Islam  Has a Branding Problem: Millatfacebook CEO: (Holocaust Against Muslims  Coming)
Hindustan Times ^ | 6/13/2010 | GAUTAM CHIKERMANE
 

Posted on Sunday, June 13, 2010 6:10:16  PM by nickcarraway

I was curious about what’s going on in the mind of the men who  launched “Millatfacebook€” a Facebook-wannabe for Muslims. So, I  contacted Lahore-based Omer Zaheer Meer, the CEO of Global IT Vision  (Pvt) Ltd, the company that launched Millatfacebook. But even after more than a dozen telephone calls, emails and one story later, I can’t say  with confidence whether I’ve understood the man or his motives.

All of 25, Meer comes across as a sincere, open and passionate person,  aggrieved by what he calls an onslaught on Islam. In this first  interview to the media, he speaks passionately about the motivation  behind this website to ward off attacks on Islam. I asked him why is  Islam perceived as a violent religion? His answer: Put simply, branding problem.

Why did you launch Millatfacebook?

In  protest of the blasphemous, anti-social and hypocritical events of  ridiculing Prophet Muhammad which were supported by Facebook. Despite  requests from hundreds of thousands of users, who reported the pages to  Facebook, let alone taking any action they (Facebook) didn’t even bother to reply. They did reply to media though, saying that they fully  supported these events and would do so in the future in the name of  freedom of expression.

It’s very strange as the same Facebook  administration speaking to the same media only last year stated that  they cannot allow such abuse and hatred directed on the basis of  religions and races. The only difference was that time it wasn’t about  Islam but the Holocaust and racism (which we denounce too).

We  should all express our freedom and rights with sensibility, care and  consideration for our fellow human beings. My freedom shouldn’t mean  that I go out on the street and start hitting my neighbour every day and say that’s my freedom€�. No, that would be an assault as for all  internationally accepted laws and regulations.

Freedom of a  person ends where the freedom of another person starts. So why is it  that when it comes to the Holocaust or racism, this rule is respected  but when it comes to the Muslim faith, it’s not? Is it the new Holocaust for Muslims in the making? The signs are the same.

Why call  it Facebook?

Good question. Actually it is called  Millatfacebook and that’s because just like a picture conveys more than a thousand words, it conveys, without speaking a single word what we are  about which is: “the rival and alternate Facebook created by Muslims for all the decent people of all faiths to come together and interact in a  socially responsible and considerate manner.

And we are not  against Facebook name but the hate-mongering, Islamophobic and  anti-humane policies of the Facebook administration.

The colour scheme, the fonts resemble Facebook, why?

The theme is  certainly different, the logos and colour scheme are unique. There are  many different, additional and better features. However, there may be a  similar feel due to some common basics all social networking platforms  have. It’s just like asking Toyota or BMW why they have an accelerator  or gear box when Mercedes have them. Well, these are the basic  essentials but their designs, models and basically the products are  different.

Aren’t you creating a social networking ghetto?

A ghetto? No, no, not at all. On the contrary we are offering an  alternate platform where people of all faiths can come in harmony and  interact besides also try to understand Muslims for what they really are and not what the popular biased propaganda portrays.

And this is based on the teachings of our Prophet Muhammad who created  multi-religion communal harmony through Mesaq-e-Medina (Accord of  Medina) which ensured that people of all faiths, be it Muslims, Jews,  Pagans or any other, lived in peace and harmony. Millatfacebook is based on those same principles so creating any ghetto is certainly out of  question.

Aren't you capitalising on Islam-under-attack  rhetoric?

No, absolutely not. In Islam, the most important  thing is the intention. Our intention, as explained before, is to lodge  our protest in a positive and practical way, make an example out of the  indecent and hypocritical FB and provide an alternate to decent people  of all faiths specially Muslims.

And even in material terms we  are pouring in our resources on this venture without any expectations of returns whatsoever. If there may be any future returns, so be it but  that is neither the reason nor the prime objective.

Should all Muslims leave Facebook and join Millatfacebook?

Yes, of  course. No doubt about it. And not only just Muslims, all decent people  of all faiths should. What is the revenue model of this website?

Basically the objective is to provide a platform decent people of all faiths, to  come together and interact in a way that is socially responsible. It’s  not created for profiteering but in future different income streams may  start to help support and grow the venture but that is certainly not the primary objective.

 Who is funding this venture?

Being a Muslim it’s our faith that Allah Almighty is funding it. And Global  IT Vision (Pvt) Ltd is honoured to be the initial source for this.

What is the current valuation of Millatfacebook?

One can estimate  the value of Millatfacebook based on its current ranking of 18,860th  among over six billion websites globally in just two weeks as per Alexa. In Pakistan, it is now ranked at 186th, 359th in Indonesia, 490th in  Malaysia, 524th in Bangladesh and 6,872nd in India amongst the millions  of websites in each of these countries, again all this in just  approximately 2 weeks. What is your exit strategy? Do you have an IPO in mind? We don’t have any such intention at the moment as it was not a  business venture. So the question of an exit strategy doesn’t arise. The purpose is to create a platform as mentioned before.

Is Islam truly under attack?

Let’s take a deep breath and honestly  analyse the situation around the world. Starting from being considered a natural adversary by the forces of the new world order to the need to  capture vital resources and paths which are under Muslim rule, by forces of the order, it is all clear for those wanting to see.

Take a  look across the globe, be it Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir, Burma,  Afghanistan, Iraq, it is the Muslims at the receiving end of the  atrocities. Islamic faith is been prosecuted and a campaign of smear and propaganda has been carried out against it.

West had been  accused of many massacres and Holocaust. Isn’t it another Holocaust in  the making, this time directed at Muslims? The signs are the same.

What will you do if a Draw Mohammed page is created on Millatfacebook?

Unlike Facebook, we take strict action against attacks not just on Islam but  defamation of any religion or other violations of decency.

As  soon as such things are reported, not only are the offending pages  removed, but the account of the offender is terminated and furthermore,  the offender’s IP is permanently blocked to stop them from accessing the site again, easily.

Why is Islam perceived as a violent  religion?

Put simply, branding problem. Unfortunately, Islam  falls on the wrong side of the new world order. The power in the new  world order and the control of global media resides with anti-Muslim  lobbies, who consider Islam their natural adversary. On one hand they  commit atrocities against Muslims in Chechnya, Palestine, Kashmir,  Afghanistan, Iraq and Burma. On the other hand the ruling elite in the  Islamic countries are acting as poodles to these forces.

Some  prime example of the bias, prejudice and propaganda against Muslims is  evident from the facts that the IRA blasts are not labelled Christian  terrorism. The incidents in Sri-Lanka are not called Buddhist terrorism. The Melagaon blasts, Samjhaota Express Massacre or the Gujrat massacre  of Muslims are not termed Hindu terrorism. The Israeli atrocities and  attacks on civilian peace activists in international waters are not  referred to as Zionist terrorism.

But if any such incident  involves a Muslim, they are branded as Muslim terrorists. Why?

Similarly, Indian bombs were not labelled Hindu bomb€� nor were Israeli atomic  bombs were called Zionist bombs€� and American nuclear bombs were certainly never referred to as Christian bombs. Even the Soviet or Chinese bombs were not called Communist bombs.

But Pakistan’s  atomic bombs are labelled Islamic bombs by these same forces pursuing  the Zionist agenda which deem Islam as its natural adversary, in the  name of the new world order.

As for the Islamic concept of Jihad  which is normally wrongly associated with violence, we need to bring  forward the true voice of Islam. It is essentially a concept of  self-defence not aggression, which is justified by all international  laws and standards. Jihad says that if you, your family or community is  attacked, then defend yourselves but even in this defence do not harm  any innocent, women, child or elderly and it goes to the extent to  prohibit even any unnecessary harm to the nature or infrastructures.

Furthermore if someone tries to abuse the name of a religion you cannot blame that  religion for it. Just like because of the IRA blasts or Gujarat massacre of Muslims I cannot say that Christianity or Hinduism are violent  religions, the same is also true for Islam.