Boom

News about bombings and assassination attempts in some part of the world reach our ears every day or the other. In fact they have become part of the regular routine that when we feel indifferent, we enter into a situation of questioning our very human motives. Upon lighter thought one might be ascertained to think that the concept of terrorism is an irrational folly. But a little investigation will tell you that organized terrorism is nothing but rational.

It is intricate to interpret terrorism. How the word was perceived a couple of decades ago and how they are connoted now is very different. Something that is still in common is that there was and is a lot of loss of human lives. Freedom fighters, independent units formed to fight the colonial surge of another country, guerrilla units and a lot more were called as terrorists. Today’s terrorism is a lot more streamlined towards an express group of people whose motive is to disrupt normal human life.

The origin and rise of the Al-Qaeda will shed some light on Terrorism Begins. In the eighties when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, the locals fought back. The US funded these locals as at that time they always had this anxiety that the Soviets might gain on them. The funding from the West and the Sheiks of Middle-East helped them secure even foreign recruits to their militia. Later when the Soviets had their own struggle and split, the war was over. The militia, which mostly consisted of uneducated and orphaned men, had nothing else to do, or, more appropriately, knew nothing else to do. There later amongst a few conflicts of interest between the West and Middle-East, arose a notorious man called Bin Laden. Rest is history.

Last month’s Boston Marathon Bombings was in contradiction with the other terrorist plots. The investigation gone so far has revealed the involvement of a few scattered individuals. One can say that the irrational minds of a few young people lead to it. But an act like this will need serious planning over a long period of time which does not go well with irrational minds. If a few irrationally rational minds are capable of such things, then what more peril awaits this world?

One more very disturbing and even more unfortunate thing is that most of the terrorist activities are attributed to people who follow Islam. While I am most certain that most Muslims would want to lead a calm and peaceful life like any other faction, there is this small portion of Muslims who are made to believe that there is a conspiracy going on against them on an international level. These people with their poor understanding of certain fundamental principles of their religion carry out the acts of terror.

While I am no master of any religion or religious belief, it is my understanding that people follow religion to keep themselves aligned to some principles. Principles that might lead someone through a path of spiritual, emotional and physical goodness to them and to those around them. What am sure of is that no religion would preach hatred and violence as that goes against the fundamental principle of human well-being.

But how and where it went wrong for Islam? The best explanation I can give is the wrong interpretation of the word Jihad. It means struggle. The misunderstanding came in the understanding of what struggle Jihad means. Most scholars feel it’s the struggle within the self to follow the righteous path shown by the almighty. A few others feel that it’s the struggle against those who oppose Islam. I am not sure if deeper investigation into this term by me will bring clarity or obscurity. These fewer Muslims are not helping themselves or their community as many hate crimes are targeted against other righteous members.

Religious writings were meant to serve humans barring time. But that does not mean that they can guide us all the time. This is a time when individual right to freedom comes second to nothing. Some of the religious myths of the yesteryears cannot be imposed at present. People of all groups and factions have to reconcile and words like dominance, hatred and ego should be kept lying in the dictionary alone. This new world we live in is very much powerful and if not treated right we shall lead it to destroy us. Universal harmony is the Need of the Hour. Love All and Hate None.

Swasthika Sang