Indian state, Indian people and the terrorists.
India has been the victim of terrorism for about two decades. First confined to Jammu & Kashmir and, later spread all over India including Houses of God, Houses of Learning and the House of the People. Somehow the Indian state has not come up with any strategy to cope with it. It is a sad reflection on our all-knowing political establishment – politicians, bureaucrats and political commentators.
After the recent blasts in Jaipur, there has been a revelation - that there is no co-ordination between the centre and the states, there is no actionable intelligence and dearth of dedicated pool of officers. This is how the war on terror is being fought. These comments are not from any opposition party but by the national security advisor, according to reports in the press. The Chief Minister of Rajasthan has called for stringent law to punish the terrorists and their accomplices. This of course should be done before we have any more blasts if not for anything else but to show to the world that we are not a soft state.
However, Indian people have shown a maturity which should be appreciated. In Jaipur, people have cooperated with the state agencies to provide help to all the victims. As one commentator puts it," Terror no longer has the capacity to shock. It is nothing more than another bus tragedy or train mishap that we read about everyday – however callous that may sound. The law of the diminishing returns has set in." This may be the gift of our civilization as in our long history we have had many invasions and many disruptions but the people have moved on.
The Indian state and the Indian people have to think of another way to bring about a change in the mind-set of the terrorists and their supporters. The clue for this has been provided by the preamble of UNESCO which states " since war begins in the mind of men, it is in the minds of men that the defense of peace must be constructed." Ours is a secular state which respects all faiths, we have teach our children in all our schools the essentials of all faiths to remove misunderstandings about other faiths. All religions stand for the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God. This is said in many different ways and different languages. This has to be highlighted in schools and colleges. Ignorance of other religions is not bliss, but a curse.
Then there is the question of injustice which is supposed to be one of reasons for alienation. Is there any section in our country which feels it has been treated justly - not Scheduled Castes, not Scheduled tribes, not Other Backward Castes, not Forward Castes, not Brahmins, not Muslims, not Christians, not Sikhs, not Buddhists. We are all sailing in the same boat. We all want good governance and we will get it if we insist on it by participation in governance – not just by voting, but also by asking for accountability from the elected representatives.
May 21, 2008
********
