The western media is reporting that a poor image of Pakistan may be behind the lacklustre response to fund-raising appeals to support rescue efforts. The widespread coverage of violent protests against western countries on the streets of Pakistan has indeed, helped generate a negative stereotype of Pakistan.
While we may not be able to quantify how the rest of the world views Pakistan, we may still be able to see how the rest of the world views Muslims in general.
The Pew Global Attitudes Project conducts opinion polls about matters of global interest. The opinion poll conducted in spring 2009 carried a question about what opinion people had of Muslims. The question was put to 20,000-plus respondents in 25 countries, including some Muslim majority countries. I got hold of the raw data set, which I analysed to determine whether people held a favourable or unfavourable opinion of Muslims.
As expected, Muslims living in Muslim majority countries indeed had a very high opinion of themselves. However, a very large segment of respondents from Muslim minority countries reported having somewhat of an unfavourable view of Muslims. No fewer than 42 per cent of the respondents hailing from Muslim minority countries reported unfavourable opinion of Muslims. On the other hand, only 10 per cent respondents from Muslim majority countries reported an unfavourable opinion of Muslims.
The graph below indicates that Egyptians, Indonesians, Lebanese and Pakistanis have the most favourable opinion of Muslims, as is indicated by the green colour bars. Over 90 per cent of the respondents in these countries reported a favourable opinion of Muslims. Not much surprise there.
The western media is reporting that a poor image of Pakistan may be behind the lacklustre response to fund-raising appeals to support rescue efforts. The widespread coverage of violent protests against western countries on the streets of Pakistan has indeed, helped generate a negative stereotype of Pakistan.
While we may not be able to quantify how the rest of the world views Pakistan, we may still be able to see how the rest of the world views Muslims in general.
The Pew Global Attitudes Project conducts opinion polls about matters of global interest. The opinion poll conducted in spring 2009 carried a question about what opinion people had of Muslims. The question was put to 20,000-plus respondents in 25 countries, including some Muslim majority countries. I got hold of the raw data set, which I analysed to determine whether people held a favourable or unfavourable opinion of Muslims.
As expected, Muslims living in Muslim majority countries indeed had a very high opinion of themselves. However, a very large segment of respondents from Muslim minority countries reported having somewhat of an unfavourable view of Muslims. No fewer than 42 per cent of the respondents hailing from Muslim minority countries reported unfavourable opinion of Muslims. On the other hand, only 10 per cent respondents from Muslim majority countries reported an unfavourable opinion of Muslims.
The graph below indicates that Egyptians, Indonesians, Lebanese and Pakistanis have the most favourable opinion of Muslims, as is indicated by the green colour bars. Over 90 per cent of the respondents in these countries reported a favourable opinion of Muslims. Not much surprise there.
While we may not be able to quantify how the rest of the world views Pakistan, we may still be able to see how the rest of the world views Muslims in general.
The Pew Global Attitudes Project conducts opinion polls about matters of global interest. The opinion poll conducted in spring 2009 carried a question about what opinion people had of Muslims. The question was put to 20,000-plus respondents in 25 countries, including some Muslim majority countries. I got hold of the raw data set, which I analysed to determine whether people held a favourable or unfavourable opinion of Muslims.
As expected, Muslims living in Muslim majority countries indeed had a very high opinion of themselves. However, a very large segment of respondents from Muslim minority countries reported having somewhat of an unfavourable view of Muslims. No fewer than 42 per cent of the respondents hailing from Muslim minority countries reported unfavourable opinion of Muslims. On the other hand, only 10 per cent respondents from Muslim majority countries reported an unfavourable opinion of Muslims.
The graph below indicates that Egyptians, Indonesians, Lebanese and Pakistanis have the most favourable opinion of Muslims, as is indicated by the green colour bars. Over 90 per cent of the respondents in these countries reported a favourable opinion of Muslims. Not much surprise there.
The western media is reporting that a poor image of Pakistan may be behind the lacklustre response to fund-raising appeals to support rescue efforts. The widespread coverage of violent protests against western countries on the streets of Pakistan has indeed, helped generate a negative stereotype of Pakistan.
While we may not be able to quantify how the rest of the world views Pakistan, we may still be able to see how the rest of the world views Muslims in general.
The Pew Global Attitudes Project conducts opinion polls about matters of global interest. The opinion poll conducted in spring 2009 carried a question about what opinion people had of Muslims. The question was put to 20,000-plus respondents in 25 countries, including some Muslim majority countries. I got hold of the raw data set, which I analysed to determine whether people held a favourable or unfavourable opinion of Muslims.
As expected, Muslims living in Muslim majority countries indeed had a very high opinion of themselves. However, a very large segment of respondents from Muslim minority countries reported having somewhat of an unfavourable view of Muslims. No fewer than 42 per cent of the respondents hailing from Muslim minority countries reported unfavourable opinion of Muslims. On the other hand, only 10 per cent respondents from Muslim majority countries reported an unfavourable opinion of Muslims.
The graph below indicates that Egyptians, Indonesians, Lebanese and Pakistanis have the most favourable opinion of Muslims, as is indicated by the green colour bars. Over 90 per cent of the respondents in these countries reported a favourable opinion of Muslims. Not much surprise there.
| Daily Update |  |
