Where have we gone wrong? (Part - II). Review on Local Customs and Traditions in Asia

There have been and will always be moments in the history of civilisation that leave their indelible mark on the face of humanity. Moments that chart with a ruthless accuracy the destiny of many nations and their people. Moments that are associated with revolutionary changes and bring about a strange metamorphosis in the way the future generations survive and face the vicissitudes of time. Moments...

India too has had her own share of such momentous moments, some celebratory, some terrifying, some apprehensive and some tragic. While most of these moments invariably lead to some or the other events that are by and large discernible in nature, there are some which pass quietly by, almost as if they never happened in the first place, but only to severely affect the country at some point in the future.

I would not be too wrong in suggesting that the seeds of terrorism in India were probably laid at about the same time when millions of her citizens were just celebrating their newly achieved freedom at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947. Seeds, I would prefer to call them call them because properly identified and firmly dealt with, we still would have been able to avert most of the terrorism in its varied forms that is eating into the country today. In the North, we have the Pakistan sponsored militant organisations actively disrupting the life in Kashmir for the last two decades, what happened in Punjab will probably remain one of the greatest lessons in mismanaging a democracy, in the east we have the Nagas and Bodos, in the South, we have the dreaded LTTE and to a lesser extent the notorious naxalites in and around Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

A great statesman had once remarked quite rightly “Terrorism has its roots in the failure of Democracy”. India has been the target of terrorism, both intra-border and cross-border, for well over five decades now. It commenced right from the time Pakistan, irate over being denied the delicious cake of Kashmir, sent its first contingent of forces in the form of the fearsome Pathan tribesmen to usurp Kashmir under the command of Major Kurshid Anwar from Maharaja Hari Singh who it appears, quite foolishly wanted to carve out a country of his own disregarding the fact that more than three fourths of his subjects were Muslims and therefore it was but logical that Kashmir be a part of Pakistan. It is sad that even half a century later, Kashmir’s disputed possession remains the principal subject of discord between the two countries, the one unseemingly insurmountable barrier to their reconciliation.

The onus for the tragic fiasco in Punjab lies squarely on the shoulders of India’s Iron woman, Indira Gandhi. Peeved with the threat of the rising popularity of the Akalis, she clandestinely promoted Bhrindanwale as a counter force. The result of this historic act of foolishness resulted in a maha-blunder called “Operation Bluestar”, which ultimately led to the slaughter of thousands of people. By a strange quirk of fate, her own move backfired on her, resulting in her assassination which sparked of fresh and gory riots all over Punjab, probably the worst since the ones witnessed during partition.

On the other hand, it was pure short sighted sinhala fundamentalism that drove the minority tamils into a tight corner and resulted in the formation of the LTTE, one of the deadliest terrorist outfits in the world which accounted for the death of an ex-Indian Prime Minister, a Sri Lankan President, scores of Sri Lankan ministers and thousands of innocent IPKF soldiers. Here too, Indira Gandhi had to succumb to political pressures because of the presence of more than 5 crore tamils in Tamil Nadu.

In all these cases, it was the plain short-sightedness of an individual or a group of individuals that resulted in the formation of these terrorist outfits on all sides of the country. Its a foregone conclusion that we are definitely not going to see an end to either the Muslim terrorist outfits fighting for the freedom of Kashmir nor the LTTE and other half a dozen militant groups in the North-East. The common thread binding the formation of all these groups is a clear lack of thinking and some shrewd manipulation by the political leaders for the purpose of satisfying their own vested interests in the name of “Democracy”. While these manipulations were motivated pre-dominantly with the lure of tremendous political gains, they were driven mercilessly by vendettas unleashed by the very same spectre of politics. Talk of politics being a double edged sword...

Of late, these acts of terrorism, like the dastardly attack on America on 9-11 have begun to take on a religious hue...in the name of Islamic Fundamentalism. I would not be surprised if at some point in the future, our very own Hindu Fundamentalist organisation (need I mention its name here?) were to plunge into a full fledged militancy mode blaming the indifference of the powers that be, to the sweeping changes being brought about by Globalisation and Westernisation.

Indeed, terrorism has emerged as lucrative and an awe-inspiring profession today. We, being safely ensconced in the confines of our respective towns and cities are unaware to a larger extent as to how contagious and prevalent the disease called terrorism has spread. It is certainly not an easy task to root out this malady as it has become so deeply ingrained in those affected by it that it keeps springing up a hundred terrorists in place of one that falls. It is a way of life, a fight unto death proposition, a jihad, for all those families that have been affected by the asinine decisions taken by our politicians.

A small example here, during the recent attack on the Taliban and the Al-Qaeda jointly being conducted by the US forces and the soldiers of the Northern Alliance in the mountains of Afghanistan, it came to light that a young lad of about 14 years(!) was the commander of a 300-400 strong contingent, having inherited the said mantle on the demise of his father. Now, what in the world could possibly motivate such a young chap to handle AK-47s and hand grenades while his contemporaries across the world still play video/computer games? That should give some indication as to how religiously passionate and revengeful these people can be...all in the name of revenge, honour and freedom!

Given these conditions, no amount of military might is going to rid the world of this breed of people called terrorists, be they professional or religious. What the current crop of politicians can however do, is to abstain from create such breeding grounds for terrorism to rear its ugly head again. For Gods sake, enough is enough! When will these netas realise that it is they who are responsible for giving birth to and sponsoring terrorism? When are they going to stop playing with the lives of the ordinary, peace-loving citizens to further their own rotten, vulgar, selfish, pre-mediated and useless political ambitions? I wish there was some way of getting rid of such politicians along with their crooked and often detrimental thought processes.

I know this review is under the wrong section but I didn’t have a choice. Kindly dis-regard the section/heading under which i’ve put it and comment on the review purely on its merit on a stand alone basis.