It's the same old tale. Explosions in country's favourite city and ensuing knee-jerk 'reactions' on social media. Fits of armchair-keyboard patriotism. What suddenly gets fashionable is talking about Kasab/Afzal and blaming the goverment - the easiest one can do without the tiniest of research/understanding. The media is in a frenzy misinterpreting every single official press release: rabble-rousing at the time we need it the least. I'm still unable to come to terms with how are news/entertainment channels broadcasting half-hour programs unfairly blasting an uncharacteristically balanced statement by Mr. Rahul Gandhi. What follows is my understanding/response to whatever happened and is happening.
One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. A cliche beaten to death. Still relevant. Religious scriptures are misinterpreted and people are brainwashed. They think they have a cause. And they're passionate about it. So much so that the desired ends justify every possible means. It's incredibly easy to rationalize when you have a decent education and food in the belly. The root cause, as I understand, is the sheer volatility and inflammable sentiments of what we term 'terrorists'. To me, they're just a bunch of extremely passionate believers standing by their belief. Isn't that exactly we are taught and we appreciate?
You're no different. They're told that their 'brothers' (criterion: same religion) are being massacred. They react. You see that your brothers (criterion: same country) are being massacred. You react. On Facebook.
It's just that they're ready to take a couple of steps more than us rational-in-our-AC-rooms intellectuals. But the root is the same. The volatility. The impatience. The urge to revenge. The tendency to club together individuals who happen to share nothing more than the same faith.
Killing Kasab/Afzal doesn't solve shit. If at all, it'll make matters worse. I'm not justifying the inordinate legal delay. The protracted (lack of) prosecution is indeed shameful for the entire nation. But let's move on and not crib about the same old thing. Can someone please explain what will killing them achieve? What message do we want to send across? And more importantly, TO WHOM? The to-be bombers? Let's get a hang of the ground reality. Our stereotypical Mr. Terrorist doesn't consume the media we do. For all we know, Mr. Kasab/Afzal might just be projected as ideals who made the ultimate sacrifice and who need to be idolized. What next, Mr. Facebook-status-updater?
War with Pakistan is not a solution. War is not a solution. To anything. Does anyone understand the consequences? Does anyone even know how is a war started? On what grounds? Like Uncle Sam does? Go - bomb - fuck civilians - destroy economy - destabilise region? I don't know either. All I know is that it is more difficult, destabilising and detrimental than beating up an eve-teaser.
Fuck you, media. Do I need to explain?
Stop envying Rahul Gandhi. The sooner you accept the fact that he was born with a silver spoon in one of his holes and you weren't, the better it gets for you. Stop blaming him and his motherfuckin' family for everything that goes wrong in this nation, however rotten they are.
Acquired wit, Inherent Stupidity. I have special sympathies for people with status updates: 'Kasab's birthday, have a blast'. Trust me dude, you're not funny. Escpecially when 500 people have posted exactly the same! At least make the minimum effort of validating. Kasab's birthday was Sept 13 for the record. Plus, ramblings like India should have expected something like this is dumber than anything Digvijay Singh has ever farted. How I wish you had the ability to think!
For fuck's sake, understand the meaning of a 'secular state'. What amazes me is the tendency to update 'status' in a fraction of a second spewing venom about a word one doesn't even understand. Foremost, we are a secular republic only in theory. Officially we don't have a religion and that's everything we can boast about. Religion is involved on a daily basis on both macro and micro level. But I don't want to even get started in that direction. What beats me is allusion to secularism-fathered impotence. Now, what's being potent? Let's have the balls to uneuphemise our life. It directly refers to seeing every Muslim in bad light just because the perpetrators have often belonged to that religion. Can any premise be any more flawed? Can we be any more prejudiced?
Yeah I am hearing you, have heard you all the way down till here. Today I've read at least a dozen of posts on condolences, prayers and all, and I wonder, how many of us have done it just to pretend that we've done what we could. Blame the media, ridicule the politicians. I say, for Love's sake, for religions sake, God bless those who did it with a sane mind and clear vision. For Jehad's sake, lets try not to forget it, but lets not remember it the way we are doing it.
ReplyDeleteI've been not posting on facebook or twitter, rather I've been keeping to myself. Does that count as a tribute to them? No. Does my writing about it count as tribute? No.
Oh and BTW, nothing against you or your post. It is much appreciated for it covers many other things in an ordered manner. Just that, your post was the last of the lot today.
Regards,
Blasphemous Aesthete
frankly,I dint like the feel of the post.I felt the attitude of the post was very detached.Whether this was on purpose,I dont know.
ReplyDeletebrilliant! sadly, true.
ReplyDeletemedia. i swear things would have been much better if these asses actually showed what's more relevant. honestly, i find it ridiculous same channel showing something like terrorism and 'saas, bahu, etc' with same vigor. 'ratan ka rishta' and mumbai attacks. please!
facebook. know what, i was really surprised that some of my 'friends' were devastated by loss of M F Hussain and lamented like bitches. suddenly everyone appreciates art, is a big critic of literature, and politics, well, whatever i say will be mere euphemism to what actually happens.
attention hogs. no one can help. all fake. sad, but true.
so gupta ji...one of 'sitting in the AC rooms blog writers'...what is ur solution to the entire situation...yes i know writing on facebook will achieve nothing...to be frank nothing will change things in our country until we come together and vote...yes a people's uprising may be better option but who will bring all the people together?...anna hazare?....may be. But even people who are protesting on the stage are looked through religious eyes....baba ramdev has RSS on stage so may be his fast his not a genuine one?..y is a peaceful protest disrupted at the middle of the night...wat option is left then other saying that we will have a armed protest...What we can do is vote in large numbers..that does not happen. Voting day is seen as a holiday and trips are planned. Yes you are right in a way that armed chair protest will not work, but then army training should be made compulsory. Appeasement politics should be stopped. Y did not people for all religions come and support ramdev? was he demanding the black money only for the upliftment of hindus? does his pranayam help hindus alone? Yes rahul gandhi was born with a silver spoon in his hole, so? i accept it. so? The problem in our country is not seeing every muslim in bad light, but rather not seeing even those who are flawed in bad light...killing kasab and afzal guru right away wud achieve many things unlike wat u say. Not killing them rather gives a sense to any tom, dick and harry to come here and shit. Oh we know the terrorism has no religion. YES we KNOW IT. But we do not know how to stop it. Rather we know but we do not do it. What are the people doing, are we coming down to the streets and fighting. No. You will write a blog and I will respond. Some may agree and some don’t. The rulers will rule. If you are planning to come down on the street and fight, I am up for it. Vande mataram.
ReplyDeleteso gupta ji...one of 'sitting in the AC rooms blog writers'...what is ur solution to the entire situation...yes i know writing on facebook will achieve nothing...to be frank nothing will change things in our country until we come together and vote...yes a people's uprising may be better option but who will bring all the people together?...anna hazare?....may be. But even people who are protesting on the stage are looked through religious eyes....baba ramdev has RSS on stage so may be his fast his not a genuine one?..y is a peaceful protest disrupted at the middle of the night...wat option is left then other saying that we will have a armed protest...What we can do is vote in large numbers..that does not happen. Voting day is seen as a holiday and trips are planned. Yes you are right in a way that armed chair protest will not work, but then army training should be made compulsory. Appeasement politics should be stopped. Y did not people for all religions come and support ramdev? was he demanding the black money only for the upliftment of hindus? does his pranayam help hindus alone? Yes rahul gandhi was born with a silver spoon in his hole, so? i accept it. so? The problem in our country is not seeing every muslim in bad light, but rather not seeing even those who are flawed in bad light...killing kasab and afzal guru right away wud achieve many things unlike wat u say. Not killing them rather gives a sense to any tom, dick and harry to come here and shit. Oh we know the terrorism has no religion. YES we KNOW IT. But we do not know how to stop it. Rather we know but we do not do it. What are the people doing, are we coming down to the streets and fighting. No. You will write a blog and I will respond. Some may agree and some don’t. The rulers will rule. If you are planning to come down on the street and fight, I am up for it. Vande Mataram.
ReplyDeleteGood article. But I feel sorry about your ignorance.
ReplyDelete"One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter".
Dude.. If blowing up a bomb and killing people, forget the caste angle to it, is considered to be a heroic deed. How can one support that? Not to forget Bhagat Singh too exploded bomb in the assembly, intentionally, and made sure no-one was hurt. He is a freedom fighter. Not these senseless creatures.
"You're no different."
This the point which i hear almost from everyone. bt so far your point seems to take a complete toll! Telling someone that their kins are being killed and encouraging them to kill people. What similarity you see in these people and us, my friend?
"Killing Kasab/Afzal doesn't solve shit. If at all, it'll make matters worse."
Really?! Almost Rs.1Cr/month is the expense on his security. He was caught red handed on a worst terrorist attack. If you have forgotten the number of people he killed.. Read this -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajmal_Kasab#Involvement_in_2008_Mumbai_attacks
"War is not a solution."
I agree with you on this point. But then, Did we ever attacked Pakistan? Did we ever attacked anyone? Protecting is not War dude.
"Stop envying Rahul Gandhi"
Who the hell care about him at this point of time? I am not sure If i am a person to talk on politics, bt consider me as a lay man.. let me ask you a question -
I dont want to distrust everything, but check this out - why 545 members of Loksabha or 250 odd of Rajya sabha, thousands of eligible lawyers takes so much time to decide if a caught-on-tape-killing-people person should be hanged or not?
I am sure it cant happen without any political force.
I just leave this as an open string..
"One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" <-- Just because they're brainwashed doesn't mean they can be excused. I believe in my religion, yet I don't go about shoving it down other people's throats, nor do I take action to propagate it vehemently. Nothing, not even religion or passion, gives someone the right to take another's life. Passion is not an excuse for barbarism and blatant killing.
ReplyDelete"You're the same" <-- No, you're not. Reacting on Facebook is different from reacting by bomb. Dude, the difference is so vast that I cannot believe you could even compare the same.
I'm with you on the armchair patriotism bit. I know that everyone's making a big deal of shit. I agree with Rahul Gandhi when he says that 1% of terrorism is not stoppable. With India's population and the sheer number of people coming in and going out of a city like Mumbai, it's not possible to monitor everything and everybody. We're not as technologically advanced as the US (nor are our intelligence services), so we cannot compare the fact that we've had a number of attacks and they've had none. They don't have to balance diplomacy with a neighbouring state like we do, while at the same time trying to prevent blatant infiltration. I accept all of this. I accept all of your other points. War is not a solution (particularly not for India), and I don't really care about killing Kasab. But think about it. A plane full of Indians gets hijacked, they demand the release of Kasab in exchange for the hostages. What then? (Just a scenario.)
The problem with your post is that you've seemingly gone to the other extreme. You even sound like you're justifying what terrorists do because they're passionate about it. That's illogical and stupid, dude.
I love the phrase, Armchair Patriotism, the irony of it does not escape me either.
ReplyDeleteCommom man's life is cheaper than anything else in this country.What makes me more and more angry is the way these news channels run a 1 hour programme of the so called 'Spirit of Mumbai' after every such incident. They can air the same old thing again n again, with minor alterations...but they don't uderstand, what choice does the city have? Or for that matter, any other city ?
ReplyDeleteA city like Mumbai doesn't have the time to cry over its dead as it has to rise like a phoenix from its ashes, again and again, and again.
The most rational outpour i have seen after the dastardly attack
ReplyDeleteThe post has disappointed me big time! In an attempt to sound intellectual,"well-read" and different, you have almost glorified the most abominable and heinous of all crimes-terrorism! Yes, we are taught to stand by our beliefs and terrorists are no exceptions, but does this justify killing? Killing innocent lives? The bomb could have killed me, could have killed you, could have killed someone from your family! would you have said the same things then? When a man eater attacks a remote village, what do the people do?
ReplyDelete1.They try to catch the carnivore live and send it back deep into the forest or deport it to a new home.
or/and
2.They hunt it down to death.
or/and
3.They become careful and alert for their own safety.
Right?
What should you do when a human turns into a bloody monster wreaking havoc? Catch him live or dead!Simple!
"You're no different. They're told that their 'brothers' (criterion: same religion) are being massacred. They react. You see that your brothers (criterion: same country) are being massacred. You react. On Facebook."
:)
And what are we doing here?Reading FB updates, analysing them and writing posts that provoke more sentimental reactions!Going global truly, from facebook to blogger:)
Being reactive is no solution, being pro-active is. There have been wars, there are wars and there are going to be wars in the future. Battles between the right and the wrong, the good and the evil. I might not be able to change the world, but I can certainly be more conscious of my own self and aware of my surrounding in order to mitigate if not completely eradicate terrorism.
Does killing Kasab/Afzal really make it worse? I don't think so. At WORSE, it doesn't change anything. Likes like him don't even matter to the more powerful and real perpetrators of blood and gore who condition young brains to execute their hidden agenda.
I am sorry to say that I find your arguements very shallow!But I like the term 'armchair patriotism'...thaz what we are doing now!What else can we do?
I just finished reading a book about Osama Bin Laden narrated by his son..We assume so many things about the terrorists but the reality is s different..They know only one thing, they think they are in constant danger and have to protect themselves and that's why they end up killing so many people..They are ignorant and being brainwashed..You inspired me to write something about that book..maybe I will..
ReplyDelete@ BA: Fair enough! Totally understand the outburst. (:
ReplyDelete@ Devil: Detached, no. Rational, probably yes. All I want to say is that not reacting in an extreme manner is not apathy.
ReplyDeleteWell put, Alok. Suddenly loving art, or for that matter, tennis (!!) when you don't know shit about it. Sigh.
ReplyDelete@abhic03: I honestly don't want to reply to your naivete. All I can say is that DO NOT wait for someone else to come on the streets if you want to. Else shut your piehole with that fakeness intact.
ReplyDelete@ Ankit: You're well-intentioned for sure. But you just didn't get the gist. Sorry, but it'll take a lifetime to reiterate.
ReplyDelete@ Gurdit: Of all the people in this world who have read this, you were one of the very few who I thought will understand the gist. I'm afraid you didn't. Will just add that I didn't justify 'what terrorists do'. That's outrightly barbaric. It'll be impossible to reiterate.
ReplyDelete@ Meher: Universal it is, darling. (:
ReplyDelete@ Akansha: So true! A friend of mine wrote something on the fabled spirit of Mumbai. Read here: http://is.gd/AzIZ3y
ReplyDelete@ Pesto Sauce: Glad to see rationality. :) Thanks!
ReplyDelete@ KT: I didn't justify barbarism anywhere! :| I just wanted to think, for a change, in the macro scheme of things. I would request you to re-read. :)
ReplyDelete@ Ana_treek: When you write about the book, do let me know. Don't want to miss it. :)
ReplyDeleteI have re-reread it. The feel is so very negative! The statement, "you are no different" is so very provoking! Then in an attempt to attenuate what you already said, you go on saying, "It's just that they're ready to take a couple of steps more". Would have appreciated had you talked about solutions and what needs to be done rather than venting out your frustration in a way that confuses if the piece was written to create a new perspective or as a place to vent out bitterness and frustration!
ReplyDeleteIt isn't smooth and evokes mixed reactions: sympathy, anger, bias and frustration. I don't understand the point of research and discussion, if the tone itself is so very unpredictable and unaccomodating. With the line of thought and writing skills that you are blessed with, this is a disappointment. I am sorry, but that's my view...
Hi - while all atacks are vicious, cowardly bullshit actions I do not that the Euro-US media focusses far more on the alleged 'Islamic' attacks, while not really bothering with the Maoist attacks.
ReplyDeleteI wonder , its probably easier to go - Islam , Pakistan, over there, attack
CUI BONO
Does Islam or Pakistan benefit from these attacks?
Do Indians?
Do the politicians?
The Euro-US Alliance of War love seeing this , and going into uber-moral mode.
Hasn't anybody woken up to the idea that there aren't any terrorists just operatives for U-NO-HU.
In Europe the Norway killings have set off a real rabid bunch of frenzied media and Antisocial-Nutworking sites. Blood dripping from fangs.
cheers
whereas Maoists don't come from anywhere , except possibly China.
The post comprehensively echoes every sentiment that I have had each time there has been an instance of terrorism in my city. We need to act with a sense of maturity. Media can and should be used productively, not for the sake of higher TRPs/viewing.
ReplyDelete@ KT: Totally agreed. All I want to say is that the post was based on my knee-jerk reaction on the knee-jerk reactions I was witnessing. Just another armchair gimmick , probably. :)
ReplyDelete@ aferrismoon: Could you please come again, buddy?
ReplyDeleteThanks, illuminator.
ReplyDeleteThat is very reasonable argument. We need to get out of lynch mob mentality..
ReplyDeleteSure we do. Thanks, bhai. (:
ReplyDeleteSo, we stand and watch?
ReplyDeleteThat's a very valid line of argument. Well, quite bordering on platitudes but alright. Better than lynchmob.
ReplyDelete@ Dev: No, Dev. That's an entirely different line of argument, though!
ReplyDelete@ Kapoor: What do you prefer? Platitudes or lynch mobs?
ReplyDelete