An article in NYT says-":this is not India's 9/11." With all due respect to that particular event, nobody is in the mood for a comparative analysis. It further goes on to say that this event is homegrown and a reaction to discrimination against the islamic population in India.
We have lived in relative secular harmony for the last 500 years. I can personally say that young indians do not consider religion to be an important part of a person's identity. Events such as these however throw into disarray our shared secular beliefs and traditions of cultural tolerance.
As part of the world's largest democracy I have often argued against fundamentalism, defended the right of a minority population to have a voice larger than its collective sum and reveled in the notion of a "Mr nice guy" India. This blatant cowardly act of mass murder begs me to ask myself - "are my beliefs and values a cosmopolitan blunder?"
AS I sit at home watching horrible scenes enfold on my television screen, as commando units overrun my evening coffee destinations and monuments that have defined my city burn I feel helpless, vulnerable and horribly disenchanted.
I don't know when this situation will finally be brought under control. I don't know what will happen after, though I harbor a sneaking suspicion that this day wil be forgotten just like so many others before in a country where human life holds no value.
How many of us have sat in elegant living rooms and argued passionately about state corruption, condemned 'reactionary' measures and stylishly stated that "we love our neighbors."? Today it seems like empty rhetoric as the policemen we condemn for bribe taking die by the dozen, the army that is sent to jail to build vote banks act as human shields and our "neighbors" train 'jihadists' to spill the blood of innocents.
After this is all over we will get on with our lives. Trains will run, people will go back to work and high powered deals will be struck in the hotel by the bay. But for a generation reared on ideals of democracy, secularism and brotherhood, a generation that might be the last bastion of normalcy on an increasingly polarized globe the world might never be the same
3 comments:
Dear Vivek,
I completely agree with you, but it is also important for us to understand the root cause of the problem. Probably people from Pakistan are involved, but just blaming the Pakistani government is not the solution, there are lot of tribal belts in Pakistan where even the Pakistani government does not have control. to eradicate terrorism from this region, we must ensure that Pakistan comes in control of it own region. This would require a strong government in Pakistan which is willing to face resistance from these elements.
The US on the other hand has different parameters when it comes to terrorism on its land and elsewhere.
Han: Secularism might be undergoing erosion but as a people we are far more tolerant than most of the western world. After yesterday however would the common man in the street hear me out if I told him that muslims are not at fault here? Would he wait for me to draw out causal links and empathise with events gone by?
eligoster: Everybody has their own agendas. Including countries.
Hmm. I'm not so sure we're the most tolerant society. Perhaps we once were. Right now I think cities in the US show the way. In the US there isn't mob violence any more. In India that seems to be getting worse. It's even reached South India.
As for the common man... why do we humour his desire (and our) for vengeance? What we need is to get organized -- proper policing and intelligence, and in the long-run, eradication of the socio-economic conditions that make young people choose violence and desperation.
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