Thursday, November 27, 2008

Letter to a terrorist

I do not know whether you have a bigger cause you are fighting for. Maybe you do. I do not want to know about how just your cause is. All I can tell you is that, even if there was a small group of people who wanted a dialogue with you, who wanted to understand your problems and try to solve them in a sane manner, the means you have taken to attain victory has totally derided the little amount of respect that the people affected by these acts of terror may have had for your cause. I do not know whether you achieved what you intended to do with the attack; I believe instead of winning over the people, you have actually made them move even further away from you.


3 comments:

Ammar said...

The recent attacks not only in Mumbai but the other parts of the country can be attributed to the fact that economically, India is doing very well but her neighbours aren't doing well enough. A lot of people are bitter about the fact that India is prospering and Pakistan which was in a political turmoil until recently is not even close enough.
One reason for the so called home grown terror could be because of the social divide that exists between the rich and the poor. This can very easily lead to an unstable situation in the near future as the frustration of the population in the bottom part of the social pyramid grows.
This one year that I have spent in London has made me realise just how similar Indians and Pakistanis are culture wise. I have started wondering how wrong it was that the separation took place in 1947. Imagine the kind of market that would exist if India and Pakistan were one. The resources that would be available to the people of this great union. The problems that existed in the Kashmir region would vanish just like that. We could grow as one nation. I hate to finish this blog in a pessimistic note but the dream of one nation is far from happening because the politicians in both these countries would never let that happen.

Rajeswari Mani said...

You know, there is so much being said about the attacks, as it being an India vs Pak situation; like some cricket match with citizens lining up behind their armies/governments to face the other.
I am in the US right now, and I echo the experience of the comment above. Out here- brown skin, similar twang and family values binds people in the subcontinent- including Indians and Pakistanis. This is not about the two nations being at warheads, rather than there being a rogue militant group intent that there should never be peace between these two countries.

They deliberately destroy any government willing to wave a white flag and sabotage the sense of peace swabbing the frayed nerves of an enraged country. They want to send the message across of hatred and war, which mind you-their people/Government do not endorse.

Do you think Pakistanis wish to maim India? The have enough problems on their own, and cannot be bothered to focus energies on sabotaging the only neighbour who extends CBM s, forgetting the past. Who else will do it for them? Afghan? Russia? Bangladesh? China?....???!!!!??

Just like all Indians are not responsible for the fiendish riots that took place in Gujarat killing/maiming muslims, all Pakistanis are not responsible for one small section of Pathans intent upon wreaking havoc on innocent people. How can they condone people from their own country murdering other nationals with no rime or reason? They do not. How then, can Pakistan as a nation be held responsible for the action of a demented fraction of its citizenry? It is not. They have no control over them- and that is their true failure. They can be blamed for being unable to resist the spread of this evil across its poverty-stricken streets over decades-and for THAT, Pakistan is to hang its head in shame. Whether lack of will or ability, their weakness has cost thousands of innocent lives.

Having said that, it has been clear from incidents in the past that these rebels will murder their own countrymen (Leaders/commoners together) if they threaten to weaken their groups. You see, terrorists are like the tentacle which will attack its own, in the effort to spread its rein.

They have never allowed a one leader to stay who was willing to fight their cause as being meangingless.

Most terrorists are poverty-stricken youth who were bought from their parents unable to support them. Is there a price for precious, innocent human life?

This means the root of the problem lies in the poverty and desperation of youth searching for a place to belong. Terrorist groups thrive in this vicious circle of poverty and population, when one thinks about it... rather than a Government declaring war on another. Anyone agrees?

Anup J Nambiar said...

I completely agree with both of you on this. I am sure all the people who have interacted with Pakistanis in their lives, would agree to this. Through most of the Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis in the UK, US and the Gulf we learn that they are so much simlar. They are in a foreign land trying to improve conditions of living for themselves, the people at home and their children. Most of the less affluent in these foreign lands, work for the basic needs of food, shelter and clothing . There are more similarities than differences.