9/11 Twenty Years On: 20 years ago United States witnessed the biggest attack on its soil which sent ripples throughout the world. While the Twin Towers collapsed to a rubble from its ashes rose a new world order that changed the world forever.

There was a heavy loss of life on that fateful day, with nearly 3,000 people dead, this resulted in a new perception around the world about Muslims at large creating a wave of Islamophobia.

While the militant group Al-Qaeda was blamed for the attack and later took responsibility, what followed was unprecedented. Various Muslim institutions in the US were shutdown, with authorities coming down hard on both religious and educational institutes.

Hate crimes against Muslims became common place, the western media vilified the community. Once seen as an important part of the country they were now seen as a threat to the American way of life.

The western media depicted a common Muslim as a terrorist. This treatment of a minority had not been seen as since the days of Hitler led Nazis who persecuted the Jews.

The problem and the biggest issue with hate is that it is not confined and soon this new paranoia had gripped many nations. The impact it had on the Muslim world, the so called war on terror and how the world politics changed lets take a look.

American Muslims Targeted

The FBI itself revealed statistics that hate crimes against Muslims in the US spiked, going from 28 such incidents nationwide in 2000 to 481 in 2001.

Hassan Sheikh a high school student, watched the attacks from his classroom after the teacher had brought in a TV set in the room.

The next day Hassan experienced a change and knew how the 9/11 attacks would effect his life.

He says he lost friends, faced bullying, and became a target of overtly racist comments. Once while playing in a basketball game, a player from the opposite team called him “a raghead terrorist Arab”, Sheikh told Al Jazeera. The referee, he says, heard the comment but did nothing.

Faris Ibrahim, 28, an author recalls in the aftermath of attacks school friends treating him differently and teachers asking him “inappropriate” questions about his parents’ religion and political beliefs.

There was this idea that Muslims have this hidden agenda, this suspicion that Muslims weren’t on the same page as everybody else,” Ibrahim told Al Jazeera. “That we were saying things outwardly but saying something different in our mosques, and we had to be spied on.

War on Terror Begins

After the attacks the then US President launched an offensive in order to restore America’s pride which had been dented like never before. Afghanistan was attacked in order to destroy Taliban thought to be working in nexus with Al- Qaeda.

Billions were spend, millions of lives lost and 20 years later Taliban was replaced with Taliban.

Other countries joined this war UK, France, Australia joined forces abroad in Afghanistan to eliminate Taliban.

After Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria were invaded and left devastated. War on Terror had become a mere moniker for other nations to extend this new face of imperialism.

Islamophobia kept growing in the West. Hate crimes, scrutiny, unnecessary detention and questioning of Muslims was a commonplace throughout the world.

Muslims again vilified, targeted in the name of war on terror.

Sub Continent Subdued

Sub Continent largely played a passive role in the aftermath of 9/11 attacks. While the Middle East failed to address the growing Islamophobia, Pakistan took on great importance as an important ally to US in their misadventures.

Pakistan soil was being used by the Americans to ease operations of Afghanistan. Whatever relative success US had in Afghanistan, would not have been possible if not for Pakistan at that time. But this led to various condemnations in the Muslim world with even their own people being victims of Islamophobia.

Afghanistan retaliated with terror attacks in Pakistan, turning them into a near war ravaged nation. A notion from which they are still recovering.

Kashmir and India.

Gowhar Geelani, journalist and author of Kashmir Rage and Reason, said, “Immediately after the devastating attack on the twin towers in September 2001, India’s Parliament building in New Delhi was attacked in December.

This gave India an opportunity to link the armed struggle in Kashmir to a global perceived nexus of terrorism.

Following 9/11, India put militant outfits in Kashmir in the same bag as global outfits such as Al-Qaeda. This allowed India to adddress the Kashmir issue on a global level in a different way. It gave them a free hand to clamp down on dissent  and unrest in the region. Human rights violation in the region, a lingering issue was now more of a by product of India’s contribution in the war on terror.

After 9/11, India had argued that resistance in J&K is primarily an issue of terrorism and that Pakistan is sponsoring and supporting “cross-border terrorism” in the region. After 9/11, India urging the US to include Kashmir in its war on terror.

Even Kashmir’s internal politics was not free from the effects of 9/11.

Following the assembly attack, JeM was finally declared a foreign Islamic jihadist organisation by the United Nations in October 2001 and by the US in December 2001.

Three months after 9/11, on 26 December 2001, United States Secretary of State Colin Powell designated Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant outfit a foreign terrorist organization. LeT has been active in J&K with both local and foreign militants joining the outfit.

Hurriyat Conference, Kashmir’s separatist party was divided. Mirwaiz Umer Farooq became related to the political struggle and asked militants to leave guns and join dialogue.

In 2003 a ceasefire was declared along the Line of Control (LoC),  cross-LoC  transport links were reopened.

On April 7, 2005, start of a regular bus service connecting Srinagar and Muzaffarabad was seen as the beginning of a new time.

However, the Amarnath land row quelled such notions of Kashmir moving to a peaceful resolution. Protests raged throughout the valley. A violence that left close to 46 dead and nearly 1,300 injured.

In July 2016, civil unrest erupted after killing of Hizbul militant commander Burhan Wani. Ninety-three civilians lost lives in the five-month-long unrest and over 13,000 were injured, mostly with pellets.

On 5 August 2019, the BJP-led Central government revoked the special status of the region by abrogating Article 370. The clampdown and curfew continued in the region for five months with J&K Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) claiming that 33 civilians lost their lives during the year.

And Now.

20 years later America has completely withdrawn from Afghanistan with their tails between their legs. The nation which saw itself as a beacon of peace left humiliated on the world stage as Taliban prevailed taking over the country.

The tune has changed much since 9/11 with the US government ready to work with the new Taliban regime, so much for war on terror.

As for Kashmir and India, the later is vary of any spillover of the Afghan war in Kashmir, like the one in 90’s. It gives India another reason to project Kashmir in a different way to the world as it continues its own war.

(Inputs from Al Jazeera, Moneycontrol).