Saturday, October 25, 2008

The Secular Bomb

After the Bangalore and Ahemdabad blasts , it was quite known that its Delhi’s turn now . The expected date was 15th August . The photographs of the terrorists were revealed . Delhi was on high alert on and preceeding the Independence day . Infact , I had planned to travel by metro . On 14th th , it was a rare sight . People were not hanging out of the DTC and Blueline buses ..infact they were almost empty ! The Red DTC buses prospered that day ( probably everyone including me thought that terrorists would prefer an inexpensive ride to cause terror !) However god saved us . With suspicion , Delhi revived its speed.
Almost a month later , they struck . Five bombs rocked Delhi on a Saturday evening sending waves of chaos and panic all across . The mobile network had jammed . The news channels did not dare to change the topic . Seeing the people with eyes that did all the speaking made us feel lucky . The blast had killed 24 people and injured almost a hundred . The following morning , the newspaper was flooded with scene captures of the destruction , the tales of the eye witnesses and most importantly the analysis of the inhuman act .
Delhi was forewarned so was this act an outcome of the negligence of the police ? Who was behind these blasts ? Would it disrupt the functioning in the capital as well as in the whole country ? Will this case also remain unsolved ? And most importantly what was the need for the blood bath ?

Delhi security force can be blamed to a large extent as the peaceful afternoon of the deadly Saturday did not even see the regular checking on metro stations . Its a known fact that Railway stations and bus terminals donot have a proper system of checking . The original plan of terrorists was to plant 20 bombs in a bus terminal ! However yes the police cannot monitor each and every market and street of the city . But still the corrupt and no-less-than-criminal police officers with massive tummies bulging out should not be spared . The second question meets a direct answer as Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility in an email which was sent minutes before the attack .
Delhi cannot afford to retard its speed so even after the smoke and blood , Monday turned to be just the same : the big bowl of cornflakes , screaming at the ‘fast’- speeded clock ; the usual jam ; the usual 70% attendence in lectures … but with two new developments - everyone had a tale to tell and men&women in khakhi roaming everywhere . The week was snailing ‘peacefully’ when on Friday , panic struck in college as news of a red alert flew in. Rumors ranged from terrorists escape to another blast . When back home safe , the critical version was presented . In an encounter , two terrorists died , two escaped and one got arrested . Red alert was for the search .
In the paper , next morning , the original plan was revealed . If it would have been implemented then there would have been no need for a massive earthquake to bring down the capital. The terrorists used to bet as to whose bomb would be more successful . They would celebrate on every blast . The mastermind remarked “aaj newspapers sunne lage rahe hai” in the week following the attack .
The major issue that remains is the cause for this terror attack. Terrorism in India is considered ‘equivalent’ to Muslim fundamentalism . Reason is complicated and often unexplored. The Indian Mujahideen wrote “You are paying for your deeds” in the email. These ‘deeds’ can be interpreted in several ways . Delhi is sharply divided into hindu , muslim and Sikh areas. However the terrorists attacked in central places . So was it really a communal attack ? Did they really wanted to wipe out the other religion ?
In a TV show discussing this , a human right activist claimed the presence of fundamentalist political parties to be the cause. India was supposed to be a secular country . There is no state religion so why is there a quota for minorities ? Why is religious identity being reflected in politics ?
BJP is the main opposition party in the current political term . BJP propagates the policy of Hindutva . According to the policy , India is a hindu’s nation and Muslims are the invaders . It claims only hindu rites and customs , hindi language and hindus as a part of Indian culture . They put Hinduism above all (actually , at the expense of all ) . BJP emerged effectively during the Babri masjid dispute of 1992 . And it’s a well-known fact that BJP played a major role in its proceedings . The ’Karsewaks’ had their full support . BJP is also known to have caused the genocide following the godhra train burning . Those who still may not agree should answer as to why the state government failed to restore peace and ultimately got dismissed ? Why the state police was unable to protect people ( only muslims ) ?
The latest update is that Narendra Modi remarks that Godhra train burning was ‘pre-planned’ . He did not mention a word about the godhra riots which was far more inhuman . Even today he cares more about hindus than humans . The Godhra train burning is considered a case of accidental fire and even it wasn’t , it can be justified.
‘Karsewaks’ can be interpreted as hindu terrorists . The myth that Babri Masjid was constructed by Babar by destroying the rama temple ignited their narrow-minded views . Is their Ram more important than muslim’s Allah ? They clearly proved that India is hindu’s nation . This is a theory that almost every hindu agrees upon. Following the Godhra train burning were the riots . Thousands of muslims were attacked inhumanly. Gujarat has still not been able to recover from the wounds. The recent elections saw the revival of the communal misery . Muslims were brutally suppressed , an insult to the secular nature of the country . Every Indian knew what was going on but they merely expressed their ‘grief’ over it . Some commoners did not even do that as there are many staunch supporters of Narendra Modi who was the outright winner of the election . A conversation with one of the supporters revealed the thinking of some ‘hindu fundamentalists’ that Muslims as minorites had stretched too far !
Fire is not one-sided . There are many stereotypes about Muslims . Ask any hindu and he/she can write books on the cruelty of the muslims , Just a few days back , I had gone to an area for my NSS . Accompanying me was a journalism student . In the past , we have had debates about all this . We were in auto and suddenly the autowala had come to a halt . We saw a huge bunch of muslims standing on the road and offering prayers . I found the scene very interesting as I was seeing this for the first time and also it was interesting as I had only just read in the books that on hearing the sound from the minaret , people had to come together and offer prayers . We paid the autowala and passed through the area . My friend said “oh no!” . I was like “what was that for” . Then she narrated an incident that took place with her some years back . She explained how following a talk on babri masjid issue , her car was attacked by a muslim mob . She was sitting inside with her cousin and they struck on the car and damaged it . Her brother also met with some injuries . The experience was something she could never forget . I could feel what she felt like and conveyed my grievance to her . I said to her that “I am sorry for this but I am still firm on my concept that its their psychology of the people and not their religion that attacks “. She did agree to it . In recent times , I have engaged myself with a lot of people on this issue . They had innumerable stories to tell but they did mention about one of their good ‘muslim’ friend . The post-partition communal riots as well as recent communal riots gives the two communities the reason to hate each other . Both communities had suffered tremendously . However both think that they have suffered more than the other one . These grudges have continuously been inherited . The analysis of the communal riots always mention some exceptions . There are many instances where a Hindu is often given shelter by a muslim and vice versa. Therefore it has been proved that it’s the psychology of an individual that determines his/her action . Religion has got nothing to do with it . Afterall , Religion is made as well as interpreted by humans themselves.
Muslim Fundamentalist groups like SIMI , Indian Muslim League are equivalent to the Hindu Fundamentalist groups including Shiv Sena , RSS , VHP and most dominant the BJP . So if SIMI is banned then why is BJP , Shiv Sena and RSS allowed ? Is this what is meant by being Secular ? India is proud to call itself a Subcontinent which gives shelter to various distinct religions and languages . But in reality , India is a hindu’s nation and hindi is the national language . My other question is that if we could ‘tolerate’ Christians , Zoroastrians , Buddhists , Jainas then why not Muslims ? And to remark that Muslims were invaders is the most a-historical thing to say . Aryans are known to be immigrants from Central Asia . Zoroastrians were also from Iran . Christians , no doubt , were invaders and the most cruelest of them all . Islam had also underwent many ‘Indianisation’ . The biggest product being Urdu . Hindi is one of its two derivative languages . A very shocking thing is the fact that people interpret ‘Hindustan’ with its literal meaning . Arabs had given our country this name in 12th century (before the mughal empire) owing to the fact that we live beyond the river sindhu . It never referred to the religion of the people . The problem with Islam is that it has always been known for the crusaders’ war . States a muslim in a newspaper article about terrorism and Islam , “Islam teaches people to die for their religion . This do or die policy brainwashes the minds of the young muslims” . This is very ironical as the depiction of living beings in art had created a row in India during Akbar’s reign . The muslim fundamentalists argued that Muhammad once remarked that ‘only God has the ability to create life’ . Well when God has the sole right to create life then how can we , as humans destroy life and try to overpower God.
Terrorists as described by the muslim community , have no religion . They are just against one religion and that is of humanity . The solution to terrorism in India is to make India secular by enlightening the masses and most importantly by banning of all fundamentalist groups including BJP . Religion is a way of life and not life. There is more to a person than just his/her religious identity. Killing can never be forgiven by god - be it Rama or Allah. The religion of Humanity overshadows all other Religions . Be human first then be a Hindu or a Muslim .