July 31, 2011
More than anything, restraint is the order of the day when terrorists have had a ball blowing up crowded places and doing what they know best – killing people and inflicting untold suffering on the bereaved members of the victims.
With e-papers offering the 'your comments' space for every bit of news, accusations begin to fly from one religious community against another. In the old days armchair criticism was reserved for cricketers. Now we have armchair experts who seem to know exactly who has done it and which government agency has collaborated in a particular bombing - all before investigators appear on the scene.
Following the recent serial bombings in Mumbai, I got a glimpse of Aishwarya Rai going on television, seemingly looking in the eye of the terrorists and saying that they cannot do anything to break the resolve of the people of Mumbai – or some such thing.
I wonder if the victims' families feel the same. What celebrities can do is influence the government to handover the money to the victims' families that has been promised to them without delay. This may never help families overcome the loss of a dear one, but it will atleast show that the country cares.
Hatred seems to be transcending all boundaries and some people appear to have nothing better to do than post provocative and loathsome comments whether there is an opportunity or not. Even videos of Pakistan's national carrier (PIA) on You Tube are not spared. The people of Pakistan are immediately abused and called terrorists. If Pakistanis are that bad, then how does writing such hate-filled comments make us Indians any better? And what has an airline got anything to do with terrorism or any terrorist?
Even as I was writing this article, a bomb went off in Oslo, Norway. Within minutes, some readers blamed Islamists. It has now come to light that the perpetrator is a Christian fundamentalist who is against multiculturalism and Muslim immigration. Obviously, he is a non-practising Christian and in the same league as a non-practising Muslim terrorist. No doubt as with so many bombings, there will be new twists and turns before the whole truth is exposed, instead of calling all nationals of a country terrorists.
The same hatred is now getting implanted at home. During an address, the Principal of a school in Mangalore alerted parents of the dangerous trend that she has noticed among children; they form groups immediately after an attack that has a religious current to it. Boundaries are set and strong negatives vibes pervade the air to make students of another community feel low and guilty. She was straightforward enough to tell the parents that they are directly responsible for instilling fear and anger in their children, whether knowingly or unknowingly.
History is proof that people of almost every religion in the world have perpetrated crimes against humanity. Modern times are no different. At any given time where everyone talks about freedom and democracy - people of almost all religions are involved in crimes that are intended and aimed at people of another religion. The reasons may be different – either to suppress the weaker community into submission, or to enforce their dogma – but the idea is always to inflict as much pain and suffering as possible on the victims and their families.
If Osama was considered the most dangerous terrorist in the world, then we need to look at some others. Stalin was a student of a seminary studying to become a priest. From the beginning, his hatred towards the upper class was quite obvious. His expulsion from the seminary - because he read books not approved by the institution - did not help him become a better person. He also went against the church. He became infamous for his pogroms. Hitler was the man responsible for the murder of no less than five million Jews, and he was a Catholic. I don't think there is any terrorist organisation in the world that has achieved this horrifying distinction.
I know a retired nun, now in her late eighties, who as a young girl was Hitler's neighbour in Austria. She still cannot believe that Hitler was capable of so much hatred. All she remembers about him as a young boy is that he was naughty! She told me, “Hatred is a very powerful and destructive force that can take root in the silence of the heart.”
As a Catholic, I know that people belonging to this faith have suffered a lot in recent times, and any form of violence is condemnable. But, I also know how unfair it is to blame an entire community for crimes committed by a few. If I have highlighted crimes committed by certain Christians, it is only to remind myself and my family that anyone is capable of it. We cannot live with hatred and say that we are free.
Alexander the Great – in his zeal to conquer the world - became a plunderer, marauder, rapist, and murderer. Ironically, he is called Great. Then there were Muslim kings who did the same. Today, in India certain Hindu leaders will not mind carrying out acts of genocide. The Americans are killing Muslims by the dozens everyday in some part of the Islamic world. The list goes on.
Che Guevara, who once swore to overthrow the dictators who ruled his country, Argentina, became Castro's ally and was personally responsible for the torture and murder of thousands of individuals, who he believed were a threat to Castro's dictatorship. Ironically, he once wanted to fight for the rights of the poor people of his country. Youngsters - unaware of his brutalities - proudly sport his picture emblazoned on T-shirts. With the same ignorance, people attack Muslims in India because a certain Muslim terrorist from Pakistan carried out an attack. How easily we forget that an Islamist's bomb also kills Muslims. I don't think any victims of the Muslims will love the Islamist for killing their loved ones.
On a night that was being bathed in blood in the name of religion during the partition, a Hindu man, who had murdered a Muslim baby, came to Mahatma Gandhi seeking repentance - such was the reverence for The Mahatma. The Mahatma told him that there was one way that he could find peace again; he must raise a Muslim orphan for twenty years. It is believed that the Mahatma told him to raise the boy in the tenets of Islam. It requires some contemplation to understand why the Mahatma attached that condition – in raising the boy, he also wanted the Hindu man to rediscover love for people of all faiths. After all, only love can bind.
One man who forever changed his ideals after reading the above episode was Sami Al Jundi, who as a youngster formed a militant cell and began building bombs to kill the Israelis. Sentenced to ten years in prison following his arrest, Sami endured a great deal of torture. It was in prison that Sami found a book on Mahatma Gandhi. Sami's determination to fight for his people did not change. On his release he chose the path of peace and nonviolence for his struggle. On studying history closely, Sami realized that the Israelis were also victims at one stage and later even spoke with compassion for them.
Though people may not have lost their own in a terrorist attack, they bay for the blood of perpetrators not even identified. On a normal television program, at times we suddenly find participants bursting with slogans of “long live India”. Sometimes I look out of the window to see if there are any enemy planes attacking our country.
India will certainly live long because its people love the country. Far from being scared of the reparable damage that terrorists can inflict upon us, I am worried that nationalistic fervour – with its hidden agenda to ostracize a particular community - has the potential to destroy the country from within. We all should worry about this real danger. How easily one of our loved ones could become a victim of a bus burning. Hours after Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards, sectarian violence took the lives of more than a thousand innocent Sikhs. How can any peace loving citizen, even for once, believe that the Sikhs deserved it?
Today there are right-wing political parties that portray themselves as the ultimate patriots and talk about “protecting” the country from enemies. They think that anyone who does not share their views is a traitor. We all know they are talking about their own countrymen. Gandhiji, himself a Hindu, was killed by another Hindu. The same happened to Yitzhak Rabin; he was killed by another Jew.
I don't think any person who is a true patriot would like to see his own countrymen bathing in each other's blood. As it is the country is reeling under corruption. The last thing any peace-loving citizen wants is living under the fear of communal violence.
In a family filled with strife, everyone suffers. It is no different for the citizens of any country when there is a politically-motivated internal strife.
The few who are in power will make us believe that the country is under siege with their false propaganda and exaggerated statements. That is their method of instilling fear and fomenting trouble. No doubt, India has its share of woes and there are problems of various sorts, but this is also true of many other nations.
In this internet era, it is easy for disgruntled and misled individuals to instill hatred. At the click of an icon a message can be sent to a hundred, and from each receiver, it can be forwarded and multiplied exponentially.
Restraint – not reaction - is the order of the day.
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