The Globe and Mail | When doing good brings down the wrath of brutes

In the past decade, I have visited Aga Khan projects in East Africa, India, Central Asia and Pakistan. I’ve walked the slums of Karachi, Nairobi and Delhi with dedicated Aga Khan workers and volunteers, seeing them bring hope to areas where the Taliban would bring none.

Today, I weep for the innocent victims on that bus in Karachi. To those who buy into the despicable narrative that paints all practitioners of Islam with the same brush, I can only despair.

– Robert Remington is a Victoria, B.C.-based writer and author

When doing good brings down the wrath of brutes
By Robert Remington for The Globe and Mail.  Published Friday, May. 15 2015, 3:00 AM EDT.  Last updated Friday, May. 15 2015, 3:00 AM EDT

Imagine, a Muslim sect that advocates religious tolerance, supports gender equality, educates women, restores ancient monuments, preserves traditional music, engages in institution building and creates wealth to help bring disadvantaged people out of poverty.

It’s no wonder that the Ismailis drive Islamic State crazy.

The killing of 43 and wounding of 30 Ismailis in Karachi by the IS loyalist group Jundullah must not be diminished as another case of sectarian violence perpetrated on a Pakistani religious minority, as described in many media reports. It is an attack on a group that symbolizes all that is a good in a civilized world, a group that represents everything that IS and its ilk seek to destroy.

A tolerant community with an enlightened view of Islam, the Ismaili community through the many tentacles of the Aga Khan Development Network is engaged in life-changing development work in 30 countries. Its non-denominational network of 325 schools, two universities, 11 hospitals and 195 health clinics is supported by tithes from the Ismaili community, grants from donor nations and profits generated by a worldwide business empire of some 90 companies that in 2013 generated revenues of $3.5-billion (U.S.).

Driven by the ethics of pluralism, diversity and respect as espoused by its spiritual leader, the British-born, Harvard-educated billionaire Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, the Ismaili community indirectly supports an army of 80,000 employees, more than 90 per cent of whom are non-Ismaili, who bring health, education and economic hope to people in some of the poorest regions of the world.

For noble work such as this, the Ismailis are considered kafir (heretics) by gangs of medieval brutes like Jundullah, which on Wednesday decided to put bullets in the heads of innocent Ismailis in a bus on their way to a prayer service in Karachi.

By Robert Remington is a Victoria, B.C.-based writer and author.

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