drive gave a complete detox, and has served as a beneficial reminder in shifting the focus again back to Allah Al-Azeem wholeheartedly.
While we were travelling to Kamloops, did a bit of research and found out that Kamloops is infamous for the
the discovery of mass graves of indigenous people.
Yes! As per report – In May 2021, the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation announced that ground-penetrating radar had revealed the presence of a mass grave containing the remains of 215 Indigenous children on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. The school, which operated from 1890 to 1969, was one of many residential schools established by the Canadian government to assimilate Indigenous children.
It is also documented in The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) about the atrocities they underwent. The torture and physical abuse were common practices in the Canadian residential school system. Indigenous children were forcibly taken from their families and sent to these schools, where they were subjected to physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Many survivors have shared stories of:
- Physical punishment, such as beatings and whippings
- Forced labor and starvation
- Medical experimentation
- Sexual abuse and exploitation
- Forced assimilation, including having their hair cut, language suppressed, and cultural practices erased.
SubhanAllah! One might wonder – why?
Because the system’s goal which was obviously fuelled by colonialism was to:
Make Indigenous people more “modern” and “civilized” and to assimilate them by consolidating power and control over Indigenous lands.
Interestingly! Today we see a lot many public statements and speeches that state land acknowledgments, citing this land originally belongs to Indigenous people.
Let’s not forget that the legacy of the atrocious crime inflicted systemically upon the indigenous people is not over yet, as the traumas have now majorly taken the form of drug’s addiction among them.
SubhanAllah! Was wondering about this indigenous genocide, and how it is a repeated pattern: Occupy, Invade, Assimilate, all in the name of making one “civilized and modern,” and then years later offer the apologies and few acknowledgments and a dedicated day for them to be commemorated!
Perhaps worse than the above cycle is what we are witnessing right in front of our own eyes, especially in terms of occupied Palestine. A whole genocide is happening, the muslim rulers have already betrayed them openly, the west is portraying itself as a “messiah” by coming up with a “solution” which is in line with its own capitalist interests, and perhaps later, after many years, a “remembrance day” will be dedicated by the UN (as they did recently in case of Srebrenica massacre where around 8,000 muslims were butchered), and Muslims will feel gratified that they were somehow successful in sending the petitions and pressurizing the UN to recognize the particular genocide as genocide, and designate a day to remember it!
SubhanAllah! And meanwhile the cycle will continue to another place then, and the ambassadors of freedom of speech and expression will be leaving no stone unturned to enforce and assimilate people on other lands, which will also include indoctrinating and enforcing structurally the whims of Qawm e Lut through the schooling systems in the disguise of “modern, civilized mindsets.”
Residential schools did not shut down, rather they just took another form. The older ones of them assimilated the indigenous people to an older version of slavery to desires, while the newer ones of these schools assimilate the Muslims and others to a newer version of slavery to desires. Hence, this religion which considers the desires as God, which is formally known as liberalism and secularism, is one of the most violent and coercive religions in history:one which constantly colonizes and forcefully converts people into its folds.
Let’s not forget what their own political scientist Samuel P Huntington remarked, who had served as a security advisor to former US president Jimmy Carter. He said, “The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”
Hasbunallahu Wa ni’mal Wakeel!