With the arrest of Abu Hamza , and with his
subsequent investigation, India has been finally able to the join the scattered
pieces of 26/11 plot. But the investigation also reveals some disturbing facts.
How a small town, shy, studious boy turned into a dreaded terrorist? Deeper
analysis of his life reveals that this transformation had its roots in the
communal riots of early 90s in
Maharashtra, where his town and his life was ravaged by these riots. Similarly,
there is a documentary on net, shot after few years of Gujrat riots by a NGO
which shows that children as young as 10 years in the relief camps, wanted to
avenge the killings of their near and dear ones..
All these facts points out that it is the situations created
by us or our protégés that led them to take the terror path. Our neighbors have exploited these feelings in
our youths and have turned them into killing machines. If things continue the same way, most probably
we will see a violent future.
I am of the firm belief that terrorism and extremism cannot
be wiped out if the local community has a soft corner for the terrorists. We
have examples of Kashmir and Punjab in front of us. It was only when the local
people revolted against the extremists that terrorism ceased to exist in
Punjab. Other extreme examples are Kashmir, Bodoland, Manipur etc. where there
is huge presence of security forces but terrorist activities continues unabated.
I feel contemporary Indian society has majority of peace
loving people but there is a minority who for one reason or the other creates
situation which leads to tension among the communities. And this minority is
able to do that because we, the majority, remain mute spectator to their
actions. This inaction of ours results into catastrophies which haunts the
majority only. A case in point is social networking sites specially facebook
which is being used by these people to advance their sinister aims and create a wedge
between the communities. And we just ignore their posts or at the max remove
them from our friendlist.
We have to understand that pluralism, with its implicit tool
of checks and balances, is the best choice we have. It would create a dynamic
society where there is respect for each other’s cultural attributes.
Monoculture although seems attractive today is doomed to fail. Diversity is the
fundamental principle of nature. We can here discuss the example of Pakistan
which had its foundation on “Two-Nation Theory” meaning that Muslims and Hindus
cannot live together and muslims needs to have separate land for themselves (it
is on this theory that Pakistan demands Kashmir (muslim majority province)).
And see whats happening in Pakistan today, Shias fighting Sunnis, Sindh with
Punjab, Baloch with rest of Pakistan and NWPF with everyone else. It is for
this particular reason that Pakistan is called a failed state today. I am
thankful to God that Punjab extremist did not succeed in creating a separate
homeland for Sikhs.
Akbar had to face fierce opposition from religious groups
when he put forward the idea of marrying the Rajput princess. But he argued
that he wanted to show the world that when people from two different religion
can live happily under the same roof, then people from different religion can
definitely coexist peacefully in the same country. Same level of commitment is
required of us today.
It is the responsibility of the government to see to it that
there is equity among various sections of the society (for this particular
reason that the policy of positive discrimination is justified). Sachar
Commission, set up Government of India, and a private survey conducted by
prestigious TISS, have documented the deplorable condition in which muslims of
India are living today. Low level of education, prevalence of Madrasa
education, under representation in public services has turned them into
nurseries of extremist ideology. I consider it the failure of government in
general and various other personalities from the community whether it is Kalam
or our Bolywood stars in particular, have not come in a big way to help the community from
falling into the hands of extremist ideology.
Today the onus of creating a just and equitable society
based on the respect for the heterogeneities, falls on the shoulders of the
youths of India. Political class with its sole aim of vote maximization cannot
be trusted to deliver on this front, they would rather exploit these
differences. I request all the citizens of India to give peace a chance and
respect each other cultural differences. That way we would be able to build a
strong and prosperous India. Once we are internally strong, no external power
can dare to destabilize us. Our energy would not be diffracted dealing with
these non issues but would be used to make India a strong and prosperous country.
I guess,u r reigniting the "nature vs nurture" debate which says humans develop from only environmental influences..
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