Can Hugs Bring Communities Back Together?

The bombing on May22 in the Manchester arena killed 22 and injured around 120. Once again the terrorist attack created a fear psychosis and a rift between communities. Sadly it is traumatic not only for the families of victims but also for people who profess the same faith as the terrorists, who not only get marginalized but have to live with a social stigma.

Baktash Noori was just as shocked as any British citizen when Salman Abedi walked into the Manchester Arena last Monday (May 22) and left a bloody trail of death and devastation.

Determined not to see the terrorist attack divide the world further, the Muslim video blogger decided to film a social experiment to see if the people of Manchester would accept him.

In footage uploaded to his YouTube channel, Baktash stands blindfolded on Market Street – just half a mile from the scene of the attack – next to a sign reading: “I’m Muslim & I trust you. Do you trust me enough for a hug?”

And what follows is incredible.

It is truly admirable for young Baktash Noori to stand alone on a busy thoroughfare, when emotions were running high against the Muslims. He had the courage of his convictions and the belief that every human being will respond to love with love!

This heart-warming video shows how ordinary people reacted when a blindfolded Muslim man ask people to trust him.

Dozens of people went up to the man after he stood on the street with his eyes covered and two signs that read:  I’M MUSLIM & I TRUST YOU. DO YOU TRUST ME ENOUGH FOR A HUG?

The video first shows people walking by until one man passes as he reads the sign and turns back to give him a very heartfelt embrace.

‘Good man, you’re not alone kid and don’t think you’re outside,’ he said.

Then a woman quickly approaches and hugs him and a man, and another woman.

People stream up to hug him of all ages.

Baktash Noori with his brave experiment in some ways restored our faith in humanity.

Look around you and you see countless number of people dying in terrorist attacks or genocide by Dictatorial Regimes. And you start wondering can a human being inflict so much pain and suffering on a fellow human being?

It happened in Nazi Germany during the Second World War when millions of Jews were tortured and killed. The Nazis believed Jews were inferior human beings and did not deserve to live. So the genocide started with millions of innocent men, women and children being killed systematically because they were different. 

There is a similar kind of evil on this planet which goes on in China today but most Chinese people are not aware of it. The Chinese communist government makes sure that the pain and torture they are inflicting on their innocent citizens is not revealed to the people.

What we are talking about today is the torture and killing of innocent men and women who are followers of a spiritual exercise and meditation practice called Falun Gong. Since the principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance does not go well with the government’s ideologies, people are forced to give up their faith and if they don’t, they are killed.

And hold on, the shocking thing is their organs are extracted and put up in the black market for sale. Whereas, in the rest of the world you have to wait for an organ transplant, in China you can get it in less than a week. Can you imagine one human being inflicting so much pain on a fellow human being?

As an afterthought, with the terrorist monster rearing its ugly head again last week and ever so often, one wonders if someone like Baktash Noori would have the guts to stage something like this in a public place again and expect the same kind of response. It is sad that it slowly erodes our faith in humanity but good sense should prevail and we should not generalize and ostracize people of a certain faith because of some heinous acts of some warped minds.