Insane violence
September 10th, 2006
The amount of violence that we are witnessing in our country in the name of religion is appalling. Ever since we became a democratic country, we have been grappling with this tyranny of religious fanaticism. We have allowed it to mushroom silently into multi headed hydra and today we are at a loss to know which head needs to be cut first. The issue has become so complex that is difficult to pin down the cause of this unnecessary bloodshed. What irks me is the fact that innocent lives who have nothing to do with any religious dogmatism get killed. The recent Bombay blasts is one more grim reminder That we as a nation have to quickly come to a conclusion on how do we end this insanity. Passing the buck from end to the other should no more be tolerated. Somebody must be stand up and take the responsibility of weeding out this insidious seeds of violence that have taken root. As a civilization we have become more cowardly each day. It is difficult to remember too may historical wars where lives of innocents were taken.
Every war was fought by the respective armies and not waged against any civilian. It was an unwritten rule that no common man should be dragged into the quagmire of war and bloodshed. True manliness lies in thrashing it out one against one. I am not advocating unwarranted massacre, but it seems to me that we are playing a waiting game; a chance that peace may flower in the hearts of the cold hearted maniacs who have no qualms of slashing the throat of a new born baby. Either we take decisive action or wait and witness the moral fibre of our nation weaken to the point of no return. Violence in the name of religion is not new to mankind. History is the witness to the fact more bloodshed has happened in the name of religion than anything else. The bloody crusades and then the Islamic dominion showed us the cost that we had to pay for religious wars. But, the difference today is that we cannot afford a wholescale war as we had in the past.That would be the nemesis of entire mankind. At the same time we cannot allow this rot to sink in. And the situation is getting worse by the day.
Our Government must be stern about their stand. We have always been an ambiguous nation as far as religious tolerance is concerned. We need to draw a strict line between tolerance and meek acceptance. We should put our foot down on elements that are disrupting our peace and sanity. I am not advocating that we align ourselves either with the Muslims or the Hindus – both are equally to be blamed for this situation. But we must be clear that no religion professes unnecessary violence and if anybody in the name of God takes authority to impose on others religious dogmas ; we would only be foolish to allow them to cherish. The point is we have to be impartial in meting out justice.
We have slowly become insensitised to taking human lives. That is worst of form of psychological decay that can ever happen to a human being. Let every educated Indian start thinking about how we can win over the virus of terrorism. Ultimately, a Country is only an abstraction. What matters is how you and me act and it is that action which will provide us the path of peace and harmony.
