All of us here that keeps on Hindu-Muslim and people say that it should not happen but then somewhere Conversion There are allegations of having gangs. So there are allegations of Bangladeshis settling in India. Some say that this is a matter of security, some say that Muslims are being unnecessarily targeted, this is Islamophobia. Amidst all this, a news from America will shake you inside. The biggest cheating of America’s politics has come to the fore in a small town in the state of Michigan at this time. The name is Hamtramk…. The city was once counted among America’s most ‘Liberal’ and open -minded areas. Lesbians were welcome, multiculturalism was celebrated and refugees were shared. But now there is some revenge in the air of this city. The change is also such that the entire ideology standing in the name of the Constitution of America has started shaking.
At this time, the same force is seen on every wall in Hamtramk, on every signboard, every government decision… Muslim identity. Not only this, the entire city council here is now full of Muslims. There is not a single woman, not a single non-Muslim member. Even the Pride Flag i.e. the LGBTQ community symbolizing the rights of the rights of the community… which the city had been hoisting proudly for decades… has been banned now. Ajan from mosques is being given on loudspeakers, and there is an open exemption to cut animals in the courtyard of the houses. So the question is whether this city of America is now like America?
From ‘Little Warsaw’ to ‘Mini Bangladesh’: How did the face of the city change?
Hamtramk was once part of the auto industry of detroy, where it was settled by laborers from Poland. That is why it was called ‘Little Warsaw’. Pope John Paul has walked on the streets of this city. But time changed. Industry collapsed. The houses became cheap and gradually settled here, refugees… from Bangladesh, Yemen. Liberal American citizens opened doors. Bread, cloth, house, all were given. Leaders like Katrina Stackpool who are gay herself… were making policies for these migrants. Even the signboards were installed in Arabic and Bangla.
‘We brought up, and they bitten’: Katrina Stackpool’s anger erupted
Katrina StackPool has become the biggest scream on the changed situation in Hamtramk. Stackpool, who was in the council from 2008 to 2012 and herself a member of the LGBTQ community, is shouting at the moment, “We gave you bread, gave you clothes, gave the house, and you stabbed us in the back?”
Ironically, the city which once opposed Trump’s refugee policy, by 2023, the Muslim majority council of the same city supported Trump. This is not just a political support but it is an ideological U-turn that is surprising to the whole of America. Is this the same liberal city that ever opened its doors to everyone?
The story of Hamtramk is now spreading like a warning across America. Should inclusiveness be unilateral? Does majority in democracy mean that you can run scissors on the rights of minorities?
Now the big question is arising whether Islamophobia is the response to this city? Or is it the real face of an imbalance within a society? Some people are calling it anti -Muslim frenzy, while some are calling it the biggest failure of America’s inclusion. The debate is whether people who were given shelter in the name of humanity… they started cutting the same fabric that saved them?
The incident of haematramk is not a story of raising fingers on any one religion or community. This is the mirror of the truth that shows the limits of generosity and multiculturalism and a conflict of dangers. This story tells that ‘welcome’ and ‘Constitution’ also have a limit. And when it breaks, the question becomes of existence of identity, not just rights.
