On Terrorism and Terror

Delhi has suffered from bombs planted in areas of high civilian densities, again. Link These recent explosions have resulted in a macabre list of attacks in my home town. It sounds strange to call Delhi my home town. It is the place of my birth and I have lived in our house, on and off, over the last 30 years. I have never thought twice about going anywhere in this city. Today, as I walked through a rather empty looking Sarojini Nagar market, I couldn't help but feel a strange sensation of dread, as I realised the futility of trying to look for 'signs' of anything unusual. The faces looking at me as I walked seemed normal and I had to question my prejudices, as I tried to scan them for... for I'm not sure what. As I left the market, a place where I visit often just to walk amongst the crowds; it makes me feel alive like no other place, I heard a police officer blaring over a PA system. He was calling the officers on duty to remove the two wheelers off the pavement, where they were 'illegally' parked. I must admit that I was surprised to see CCTV cameras pointing at me from atop a bamboo pole. Someone was watching and doing a good job of it at 1 O'Clock in the afternoon.

Richard Clarke's book (i've yet to finish it), 'Your Government failed you', read through my mind as I entered my car. My mind thought about how Pakistan and India could improve bi lateral ties; together hunting the loonies that breed terrorist ideologies. Pakistan, though envisioned to be secular, must not be allowed to become a failed state. Just as Clarke suggests Turkey shouldn't be marginalised. How can we provide the mechanism for inclusion when all we think about is exclusion. This, indeed, is an issue for the times.

It seems communal violence is on the rise, atleast if you believe the Indian media, which has always highlighted Hindu fundamentalism. Is it a polar response to Muslim fundamentalism, which has bred terrorist since the 90's ? It doesn't help the BJP when Modi does the things he does in Gujrat. There are a lot of suppressed issues within the Hindu community, which traces its disenfranchisement since the 1300s. What's the point in living in the past. The flux of change versus those that resist change has led to all sorts of individuals and communities falling through the crack, into the ravine of desperation and outrage. Outrage, perhaps at themselves, for being unable to live in this world.

Something needs to be done.