World Cup 2022: Qatar facing the worst propaganda

Qatar is hosting Football World Cup which started on November 20. It is a big occasion for this Arab country. Qatar is the first Gulf state hosting such a mega event. Qatar was preparing for it since 2010. It has put a lot of resources, efforts and emotions to make the event successful and memorable.

Qatar used the opportunity to share the benefits with other countries by inviting hundreds of thousands of workers, companies and experts from abroad. It is for the first time the host of Football World Cup engaged such a large number of workers, companies and experts from different countries. Qatar is in a celebration mood and cherishing the occasion.

Many Western countries and propagandists are determined to crush the party. They are trying to use the occasion to malign Qatar by running baseless propaganda on multiple fronts. First, Qatar was targeted for alleged human rights violations. It was propagated that workers were maltreated and 15000 non-Qatari died during the period of 2010-2019. They created the impression all non-Qatari workers were associated with the preparations of World Cup. However, decoding of data highlighted that list comprised of people died due to illness, road accidents or other health implications. Despite the fact that data is very clear on the number of deaths, propaganda is still going on.

Second, Western countries picked LGBTQ as another tool of propaganda. They know Qatar, being a Muslim country, does not allow these practices. It is against the teaching of Islam and strictly prohibited. Thus, Qatar cannot allow it. Unfortunately, West does not recognise the teaching of Islam and values of Qatar. They are insisting on the freedom of LGBTQ. It is pertinent to mention here, West forgets the lesson of diversity in pursuit of LGBTQ. Although, it always advocates diversity in culture and religion, it insists the Western culture should be accepted at the cost of Islamic teachings and values of Qatar.

Third, Western media is portraying Qatar as a country which does not treat media well. They are running campaigns Qatar putting strict measures on the media reporting. They are trying to equate it to censorship and media controlling tactics. On the contrary, Qatar has allowed all media outlets to freely report the World Cup matches without compromising the values of Qatar. Fourth, the cultural values of Qatar are also under attack. There are fake stories presenting Qatar as an oppressor which does not allow people move freely. In reality, Qatar allows people to live life accordingly to their will, but within the boundaries of the values of their country. There are many non-Qatari people who validate this.

On top of everything, Western propagandists have adopted another tool to hide the truth and undermine this Arab country. They are not allowing Qataris or any other person to respond to the allegations and their propaganda. In this way, Western propagandists are snubbing the reasonable voices. If someone tries to respond and share the truth, they call it a paid response. They are blaming government of Qatar is paying people for counter propaganda, which is not true. It is a new tactic to snub the sane voice or hide the truth.

From the above discussion, it is clear a deliberate attempt is being made to impact the successful execution of World Cup in Qatar. It is quite disturbing. The West has developed a habit to criticise other nations on the basis of self-assumed righteousness. They believe whatever they think or do is best and rest of the world must follow them. They talk about diversity of culture and religions, but in practice, they do not accept and allow diversity.

We have seen in recent times Switzerland banned burqa (veil) which is part of Islamic values. It announced heavy penalties for women wearing burqa. Besides, it is expected there would be deliberate attempts to create disturbances by so-called human rights activists during the event. They will try to hold protests and create hurdles in the movement of people.

It is suggested Qatar erect mechanisms to control illegal protests and disturbances. Friends of this Arab country and football loving nations should assist Qatar in this fight as it is against the values of every country other than Western ones. Today is Qatar, tomorrow would be someone else. Same strategy was applied against Beijing Winter Olympics.

Pakistan, being the security partner of the event, must put special efforts to assist Qatar by deputing electronic, print and social media to mitigate the propaganda. It is anticipated the propagandists will paint the security arrangements as down rated during the execution of the event.

Lastly, Qatar must understand it cannot satisfy Western propagandists. It is feared this propaganda will continue after the World Cup too. Thus, Qatar should try to build partnership with friends and countries like Pakistan to dispel the propaganda.