In my opinion, the picture represents the literal and figurative reconciliation of what unfortunately had become dichotomous disjunctions betweencivilian and politcian, citizen and government, a voter and the representative.
M
y friend took a selfie with the Prime Minister of Canada … was a sentence I didn’t think I would ever have the opportunity to say in my lifetime. But lo and behold, I say it now: My friend, Zahra Hossain, took a selfie with the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. Now you might be wondering, what is so important about that? A selfie amongst thousands of selfies with movie stars, athletes, and famous personalities seems quite commonplace in this digital era. But my friend’s photo resonates with me on a much deeper level. In my opinion, the picture represents the literal and figurative reconciliation of what unfortunately had become dichotomous disjunctions between civilian and politician, citizen and government, a voter and the representative. Literally, my friend’s closeness to the PM in the photo shows a sense of approachability that should not be simply shrugged off as trivial because it was simply a photo. Yes, my friend only received minimal face time – pun intended – with our Head of Government. However, this photograph is but a simpler example of the more widespread case of reintegration into citizen society that has occurred after the election. We should not deny the fact that the Prime Minister and his team have made extra efforts to return to the people that have put him on top, as exemplified in his visit to Islamic Foundation, or his bhangra dance routines that have been floating around on the Internet. Figuratively, the image represents the larger reunification between citizen and politician. Importantly, this reunion stems from a sense of accessibility. Not only are the actual Members of Parliament more accessible to the people, but also those very professional positions are more accessible to individuals who have generally been marginalized in pursuing them. Just look at any photo of all the current members and you will see various colours, ages, and genders, representing a great diversity in ethnic backgrounds, opinions, and skills. In essence, the diversity expressed in that limited Parliament is roughly the diversity that actually exists among the 35 million people and counting of Canada. It might not be a perfect representation of people, but it’s a start. And it is this start that Muslims need to take advantage of.
Alhamdulillah, we do have some Members representing our concerns in Parliament, for example Salma Zahid and Maryam Monsef, but we can do better. Nay, we have to do better! After the years we have spent under Stephen Harper, especially the last few years where many immigrants have been threatened to become second-class citizens and Muslims have been targeted specifically in Bill C51, I was baffled at how our rights were so easily misrepresented in what is supposed to be a representational government. More crucially I was wondering how could we have let it get so far? I realized one of the reasons why we let it get so far is because we couldn’t stop it - we had no voice to represent our needs at the level where it matters most; and that needs to change. After the years we have spent under Stephen Harper, especially the last few years where many immigrants have been threatened to become second-class citizens and Muslims have been targeted specifically in Bill C51, I was baffled at how our rights were so easily misrepresented in what is supposed to be a representational government. More crucially I was wondering how could we have let it get so far? I realized one of the reasons why we let it get so far is because we couldn’t stop it - we had no voice to represent our needs at the level where it matters most; and that needs to change. And yes, many believe that we deserve a pat on the back for voting out the Conservatives, but this article is no adulation of the Liberals either, no matter how handsome you consider Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The reality is that politics is something that should be highly monitored and properly discussed amongst the local community and then relayed to prominent leaders, and not just a topic of heated conversations that occurs amongst dads during a family gathering following complaints about the failures of their favourite sports team. But that does not mean I am advocating that every single person should be a politician tomorrow. Rather, I simply state that with a change in government has come a change in opportunities, and there are openings for Muslims for the taking.
APRIL 2016 | THE MUSLIM VOICE | 13