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By The Way: Terror in the eye of the beholder
Sun, 12/07/2008 10:49 AM | Headlines
Although I am an Indian born outside my country, I have retained strong ties to my family and homeland. Relatives always ensured I stayed true to my roots by encouraging me to engage in Indian culture by, for example, memorizing the national anthem among other things.
Watching the live television coverage of the Mumbai attacks broke my heart. Suddenly Mumbai, normally a place where people can walk freely and safely until the early hours of the morning, was a haven for terrorists and looked like a warzone.
These attacks proved to be the worst kind of terrorism, claiming lives of civilians unprepared for death and uprooting anger and pain for the families left behind with the victims. When the militants took hostages, in reality they were taking most of us hostage with the word "terror".
What constitutes terror is really in the eye of the beholder. When my car stops at a red traffic light, I am instilled with fear knowing that my side mirror could be stolen again. I fidget, watching out restlessly for those non-discriminating "terrorists" who could at any moment rush my car and seize their prize.
Parking in a street controlled by unofficial tukang parkir (parking attendants) can create terror if they are not paid the right amount. If you do not give them a tip, you can bet your car will undergo a minor makeover.
And if you happen to drive your car in an empty street and get a flat tire, be prepared for a little dose of terror.
It is common to find nails deliberately thrown onto smaller quiet roads and have your tires blow up. Within seconds of this occurring, you've got unwanted company who claim to be experts on the matter.
My friend calls the Lehman brothers the *financial terrorists'. Their tactic was unique because they did not have to use bullets or bombs to inflict pain upon their victims. All they needed was numbers on a piece of paper.
With the markets in turmoil and poverty on the rise, will this draw more recruits into the chaos of the world?
The men who burst in at the Taj and Oberoi hotels with their AK47's must have agreed to the job for a more than a decent price.
I wonder if their sacrifice was for the sake of family or something more sinister.
The future has a big question mark hanging over it. I think we should ponder about who the real enemy is. Is it a neighbor or a group with a common enemy, trying to steal peace and harmony in our world!
--Aruna Harjani
What's On
- Festival of India
10/29/2009 12/15/2009 Balai Kartini & Umar Ismail Hall, Jakarta
- Imagemakers of the Future: Photography exhibition
10/10/2009 11/30/2009 Alila Ubud Desa Melinggih Kelod Payangan, Gianyar 80572, Bali - Timeless Change
11/05/2009 12/07/2009 Ganesha Gallery, Four Seasons Hotel Jimbaran, Bali. - Choreography of Colours; Sardono W. Kusumo's first solo painting exhibition
11/12/2009 12/12/2009 vivi yip art room Annexe Ciputra World Marketing Gallery Jalan Prof Satrio Kav 11, Casablanca
James (not verified) — Mon, 12/08/2008 - 2:40pm
I was born in India. India has more than 10 major seperatist conflicts raging in it. The problem here are the Hindus trying to destroy minority muslims and Christians with violence and intimidation over the last several years. The only people who are going to benefit from these terrorist attacks are the right wing hindu fundamentalists who are attempting to destroy the country's pluraistic traditions, and multi ethnic make up. This whole thing was an inside job.
The only ones that will benefit from all this are the right wing Hindu fundamentalists in the next elections, so they can continue their progroms against Christians as they did in orissa and against Muslims.
This was an inside job to win sympathy from Hindus and to deflect investigations into right wing Hindu elements within the Army and Intelligence that are colluding with Hindu Organizations to declare India into a theocratic Hindu state. This only will lead to further killings of Muslims and Christians. India has poor human rights records in Kashmir and other provinces where it has been suppressing ethnic conflicts.
It is easy to blame Muslims for everything, Hindu right wing elements have enough blood in their hands. Many right wing hindus in western nations collect money and sent it to their mother organizations in India, where they continue to forward their agenda of destroying pluralism, destroying equality of women, destroying democracy, promoting the caste system. I therefore, as an Indian Christian, believe this was an act of the Indian government. No bunch of uneducated pakistanis can pull this type of sophisticated commando operation by themselves without inside help
Over the last several years, hundreds of Christians have been attacked in India by Hindu fundamentalists. They also have been responsible for killing several Muslims and Lower caste hindus in the recent decades.
Last month, some right wing Hindu army officials were arrested for planting bombs that killed Muslims. This latest attack in Mumbai claimed the lives of 3 of the top police investigators who were investigating right wing Hindus. Since elections are coming round the corner, there is always possibility that some Hindu elements within the Army and Government may have pulled this act off just to get sympathy of the majority Hindus to win the next elections.
With spy satellites, India can easily detect foreign ships or boats entering Mumbai, as it has one of the most heavily guarded maritime boundaries, being near Pakistan, yet this incident happened. There are lots of inconsistencies, and sophistication involved in the attack that shows the involvement of insiders. No bodies of the Muslim terrorists were shown to the media either. The way commandos stormed in without even negotiating, itself led to several westerners getting killed. I smell a rat.