Terrorism in the 21st century is not just a suicide bomber in a public space killing in the name of the good lord above. There are the fanatics who poison water supplies, spill blood in clubs, schools and religious places in the name of one cause or the other. Some have gone to extremes of being eco-terrorists, bombing gas and oil tankers, domestic terrorists who attack the people of same religion and color with a more internalized agenda. Some are just tools at the hands of the privileged who abuse their power by inciting conflict and manufacturing terror. Some riots, driven by political aspirations and agendas are acts of terrorism. Not a communal Issue. Outright terrorism.
The Reality Of Terrorism
A terrorist who bombs a school bus in the name of Allah is not an Islamic terrorist. He is a killer who kills under the guise of Islam. A terrorist that shoots on a faceless crowd of people in a train station, al in the name of Allah, knowing well that people of his own religion might make that crowd is not an Islamic terrorist. He is just a terrorist. A sorry puppet or machination run by people who use his religious fanaticism for their own nefarious needs.
I was 5 when Gujarat burned in 2002. Contrary to popular opinion, the riots weren’t limited to Godhra or Patan alone. They happened everywhere and anywhere the two communities co-existed before February 26, 2002.
I used to live in a small society in a culturally diverse part of Vadodara. I had this small group of friends-girls and boys that used to gather every evening to play cricket or satta-kookdi. It was a fun life. There was no tall tales of camaraderie. We were five. We played together, talked about seeing son pari and went back home before nightfall. One of those friends was a girl, Noor, about the same age as me.
We never really talked. Just waved whenever we saw each other and patted when one of us took a good catch. If only I knew that, that was the proudest moment she would ever have in her life. Two days after the kar sevaks burnt to their death in that train, her entire family was burnt to a crisp, amongst the crowd was the father of another child that used to play with us. Gates and doors barricaded, the smell of petrol and the ghastly scream amidst the smoke that came after. Haven’t really been able to forget that.
Tell me now. When all of this happened in the name of community, when the deaths occured at the hands of these two communities, do they get labeled as ‘Community A terrorists’ and ‘Community B terrorists’? Or just plain and simple terrorists?
Inhumane and uncompassionate.
Heal. Understand. Deal.
Most of us have been affected by terrorism in one way or the other. The Bombay train blasts are still etched in my head. 26/11? A friend died. Militant shooting drive in Purulia? A neighbor died. London Subway Bombings? My mother’s classmate ended up injured.
A religion cannot be blamed for the actions of individuals who use that religion to drive their agendas. Islamophobic leaders of states in this world are just scapegoating an issue that is significantly deeper than that. We as a people need to understand that difference. And not get carried away by the fear-mongering of of the creme-de-la-creme one percenters whose business are affected by random acts of terrorism.
We have to stand out and help our brethren who practice the religion of Islam and make sure they are not mistreated because of their faith. 9/11 killed the wills of many Americans. It killed something in its Muslims citizens just as much as the rest. Only difference between them? Only the muslims got persecuted, berated, looted, detained, tortured and raped for it.
So don’t blame the religion, blame the individuals responsible, blame the inaction of the people in power and the ineptitude of the people tasked to stop these heinous acts. Thank your Lord, your Bhagwaan, your Allah and pray for a better tomorrow. We can only try. As individuals, as a society, as its people; NOT RELIGION.