CREDIT: ZIYAH GAFIC“So make peace with your brethren” – Right, we accomplished that with excellence.
It’s interesting to know that an animal only takes what it needs. Lions do no go out and slaughter; they will not kill more than a zebra to feed their hunger. Nor will they indulge themselves with a second zebra because the first tasted so good. Animals attack out of need not out of desire, a few do but it is rare in the animal kingdom.
So, what does that make of us? Be it with the ruling power demolishing our lands and providing us with contaminated food/ water, or with how we treat each other on day to day, or even our relationship with food.
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In his brilliant photographic series of ‘Troubled Islam’ – Ziyah Gafic from Bosnia portrays the aftermath of conflict.
He says:
The stories I’m interested in are focused on countries that have followed a similar pattern of violence as my homeland, Bosnia. My book Troubled Islam: Short Stories from Troubled Societies covers my own journey starting with the aftermath of war in Bosnia, and then exploring the consequences of conflict in the northwestern province of Pakistan, Palestine and Israel to Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Chechnya and Lebanon. “Aftermath” is a key word: the aftermaths of conflicts in these countries follow a similar sequence to that of Bosnia: ethnic violence, fraternal war, ethnic cleansing and, ultimately, genocide.
My idea was to compare countries that are thousands of miles away, on different continents, yet following the same vicious patterns. These countries have certain things in common. One is ethnic wars, though “ethnic” is probably not the most fortunate choice of word. All these countries have significant Muslim communities, or have majority-Muslim populations. In the post-9/11 world, these elements became very relevant.
