Over a span of just a few months,
I read about the war torn Syrians desperately fleeing their country and taking
refuge in Cyprus and Greece, then came the headlines about the terror attacks
in France, next was the shooting down of a Russian jet by a Turkish Fighter
jet, soon after I read a book titled “Confessions of a Terrorist”, a few days
hence the Pathankot Airbase was breached, a week later I read Samhita Arni’s
column of her nightmarish trauma post her work experience in Afghanistan. And
between the lag of penning and posting this piece of writing, there occurred the
appalling attack at Burkina Faso killing many and maiming more. Reading these blood stained callous stories suffocates
my lungs, freezes my limbs in ennui and shuts down my mind in dread. My world
is reeling in horrific and harrowing by-lanes of intolerance and savagery.
Terror attacks are the most insensitive,
depraved and abhorrent of human acts but what would you call the incessant air
strikes and mindless bombings of state militaries that have wiped almost whole
populations of countries and left them absolutely barren. I have been very
fortunate not to have the slightest experience of a war zone or its cruelties,
my knowledge and opinion of the world and its condition is shaped and
influenced by what I read and hear. It is clear to me that the world is in
insufferable state but what caused it to come to this tipping point is highly
debatable. “Confessions of a Terrorist” by Richard Jackson gave me a very
different perspective on terrorism as a person. It delves into the mind of a
terrorist to understand why he does what he does. Of course there is no
condoning or justifying their despicable acts but understanding their thought
process equips you better to comprehend the harsh and ruthless reality and
history of our world and its leaders.
I haven’t suffered any personal
loss in the hateful conflicts between nations and their militant enemies. But
lakhs of unknown and innocent families have lost and are constantly losing
their loved ones in the scorching inferno of war for no apparent reason. This absolutely
hopeless and tragic life of millions makes the enjoyment of the simplest of
pleasures guilt ridden and sufferable sometimes. There is a trailing fear that
while I dress up my kids and kiss them good bye for school, hundreds of them
were mercilessly murdered in Peshawar. While I take my kids to the sand and splashes
of a beach, the tiny corpse of Syria’s Aylan Kurdi washed ashore on a Turkish
beach.
You must wonder who am I to write
and talk about such issues I have not had to grapple and deal with. I am just a
troubled soul who wonders for how long is my family and I secure in our cities,
malls, stadiums, theatres, schools or holiday destinations? I cannot pretend to
be naive anymore and believe that terrorist strikes and counter terrorism
strikes happen in some faraway remote lands. No, it might happen on the next
flight my husband takes to return home or the exotic holiday resort I plan to take
my family to.
The vicious cycle of horrific
wars is unabating and who started it is immaterial now. Though I pretty much
believe that it was brought to fore and syndicated for the ulterior motives of
the developed states of this world. The looming question is who will end it or
maybe it might coincide with the apocalypse of this world. Terrorists are
striking us ubiquitously, persistently and more fiercely. Millions of dollars, think tanks of
intellectuals, arsenals of ammunition and well trained military forces in place
are yet not able to contain them or forge effective counter terrorism policies.
It totally baffles me. It only goes to show that there is something
fundamentally wrong with our governments and their abilities or more bluntly
put, it has a lot to do with genuine intentions.
A concrete and sustained effort
to assimilate the differences and redress grievances, an honest motive of
fairness in the policies and just abandoning some greed and power hungriness
can change a lot in our world. If an ordinary citizen like me can think of it,
I am sure those adorning positions and medals can do much better. Then why isn’t
it happening? Why are all the peace talks yielding no results at all? Maybe, because
the governments don’t really want it and more importantly the talks are held
between irrelevant parties. Why haven’t the country heads made any effort to
involve various militant outfits in the process of peace talks? Isn’t that the most obvious thing to do if we
wish to resolve the conflicts?
We have such hatred and notions
of inhumanity frothing for the terrorists that it is now a social taboo to even
listen to their side of story lest involve them in a dialogue. The sad part is
that our politicians do not want to end the war, they want to win it. A war
whose agenda is writ with ambiguity, corruption and a desire for superiority. This
agenda is then cleverly twisted and marketed in the name of religion which
instigates the mind like bottle rockets. How ironic it is that God made man, Man
made religion and religion kills them both.
What can I do to change this catastrophic
condition of our world? I really do not know. But if there is indeed a
Collective Consciousness of the planet at work and I truly wish it is, our
collective inclination, vibes and energy for a peaceful world might just tilt
the balance towards a more liveable and likeable tomorrow. Amen...
