Terrorism Will Only Bring Us Closer
November 25, 2009 Pune, India - Hussain Rizvi, a twenty year old front office executive at the Taj hotel in Mumbai who managed to hide himself in the second floor pantry during the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai was more fortunate than the 40 Muslims who died in the incident. Salim Shaikh, a poor delivery boy from Wadi Bunder who helped transportation of the injured and the dead bodies to the hospital is so furious that he says that if he happens to encounter a terrorist, he will kill him. Nahid Merchant, a Muslim fashion designer who prays five times a day says that he hangs his head in shame when the terrorists compare their illicit success with the historic Battle of Badar, which was fought to protect Islam. Naeem, a fruit seller in Bandra complained that his business has gone down because people are scared to come out of their homes. Ram Singh, a North-Indian comb seller in the local trains in Mumbai who was at the CST railway station when the attack took place and helped the transportation of the injured to hospital says that he never bothered if the body he was carrying was that of a Muslim, an outsider, a Maharashtrain or a Shiv-Sainik.
We, the residents of Mumbai have been living around amidst our own internal issues and differences but history and occurrences have always revealed the fact that whenever there has been an external attack on our integrity that possibly poses a grave threat to our values as a human being, we have stood united and fought back the situation, forgetting all of our inequalities. No doubt, Mumbai is known for its this evergreen spirit. The 26/11 carnage completes one year today but the marks that this incident has created in my mind will always remain fresh, reminding me of the Martyrs who died for a great cause.There were numerous interrogations that were carried out by the press and media reporters pertaining to the aftermath of the terrorist attack. Most of the immediate reactions spoke in a single voice, blood for blood. They had seen it spilled around on the railway platform, in the Leopold Cafe and the Nariman House, a part of it belonged to their dear ones and of the ones without whom they had never imagined their life. However, there was one comment from a Canadian wife who had lost her husband in the attack that moved me to a great extent. She said, that she had nothing against Ajmal Kasab, the sole terrorist who was caught alive in the operation. She would not like to see him given a death sentence, rather she would be happy to see him work for humanity for rest of his life.
Most of us do understand that terrorism is an ideology which results out of immature, shallow thoughts about an issue. People like Kasab, to whom we refer as the terrorists are mere bots who fall easy pray to the leaders of the terrorist groups. They say that they fight for Islam - I hope they even understand the meaning of the word religion. No religion teaches us to perpetrate violence and perform carnage of the innocent citizens.
My six year old niece, who only understood that there were some bad men killing innocent people in Mumbai, asked me why they did so. Often curious to answer her every question, I was embarrassed that day to not have any convincible answer to quell her interest.
Accolades: This post was chosen as the Best Post from the Indian Blogosphere by BlogAdda - their topmost pick on 28th November, 2009
Who : Neeraj ShindeWhat : Terrorism Will Only Bring Us Closer
Spicy : Neeraj comes out with some real gems quite frequently and this is one of them. The basic message which the post wants to convey is Terrorism is not based on any religion and no religion preaches terrorism.
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its really hard to answer a 6 year old about such a thing, I am marvelling the way the canadian has taken the pain and delivered nothing but peace
ReplyDeleteSure,it is fact that now people like to avoid a particular community but I find that to be very unfortunate.
ReplyDeletePoint is-have we learnt any lessons after 26/11?
Have we secured our citizens and our country?
Is the police better equipped?
Or we will watch another terror attack as silent spectators?
Will those who lit candles at the Gateway for TV shots,please tell us as to what is the status?
Good to see a post from you... finally.
ReplyDeletePS: Do you think 26/11 was an act of terror or was it a part of a larger gameplan... ???
@ Neeraj
ReplyDeleteLiked going through churning thoughts over 26/11. My salute goes to all who fought so fiercely…especially those Commandos, the Hotel Staff and firemen!
No wonder, you too deserve applaud for keeping your views so unbiased and striking back all the foregone conclusions over Mumbaikars, Maharastrians, Muslims…and moreover all the Indians.
Keep the spark Alive..
I am pained when I see that we have learnt no lessons from 26/11... We as a nation need to respond to such grave situations in a manner that no terrorist will dare to repeat his/her act. Unfortunately we have not done anything specific... We have not reached to conclusion yet!
ReplyDelete@BK Chowla, I agree with you. It is indeed tough to deal with terrorism. Not every one in our cities would think like the Canadian wife! It's only by strengthening our security system that we can cope up with these bastards! However, I do not see much signs of improvement despite repetitive incidents!
ReplyDelete@Roshmi, Possibly yes, I am a small man who like to be away from the geo political issues. All I believe is in humanity and human values.
@Rachana, Appreciate your thoughts too! Yes, the spark will always be alive!
@aativas, I second your thoughts buddy!
364 days after the carnage here is an update we have from Pakistan:
ReplyDeleteIn a blatant move to protect Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD) chief Hafeez Mohammad Saeed from being prosecuted in the 26/11 trials, the Pakistan government on Wednesday reframed charges on all seven accused, naming Lashkar-e-Taiba's (LeT) operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi as the mastermind of the terror attacks.
It took the Pakistan government 364 days after the ghastly terror attack that rocked Mumbai on 26th November 2008, but the charges clearly appeared to be safeguarding Saeed, who India believes is the mastermind of the attack.
The special anti-terror court set-up in Rawalpindi's Adial jail while rejecting the 'no guilty' plea of the seven accused, summoned all of them to appear before it on December 5.
Details about the proceedings were not available as a media gag has been put in place, but sources privy to the issue said that the government has deliberately tabled evidence in the court with numerous flaws.
Seven LeT operatives including Lakhvi, communications expert Zarar Shah, Abu al-Qama, Hamad Amin Sadiq and Shahid Jamil Riaz being tried by the anti-terrorism court.
They have been accused of providing training, financial support, accommodation, equipment and communications gear to the 10 terrorists who attacked Mumbai last year.
No details are available of the charges against the two other suspects, Jamil Ahmed and Younas Anjum.
Courtesy: Yahoo News
This is nice, very well written.
ReplyDeleteKeeping the terrorism itself aside, Neeraj, sometimes I think why are humans so immature? I mean, why do we wait for something so hideous as terrorist attacks to realize that we are one? Why are we not close without terrorism?
It's like we like miseries. We will discriminate and keep fighting and making our lives miserable... And when someone from the "outside" takes charge of inflicting miseries then we will come close and be unified...
Will humanity ever realize that we are one species?
loved the line of thinking...i have written on how to live in this unfair world..hope you find it interesting...http://www.atulmagoon.com/blog/
ReplyDeleteNice write up Neeraj. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteI don't consider what happened in Mumbai or any terrorist activity connected to Islam or any religion as a reaction to a religious issue. It is not immature or irrational. These are acts, strategic, planned. These are acts sponsored by one secret agency against another, one country against another.
ReplyDeleteThese, people like Kasab, are not jehadis or religious heroes. They are mercenaries, people who kill for money and not for a cause.
Perfect post Neeraj.. No religion perpetrates violence!
ReplyDeleteWell written article. I agree that terrorism as a tool has a very limited scope as far as achieving goals. It can kill innocent people but it cannot kill the nations spirits. I disagree with you on a minor point that "No religion teaches us to perpetrate violence and perform carnage of the innocent citizens". All major religious texts including the Vedas, Bible, Koran and the Torah have plenty of verses that egg on the believer to punish and kill the followers of other gods and religions. So religion unfortunately is part of the problem.
ReplyDeleteAnything can be used as an incident to bring together people or divide people.
ReplyDeleteI wish what you had written was true. But when I come across, hatred and immaturity and prejudices on the blogs, I wonder..
A refreshing simple post on 26/11 .
on the Canadian wife, didn't the Australian wife of the missionary whoose husband and children were burnt in orissa for "converting tribals" echo similar sentiments.
On Kasab, he is another pawn. If he had been a rich businessman's son in Delhi, he could have killed similar number of people with his car and could have got away with it.
That doesn't mean I endorse Kasab, just that I don't endorse killing by anyone.
To your niece you could say, because he was stupid.
Hey Wise donkey, (hope that isn't your real name) I agree with your thoughts. Unfortunately, this is the way our judicial system has been since ages. I feel sad about it too!
ReplyDeleteYeah I understand, but what do you think or celbrating the Anniversaries of such atrocities, dont you think this is what the terrorists want to be constantly in media and we provide them every 12 months .. I think we should not do this ..
ReplyDeleteWe should try and help the people effected and prey for the souls of the departed God bless them all...
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