20 November 2015

Forgotten Muslim heroes


War History Online has an article about a time during World War One when Muslims were considered heroes:
Many have forgotten that, during World War One, alongside the British, American, and Allied troops, almost half a million Muslim soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder. An recent survey has revealed that not more than twenty percent of the British population are aware of this fact, and just two percent are aware of the scale that they supported the war effort.
The survey was conducted by a charity called British Future, which plans to lead a scheme in schools around the British city of Birmingham to educate children about the role of Muslims from India during World War One.
Historians from the charity are giving lessons to Muslim groups of children, and they are then allowed to interview the direct descendants of those Muslim soldiers who fought in the war.
There are four of these projects being implemented across the UK, and the scheme has been called An Unknown And Untold Story: The Muslim Contribution To The First World War. The project organizers hope that the sessions will ensure that the contribution of British Muslims during World War Two isn’t forgotten and will help to foster understanding, acceptance as well as pride from Muslim children living in the UK.
At the time of World War One, the British recruited men from around the British Empire to fight for the Allies. Around a million and a half of those came from India, around a third of whom were Muslim, along with a hundred thousand Sikhs and eight hundred thousand Hindus.
The Empire troops were sent to the Western Front and fought in the trenches to hold the front line against the German forces, according to the Birmingham Mail.
The charity behind the project believes that, by commemorating the acts of the country’s Muslim predecessors, it will be a force for good in communities across the UK. They hope it will instill a sense of belonging for Muslim youngsters and foster pride for their country of birth.
More than sixty thousand troops were killed in action during the war, including at the Battle of the Somme and at Ypres. Some fought at Gallipoli, where around a thousand men lost their lives, while around seven hundred thousand fought in Mesopotamia.
Troops from outside Europe struggled with the cold, wet conditions, and many came ill-equipped to survive the European winter.
Rico says that's not even including those who followed Lawrence of Arabia... (Not that this project is gonna work, but it's nice they're trying.)

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