Muslim 'Rage Boy' says he's really angry

He has become the face of Muslim fury: an angry young man whose bushy beard and fiery-eyed scowl take centre stage at nearly every pro-Islamic demonstration in Indian Kashmir.

Shakeel Bhat, 31, has been displaying his teeth and shaking his fist over anything from Salman Rushdie's knighthood to Danish cartoons, becoming a photographers' favourite and earning himself the nickname "Rage Boy" in online columns and blogs.

One American columnist has dismissed him as a "professional Muslim protester," while other bloggers have also held him up for ridicule as a person who appears to be very easily enraged about anything.

But Bhat, the man behind the angry face, said he could take any kind of criticism in his stride.

"Whatever I do, I do for Allah and the Prophet Mohammed," said Bhat, who admits to having been an armed militant between 1991 and 1994 with a pro-Pakistan rebel group.

"I can't resist injustice. I protest for all the oppressed Muslims in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan," he told AFP.

Bhat dropped out of school in his early teens, and quickly found his way into the armed struggle against New Delhi's disputed hold over part of the scenic Himalayan region.

The nearly 18-year-old conflict has left at least 42,000 people dead, nearly a third of them civilians.

After escaping scores of police raids, Bhat finally spent three years behind bars -- a lucky escape from the Indian army's "catch and kill" tactics of the 1990s.

While he no longer carries a weapon, Bhat said he was still fuming about the Indian army's often suffocating presence in Kashmir -- where there is one soldier for every four civilians -- and what he sees as a wider international conspiracy against Muslims.

"If my photographs get published across the world, it is because my emotions are real and my looks are not deceptive. The photos show the anger inside," said the full-time demonstrator, who when off the street looks distincly modest and a little shy.

Bhat has been detained more than 300 times since he first took to the streets of Srinagar in late 1997. He even travels to other parts of the picturesque Kashmir valley to vent his Islamist anger.

"Police have registered 40 cases against me for taking part in the protests and I have to shuttle from one court to another to defend myself. I've been in almost every police station," he laughed, clutching a plastic bag full of court papers.

Although not a Shiite Muslim, he says his inspiration is Iran's late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

"I sometimes leave my home and return days later after being in police lock-ups," said Bhat, whose family run a handicrafts business.

"My family members are very supportive. They know I am not doing anything wrong. I am doing what every Muslims needs to do."

Apart from drawing ridicule from bloggers, Bhat has even inspired one American neoconservative website to push "Rage Boy" merchandise -- including T-shirts, beer mugs, mouse pads.

"I don't believe this! I have no knowledge about all this. Why do they do it?" demanded Bhat, who says he has no idea how to use a computer and the Internet.

"I don't need any titles. I am a simple Muslim. Yes, I get enraged if someone, somewhere makes derogatory remarks about our religion or Prophet," he said.

"The Koran is my driving force. I will come out on streets as long as Muslims are victims of oppression, even if it leads to my death."

Many of the anti-war demonstrations since 9/11 and especially since our war with Iraq/Hussein have had a Muslim contingency, though the MSM has fairly downplayed their participation.

If you read Horowitz’ book, you will be amazed (but not to surprised) to see that a large portion of Islamic jihad is actually Bolshevik in origin, inspiration, tactic, and goal. The American Left is allied with the Islamonazis because they share a common goal: overthrow America as she stands. The Left thinks they will fill that vacuum with Soviet-style communism. The Islamonazis think it will be their sharia.

In a sense, the Left has already funded terrorists. There are several legal groups with direct, communist backing, that represent terrorists when they are convicted. Much of this funding comes from Leftist organizations. Also, there have been several ‘world forum’ type meetings, such as the hate fest in Durban that was nothing less than a coalition of the Left with the Islamonazis, funded by Leftists.

Yep, look for Leftist-funded Islamonazi rent-a-mobs to protest vehemently in 08 to try to intimidate and guilt Americans into voting for a Leftist. It doesn’t matter if it is Mrs. Bill Clinton, Obama or whoever. They’re all the same color: Red.

“They spend way to much time and energy on hatred. And little on improving their own lot in life. They care more about blaming everything on Israel, and expending little, if no effort on improving themselves, and their surroundings. They are do nothings. They do nothing, and expect everything. I would not even care to see what Israel would look like under the care of these do nothings.”

Change the word Israel to “the White man” and you might go a long way toward explaining why everyone locks their car doors as soon as they pull onto a street named after Martin Luther King.

I am quite aware, though, that not all Muslims are quite as unproductive as this fellow and his kindred spirits. The same is true of residents of the inner city and other places where all the residents seem motivationally challenged. I recall when I was growing up I thought the area where my father grew up was a dump and everyone seemed to be on welfare or other government relief. The greatest ambition of a young woman seemed to be to find someone on black lung disability to marry - since survivor benefits last forever. My father, aunts and uncles seemed to be, for the most part, hard working people who were successful and very scornful of any kind of government welfare. I was in college before I finally understood what happened. Those with motivation left and made their livings elsewhere. The ones left behind did not have motivation enough to leave. The nation is filled with successful former-east Kentuckians, but very few succeeded by staying home and waiting for a government check.

My aunts and uncles left their former home and went to places where a work ethic made a difference. Their scorn for welfare was based mostly on what they saw the welfare state do to their friends and neighbors who stayed behind and lived in misery while collecting monthly checks. As those with initiative left, those who look to the federal government for a solution to each and every problem took over by default. The area became a dump because no one would raise a finger to solve any problems, they would only sit around and carp about how unresponsive the federal government was to their plight. Appalachia is changing somewhat in more recent years, but many parts fell victim to this government co-opting of initiative.

You can see the difference in the Muslim world of today. Turkey, Malaysia, The UAR and a few others are dominated by pragmatic types who have somewhat of a work ethic and are more concerned with economic development than with skinning Salman Rushdie or burning down Denmark because of some cartoons. Those nations occasionally spout some Islamic rhetoric, but for the most part spend their time advancing their economies and, in consequence, their people are seeing their standards of living improve. At the other extreme are Iran and the Gaza Strip where the economies are a shambles because the leadership is more interested in religious extremism than in feeding their own people. Other nations like Afghanistan and Pakistan have suffered from being the battleground between extremists and pragmatists.

The difference is who is in charge. When you let those who care more about their social or religious causes than about the economy, you get a dump. When government sees their role as securing the economy and the ability of those who wish to to work and earn a living, the people generally do fairly well.

At least that is my opinion.

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