It is a week since the 13/7/11 Mumbai blast. My heart goes out to all those affected by it and sadly this is what has come of it a week later - Reports carrying information on it have dwindled away from the front pages of newspapers. News channels have other matters to cover now. They are not to blame, we’ve all moved on since then. Very soon it will fade away from our memory, except for those who have lost a dear one. Very soon it will be just another date that we will remember, make some fuss over and then forget. But does it all end here - Is this just about the blasts in Mumbai or some other part of India? Can I/you or should I/you remain indifferent if a blast was to occur across the border or in some other part of the world? At the end of the day it is innocent people who lose their lives irrespective of where the blast occurs. Don’t we as humans need to focus on this larger question threatening our very existence from time to time? More than the ‘where’ we should be worried about the ‘why’.
A victim of the 26/11/08 Mumbai blast said something very important to me once. Something I have not been able to forget - that if just a handful of terrorists can create so much havoc, then how much can be achieved by the solidarity of common people working together to create peace. Even as we are faced with similar circumstances four years later, the question returns to haunt my mind. I have an unsettling feeling within – these people we call ‘terrorists’ are from amongst us. They are not supernatural beings bestowed with some extra power. They are flesh and blood like us - two eyes, a nose, lips; a pair of ears, two hands and two legs is what comprises their physical being also. There could be one sitting amongst us and we wouldn’t even know. So where is the difference between ‘them’ and ‘us’? The difference lies solely in the state of mind. ‘Terrorism’ therefore is a state of mind. And our fight is against ‘this state of mind’ that can exist in a person irrespective of his caste, creed, religion or colour. To come to think of it, every being is a potential terrorist. The reverse is also true. Every terrorist is human and the potential for change cannot be ruled out.
Nobody is born a terrorist. It will be more agreeable to say that some people have a greater leaning towards that state of mind. When people undergo training to become a terrorist, I presume it is more than just the training with arms and ammunitions. It includes, in fact starts with the mental training, brainwashing where the person is made to feel a victim at the hands of society; where an entirely erroneous belief system is ‘fed’ into the person’s mind and once he/she falls prey to it then that person can justify his/her act of killing another being. Then it becomes not a heinous sin but a matter of pride; of carrying out the will of God.
If we have to put an end to terrorism, we will have to begin work backwards – ‘unfeed’ the erroneous beliefs and embed the correct one – love for humanity and greater tolerance towards one another. That, to my mind is the only plausible solution. We could hound the terrorist/s who did a 13/7 and shoot them all but that is not the end. There are several others in the making. The need of the hour is greater solidarity amongst us – the ordinary people belonging to the family called ‘human race’. We need to look beyond our identities as ‘Mumbaikar/Indian’ or ‘Hindu/Muslim’ and broaden our outlook to that of a ‘Global citizen’. We need to reach out to each other. Extend a helping hand to those who are suffering. Pass on the baton of peace and love from one to another. And when we are able to do this, we wouldn’t be worrying about issues like ‘terrorism’ any longer.
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