Wake Up Please
Anguish and despair fill my heart , as I pen this blog. Not again, how many more and why!!The blasts in Varanasi made a sea of questions resurface in my baffled mind. The mind goes back to the riots in Mumbai in 92.Amidst all the vandalism, the uncertainty,the fear of what next some questions that kept coming to me. why this? what will they gain, what demon possessed these people to kill children and elders alike? What religion approves ,let alone teaches to kill? When one can't give life what right does one have to take it away?
As a kid it took me some time to understand that it is not a religion that is at fault but the certain people who consider themselves the custodians of it.They interpreted their religion in a way that suited their vested interests and are forcing it on the masses. The results are that they remain high up on a pedestal of human ignorance, safe and secure while commoners , brainwashed by these cynical bigots , are killed callously.Like their life was worthless, like they did not mean anything to anyone, just figures on statistical reports.
Fear paralyses us. When I heard of the blasts all I could think was ..Are my loved ones safe???. I have been to the famous Sankat Mochan Temple where the bomb exploded, I have taken the Shiv- Ganga express and I have got lost in the maze of the Gaudalia Market taking the cycle rickshaw. A sudden realisation that bomb blasts are no longer events that happen to other people in other cities rattled my brains.
When the community unites for a common cause ,miracles can be achieved. We all aware of power of unity.Why not invest this power in issues that are related to struggle to live?Poverty, uncleanliness,lack of social discipline are just few of the issues ..People and positive effort can go a long way in making a difference in these issues. But we continue to ignore these issues and create a negative energy with acts of violence.
Emotions look for a channel to be expressed.Fear transforms to anger and irrational thinking. This sentiment is what all politicians look to exploit.They glorify their deeds by saying they gave tit-for-tat.
I appeal to all my fellow Indians to refuse to be swayed by emotion and not indulge in mindless rioting or killing. None of this aids the healing process.If the energies of the each Indian find the right channel miracles will happen. Please live and let live
I pray that the souls of the dead rest in peace and may the Almighty forgive the vandals.
and always remember. HUM SAB EK HAIN
As a kid it took me some time to understand that it is not a religion that is at fault but the certain people who consider themselves the custodians of it.They interpreted their religion in a way that suited their vested interests and are forcing it on the masses. The results are that they remain high up on a pedestal of human ignorance, safe and secure while commoners , brainwashed by these cynical bigots , are killed callously.Like their life was worthless, like they did not mean anything to anyone, just figures on statistical reports.
Fear paralyses us. When I heard of the blasts all I could think was ..Are my loved ones safe???. I have been to the famous Sankat Mochan Temple where the bomb exploded, I have taken the Shiv- Ganga express and I have got lost in the maze of the Gaudalia Market taking the cycle rickshaw. A sudden realisation that bomb blasts are no longer events that happen to other people in other cities rattled my brains.
When the community unites for a common cause ,miracles can be achieved. We all aware of power of unity.Why not invest this power in issues that are related to struggle to live?Poverty, uncleanliness,lack of social discipline are just few of the issues ..People and positive effort can go a long way in making a difference in these issues. But we continue to ignore these issues and create a negative energy with acts of violence.
Emotions look for a channel to be expressed.Fear transforms to anger and irrational thinking. This sentiment is what all politicians look to exploit.They glorify their deeds by saying they gave tit-for-tat.
I appeal to all my fellow Indians to refuse to be swayed by emotion and not indulge in mindless rioting or killing. None of this aids the healing process.If the energies of the each Indian find the right channel miracles will happen. Please live and let live
I pray that the souls of the dead rest in peace and may the Almighty forgive the vandals.
and always remember. HUM SAB EK HAIN
posted by Rupali_Srivastava at
2:16 PM
2 Comments:
Nice write-up. But I have a question. We know poverty alleviation and education CAN solve the problem of terrorism to some extent, in distant future. So, how do we cope up with terrorism today? Are Buddhists, Jains, Jews, Hindus, Christians supposed to talk about peace when a fanatic Muslim comes and blasts their intestines out or blows himself and 50 others out? Why should the rest exercise restraint when fanatic Muslims are burning or blowing up their holy places? Hasn't history shown us time and again that Islam spread by violence? And whereve Islam spread, other cultures got wiped out completely? Just to give you a current example, Hindu population in Pakistan has drastically reduced since partition.
rupali,
People say "stereotyping" or generalizing is bad. Why? Generalizing is extremely important. If we don't generalize, we won't be able to accept a problem and hence won't reach a solution. Unfortunately, generalization leads to overshadow some examples. But that's how life is. [Nature never differentiates among people - even though it's a logical fallacy].
Unfortunately, your statements don't seem to answer my questions. Babri Masjid is an event I wish we could scrap off history's pages but after that 50 odd temples in Kashmir were vandalized and bombed at.
I am not saying you are incorrect but have you seen a Muslim gathering? You should see a Madrasa. You should read Quran (to truly understand their psyche).
We - the rational minded - think all terrorists are poor illiterate people led astray by Imams/Mullahs. Please, if you can, get hold of the recent reports by US goverment. Majority of suicide bombers are educated and NOT poor.
Apologists say Muslims have been oppressed all their lives. Okay! Sure.
So are Tibetian Buddhists. How many Buddhists have you seen raising arms?
How many Jews have we seen blowing themselves up in a bus full of children and women and old people?
Rwanda - '94 - 1 million people killed in 100 days (not related to Islam/Muslims AT ALL) - How many Rwandans have you heard of blowing up people in the rest of the world for what happened to them?
How many Kashmiri Pandits have you heard of killing/stealing/raping/blowing themselves up?
True - Moving on is the right thing to do. But with who? How do you move on when the other community is at loggerheads with the rest of the world?
How do you move on? You move on when both sides accept things were wrong in the past, and such things shouldn't happen in the future. Now, ask your uncle, if you get a chance, if things have EVER gone wrong in the past i.e. you can ask - Why, at one time, were just 11 Kashmiri Hindu families left in the valley? Why is Hindu population in Pakistan, Bangladesh dwindling? Why do the followers of other religions have a second class status in Malaysia/Saudi Arabia/UAE? Why did so many people die because of the cartoons when M.F. Hussain in India made money out of making pornographic art of Hindu Gods and Goddesses? Why was there "violence" in the entire world? Why would a minister of state holding office in UP raise funds for beheading the cartoonists and NOTHING - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING - is done to stop him from doing it?
There are too many questions and too few answers that do not do justice.
Have you seen a cricket match between India and Pakistan among a gathering of Muslims? Try that sometime.
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