Is this fair? Is this justifiable? Are we not forgetting something?
TOI on the left hand side features a couple of articles on terrorism in India. The first article talks about over 700 terrorists in J&K waiting to kill and maim innocent civilians in the name of religious war. The second article talks of a young, successful IIT graduate whose life, love and family was riddled with bullet holes, by the 26/11 perpetrators.
On the same page is ‘Aman ki asha’, the grand TOI initiative to bring the people of the India and Pakistan together. Their argument is that the establishment is different from the people of Pakistan. People are essentially similar, culturally and emotionally. Hence we can be friends. No harm done!
I can almost picture a crazed L-e-T terrorist having fits of laughter. They will take this not only as another sign of weakness but also as an opportunity to further their designs. This initiative will have a real positive impact on terrorist confidence. Way to go!
Coming back to the point of ‘being friends’. Ultimately, it is the people of the nation who are responsible for a nation’s misdeeds. They are not different from their nation’s establishment. The uber-romantic notion of Jai-Veeru-dosti between India and Pakistan is counter-productive and directionless.
Will this stop another smart IIT graduate from being gunned down? Will this make the crazed L-e-T terrorist any less crazed? Will this bring any real peace, even for a month, week or day? I sincerely doubt.
Friendship is between equals. We … are no longer equals!
5 comments:
Good catch. But dont you think on the top, its us the middle class who is only the concerned party. The rich class, call it Bollywood or SPorts or the erudite or the Journalists, who get to sit and talk on forums of Aman ki Asha, they never care. Neither does the impoverished rural class of our great nation, whose first task is to feed their and their kids stomachs. Do you think , we , just by expressing anguish can make any difference? I've felt my despair, but myself am sitting in the USA doing nothing. Tell me the best way we can make some changes to whats happening!!
Well, I wouldn't totally agree that the upper and the lower classes are not concerned with terrorism. They are. Terrorism affects the rich and the poor alike, so they are concerned. Just that their priorities may be different.
We are doing our part to combat terrorism. Do not under estimate the power of media and general consensus. Expressing our anguish through common forums can be a powerful tool (Not this blog probably :)). Facebook campaigns are pretty common these days.
That apart our contribution towards the development of the nation definitely helps us combat terrorism in the long run through better availability of resources to authorities.
These may seem insignificant, but together it definitely makes an impact.
I would have to disagree with the statement that general public are the ones who can be held responsible for the misdeeds of the nation. India is held responsible in a large way for the strengthening of LTTE in Sri Lanka. Our Armed forces did help them (this can be verified). Later we decided to go against them. Can you hold people living a normal life in Pune & Mumbai responsible for this? I do not think so.
Many a times the common man of Pakistan does not even have a choice to choose its leader (like Musharraf).
While working in UK, some of my office mates were from south asia. There we were closer to each other as the culture in these nations (SAARC) is very similar. Hating my Pakistani Office mate hardly seemed logical. That would be stereotyping.. which we are trying to remove from western nations about Indians. Each individual has a right to be judged about his act.. rather than be stereotyped.
Also... If India and Pakistan remain enemy and never have peace.. The terrorist have already won what they are fighting for... They are not fighting for peace.. they are fighting against it.. To defeat them is to have peace..
Try try till you succeed has a meaning here.. and so does the Gandhi's mantra...
I know.. easy for me to talk about it.. when I have not lost anyone in my near and dear ones in a terrorist attack... but.. what should be done?.. Nuclear war might be a solution .. do you want to consider that?.. Do you want that...??? America is also not a peaceful nation today.. even with so many retaliations and the strongest defence in the world.. Rather, Swiss is.. with a very bare minimum army.. Which policy is right??
I am not advocating any views here.. just bringing up the other front.. The decision is of each individual..
--Harshal Kalamkar
When I said "People" I meant it in a collective sense.
Not you, not me, but 'we' the people of India or for that matter People of any nation. Most definitely we are responsible for what happened in Sri Lanka, even if we were too young to vote at that time, or voted for someone else. 'We' have to own up to what we did.
Our leaders have done that and have, if not anything else, stopped themselves from repeating the same mistake.
Australia, has very recently admitted to racial attacks on it's soil and are doing things to rectify the situation.
Our neighbour on the other hand refuses to admit to any wrong doing, in the face of water-tight evidence. It is this behavioural aspect that makes these 'initiatives' senseless and counter-productive.
I am not spreading the word of hate. Period. War was never a solution, never will be.
However, it is time that the leaders on the other side of the fence (who represent the people) take responsibility for their misdeeds. Till the time that happens there will be no lasting peace. Till the time that happens the burden of crimes against humanity is on our neighbours.
"it is time that the leaders on the other side of the fence (who represent the people)" - this is the problem with the whole argument.
Those so-called leaders and the army doesn't represent the people just like how a swindling Pawar, a bumbling Mamata and a psychopath Modi doesn't represent you and me. And the lack of education and financial freedom/progress in a majority of that country means that they are just not being represented in the democratic sense of the word.
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