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 .

10 comments:

  1. Fully brain-washed by pesudo-secular media.BJP anti-muslim party?So,Pro-hindu is anti-muslim right?
    It's amusing how you equal the dreadful,worst attacks of islam terrorism to babri incident etc.
    muslim Genocide?hahha...
    Do you actually know how many people got killed?700 Muslims and 300 Hindus...Sorry!what did you say again?genocide?
    I've gone through the dictionary to find out the meaning of this word and i found out this-

    Genocide-the murder of a whole group of people, especially a whole nation, race or religious group.

    golly!we have hindus killed too..so,hindus killed muslims as well as themselves?

    You know the reason why we still are being hit by these terrorism?it's because of such mindset that islam is not responsible for the attacks that have happened.
    You people take no time to vociferously attack any hindu fundamentalism.Very commendable indeed!fundamentalism of any sort should be fought against that way.But i wonder what happens to that force all of a sudden when it's islam fundamentalism?Oh,wait!secularism...yes,hindus are the most communal beings,coz they protest islam terrorism which is a grave disrespect to our minority.Hail secularism!
    You people don't accept the reality,but in the name of "secularism" you even go one step ahead and equate the 1000s of terrorist activities done by islam to the very few done by hindus-that too all of which were provoked by muslims-and try to shift the blame towards hindus so as to appease our minority...yeah!what else is secularism?
    I have no quetch regarding muslims who are good and assimilate with people of every other community...but i even can't stay calm when someone is killing our people in the name of religion...
    You even asked the question why can't we mingle with muslims when we can with christians etc.The answer lies there itself and i hope you are intelligent enough to know it...
    It's disgusting how you opine that RSS should be banned just as SIMI...seriously,are you nuts?has there been a single case against them for carrying out terrorist activites?
    Do you even know that they have their branches in UK too?if they were as "deadly" as SIMI as you've pointed out they would have been banned by now in UK...

    Half-baked knowledge.Your views echo the same thing throughout.Attend any shakha conducted by RSS and build your own wisdom forth.They teach you discipline not hatred.

    I don't understand how you lecture about equality and humanity when you simply ignore our beloved congies who in the name of secularism actually divided hindus and muslims...

    What about amarnath shrine row?
    sikh riots?
    evangelistic activites and riots between Hindus and Christians?
    afzal guru's case?
    giving voter IDs to illegal bangladeshis for their minority vote bank?
    reconciling terrorist families and ridiculing a martyr's sacrifice as fake encounters?
    framing malegaon blasts and coining Hindu terrorism to appease minority?

    and many many more dear...

    There is no difference between you and those pseudo-secular media.Enjoy your blissful pseudo-secularistic life.

    May god bless our country.

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  2. You're suffering from "no true Scotsman" logical fallacy...

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  3. half-baked knowledge ??hmmm dats interesting!the most easiest thing to say. i wonder the same for u .secularism doesnt mean taking ne religion's side ...m well-aware of that. thank u very much ! i havent taken any side... i have just tried to raise an issue. In our country , its mostly the muslims who r responsible for the terrorism .i hav just targeted that. i m nt against religion..i don have any right to do so! i donot wish to hurt anyone's sentiments..coz this is a democracy !If RSS is so secular...y do ppl hate it?? lolz..! do not see things from just a religious lens ..dats the only thing i argue. i have not targeted the hindus..dats for sure !

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  4. u talk abt half-knowledge ! go first read abt islam ..! terrorism exists coz of this half-knowledge ! u hav no right to talk against any religion specially for the one ..u hav no idea ! 700 muslims ..300 hindus ! m sure the hindus weigh more for u ..for me humanity weighs more ! i don care who is rioting against whom ..coz its ultimately the innocent who dies!! plz realise the truth ..no religion will ask u to kill the innocent! kill the person whos responsible..y do u hav to wipe out the whole community!! an eye for an eye will make everyone blind ..remember dat ! and ofcourse ..Jai Hind !

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  5. @pratheek

    you people are really narrow minded..its coz of u ppl we have never been able to prosper..thanx to the communal riots and rifts..its coz of u ppl..we have never been able to bridge gaps between communities..ur born ..ur taught the religious virtues..ur also taught ills of other religion..u live ur life..oppose others to show urself supreme..and then die..bas ! wat the hell du u du for the development !?? nothing !!! like u.. ppl are born and do nothing except allegating each other..and then die..result? after 60 years ..mind u which is a substantial period to grow..we are at same place..ppl wud ask india me problem kya hai? And we wud say india has communal problems, poverty, population, etc. damn ! even after another 60 years we wud hear this..then when wud we overcome these problems !?the most important rule is first u become honest and humane..first u respect each other..irrespective of their race, caste, gender, etc. and then profess lessons to others..if u cant rise up..atleast have the courage to accept the truth..and accept someone's viewpoint ! it is this ability of urs and ppl like u to overhear someone's views that mars the whole purpose of creating unity and humanity..and yes..u talk bout rss ! go watch videos on youtube first..its shown there..tat rss has created UK headquarters to raise money from UK..and use the same here for spreading ills of religion..their UK offices are for funding operations..and obviously if they show a goody goody picture of their rss operatoins in UK..who wud ban them there !? truly saying u ppl don understand the meaning of national integrity..kuch bhi hoga indians ban ke khade ho jaayenge..ask urself whether ur an indian? to be an indian means to accept everything right from the faults, the people of ur country whole heartedly..to be united..when it comes to national integrity we are indians nor hindus nor muslims..so if u see from national integrity point of view..every religious group..be it rss, simi, any other muslim or hindu group..all shud be banned..

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  6. @harry

    i have explained in detail about people like you in that post..go read it carefully...

    yeah!it's coz people like you that we still get hit by this menace called terrorism coz you back away calling spade a spade...but instead you point at people who get vexed with this god-forbid situation and vent out their anger and retaliate...
    yes,it's wrong but this is bound to happen when govt. is turning blind-eye to terrorism and not punishing those filthy terrorists...and people like you who only find fault with retaliators but not with instigators...
    Don't talk this bullshit about respect other communities,humanity,unity and blah blah!!!
    It's only feasible when "the others" are also willing to...
    I wonder,Mr.harry,that why is it the whole world is having problem with 'them' if in your opinion it's always "we" who had been responsible in those rifts and riots...:D

    hahah...if rss is spreading ill then UK govt. would straightaway ban them and drive 'em out of their country...UK govt. isn't so gullible to believe the goody goody pictures if it's all farse...it's not congress or BJP or any other political party of india to govern that way...
    yeah!talk about pot calling the kettle black...you yourself have no courage to accept the truth that islamic terrorism is the real cause of everything that has happened in our country and around the world...ironic that you're talking about honesty and respect...oh!i know...we would be abusing "secularism" if we convict 'them' right!...well,then don't give discourse about truth,respect and humanity when you people don't follow it yourself...
    what's national integrity?fault-finding those in majority and pampering those attempting to disintegrate our country?
    yes,i am an indian first but can 'they' be?
    i hate hypocrites like you when you shamelessly equal the 'deeds' done by SIMI etc. to some hindu groups in order to gain high moral ground and to shift the blame towards us to satisfy your egos in the name of secularism...has rss killed tens of thousands of people?have they been involved in ethnic cleansing like the one happened in kashmir(kashmiri pandits)
    india mein problem kya hain?
    yehi hain-pseudo-secularism...

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  7. @devika

    if humanity weighs more to you,please raise your voice regarding the ethnic cleansing of kashmiri pandits too...who,in lakhs,were killed and driven away from their home and are taking refuge all over our country till now even after 20 years...
    how shameful is it?
    Oh,wait!they're hindus...and secular eyes can't recognize them right!
    who cares if karsevaks are burnt alive in train?
    who cares for kashmiri pandits?
    we(read:secularists) don't care...
    we(read:secularists)are only concerned about minorities...

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  8. @johnson

    u too have near sightedness to see only one side of the coin..and not recognise the other side..

    when we raise voice against bjp..u feel we are supporting congress..when we raise our voice against bjp's secular politics..u feel we are siding wid muslims..tell me..when did i say tat wat muslims have done is right and wat hindus have done is wrong? the cowardly and heinous acts done by all the communities..be it muslim or hinduism..are condemnable..

    we also don like the killing of karsevaks..coz after all they are humans first rather than hindus..but have u even tried to find out and gone into the nitty gritty that the incident was not a political act? the proceedings are going on..don rely on wat the nanavati committee said..coz they were paid heavily by mr. modi n his allies..nevertheless..we feel for the people who are killed..be it of any religion..coz humanity matters to us more than religion..

    then u said something bout terrorism too..i mean seriously it feels so funny when u say its coz of ppl like us terrorism flourishes..as if we are not affected by it !? when our countrymen get killed by terrorists we don commend the acts saying hindus are killed..we too feel utmost pain like u that innocent people are killed..mind u m saying 'innocent'..and to further the debate on terrorism i wud like tell u..Taali ek haath se nahi bajti ! have u never tried to analyse why terrorism evolves? when u will feel exploited to the most ruthless extent u will also feel to retaliate back..u talk about islamic terrorism..but try to analyse the initiatives and policies of USA and then generalise whether rise of terrorism is justified or not..take even the case of naxalite..why they rise? coz they are squeezed like anything under the pressure of poverty and discrimination..take even the case of dictatorship of hitler...

    yet again i wud say bout the 'modern' islamic terrorism and 'modern' naxal terrorism..that it is the most disgusting thing..because their motive is not an act of revenge but it is a political motive..and we too feel the pains of terrorism like u feel..we also feel like crying when see our people killed so mercilessly..but i can bet u still wont believe us..u will still believe we are muslim supporters or we are terrorism promoters right? :D

    then u say government's not punishing terrorists? yes i absolutely agree wid u that government is not punishing the terrorists in a way they shud be punished..here it shows the weakness of the government i definately agree wid u on tat..now mind u m talking bout congress government and not 'bjp' government..but..a crime done by 'anyone' is seen as same in the eyes of law...u can blame the government obviously but don blame ki only coz of this government terrorists have a free rein..we as people of india along with every governments are responsible for the rise of terrorism coz we even at the grassroot level discriminate people by their caste, gender..where from the politicians get a good strategy to form and lobby the public to get votes on the basis of caste division..and don u think the attack by terrorists could be a direct response to wat we have done? now u wud go back in time n say..we attacked coz they attacked..and they wud say that they attacked coz u attacked..it must have been since long back this all must have started..who knows kisne pehle start kiya hoga..but there has to be some end to it yaar..wud u like when an innocent person is killed, leave aside his/her caste n think?

    and u say tat we speak such 'bullshit' on humanity, unity, blah blah..then my dear brother..i wud say that u feel we talk bullshit coz u 'think' these things as 'bullshit'..u turn a blind eye on the problems and just wanted to go the shortcut and the traditional way :)..u follow what is easy and not wat is right :)

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  9. @ johnson

    i deleted ur post coz there was nothing in it as such apart from "i cannot understand wat u have written..because i think u don have anything to say" :)

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  10. @ johnson
    well i think u didnt understand the context in which i wrote abt karsewaks. well yes i call them terrorists coz they were to create terror among ppl... (ppl nt muslims/hindus) ..! u shdnt get too agitated by it coz what they were dng was nt right. as Harry said ..kab tak yeh revenge chalega yaar??? see m not pro-muslim ...m nt anti-hindu ..u knw i cant be!m an agnostic... i was only pleading for humanity. i raised the issue of the motive behind in indian terrorism. terrorism has no religion.. ! i don see ppl as hindu or muslim. the terrorism in kashmir is called the secessionst movement... it has got nothing to do with religion as such. it was political in nature. and abt conversion...m against it !religion is a personal choice.my heart shatters everytime i read abt a riot...when a hindu is killed... when a muslim girl is raped. don take me wrong..i dont justify any killing in the name of religion... god will never accept this..!

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