It is an already established fact that the US President Donald Trump bears a strong hatred for Muslims in his heart. And we all know that the world of sports does not understand any discrimination along the lines of religion.
Yet, in what can be called as one of the most shameful and shocking incidents in the world, Muhammad Ali Jr. the son of the greatest ever boxer to have ever lived, Muhammad Ali, was detained at the Florida airport by immigration officials and repeatedly asked about the origination of his name.
Even after he had acknowledged the fact that he was a Muslim and was the son of the famous boxer, he was held back at the airport for almost two hours and interrogated about his religion. The 44- year old was travelling from Jamaica with his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali, who happens to be Ali’s second wife along with a friend and lawyer named Chris Mancini.
Kentucky based newspaper Courier-Journal in an interaction with Mancini revealed that the officials repeatedly asked the boxer’s son the questions, “Where did you get your name from?” and “Are you Muslim?”.
The lawyer also added, ‘This is an outrage. I don’t know what’s going on with Mr Trump’s claim that his ban is not religion-based.”
The officials of the US Customs and Border protection however justified their actions saying, “Cannot discuss individual travelers; however all international travelers arriving in the US are subject to CBP inspection.” Ali Jr. for that matter was born in Philadelphia and also carries an US passport.
Under such circumstances, it goes without saying that even acquaintances of legends, who had once made the country proud in front of the whole world has to face such unnecessary harassment for the sake of some erroneous political philosophy. Even an US passport isn’t enough to stop a Muslim from being embarrassed and harassed in the United States.
However this isn’t the first time such a thing has happened. Just a few days back, another sportsperson was attacked along the lines of religion as US fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad who became the first American to represent her country in the Olympics wearing a hijab was detained at the US Customs without any proper explanation. She later realised that she had to undergo such a trial because of her religion.
Recalling her harassment, she had said, “I don’t know why. I can’t tell you why it happened to me, but I know that I’m Muslim. I have an Arabic name. And even though I represent Team USA and I have that Olympic hardware, it doesn’t change how you look and how people perceive you.” Ibtihaj had won a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics last year and made her country proud, but tragically this wasn’t taken into account as her religion mattered more than her credentials for the country she lived in.
Well, not only Muslims but also people of non-American origin too are being targeted in the US. The recent ‘hate crime’ in Kansas being a prime example where an American man hurled racial abuses at an Indian man in a crowded bar asking him to ‘get out’ of the former’s country only to shoot him dead few minutes later. Srinivas Kuchibhotla, the victim is survived by his wife who wants the President o intervene in this affair.
Such happenings in recent times prove that the US isn’t safe for anyone, especially for those having a non-Christian religious belief. To what greater depths will the US sink to remove the Muslims, or for that matter any non-American? Will America under Trump no longer remain the land of opportunity? Or will the universal domain of sports too be affected with such religious and racial discrimination? There doesn’t seem to be any answer to these questions as of now but Mancini’s remarks do bring in a bit of hope in these dark times, “We do not discriminate in this country based on religion.”
(With inputs from AP)