Monday, August 06, 2007

Reply to a comment from the previous post

I knew there was a lot that I wanted to say as a reply to Prashanth's comment to the previous post, so thought I'd write a new post, rather than a comment. So here goes...

I was discussing this topic with a friend this afternoon and he was of the opinion that somethings will never change. As long as it does not affect us, we don't have to bother about it. My reply to him was that we cannot wait for things to change, we have to change, at least in the way we think.
Only when something affects us directly, do we feel the pain - otherwise its just something that is happening at a distance and we are not bothered about it.
What if we were not in the place that we are right now, comfortably living in our well protected homes, working for MNCs, but had been at the border, scared of whether we would see daylight the next day - wouldn't we have cared about what was happening around us and prayed for a miracle to happen....

But this comment has to be the most hatred filled reaction that I've personally seen to this topic.

My thoughts on this - There are 'some' who indulge in acts of terrorism and 'many' others, who's only 'so called' sin is to have been born in a particular nation. Isn't it too harsh to say that everyone in a particular nation should be destroyed from the face of the earth? This is like saying, people from Karnataka/TN fight for Kaveri water and in the process have destroyed life and property. So everyone from that particular state should die. Its not that every person has set out to kill. Its just a few people who trigger such disputes and controversies for their own selfish motives. I take this example only because I am from the south.

Most persons who perform destructive activities do so because they are lack guidance and are lulled away by impulsive, selfish but at the same time strong/powerful honchos who think they will take revenge for what was done to their ancestors... if people keep fighting for what was done to 'some'one in the past, when will they live their present lives?

Also, if these people had better leaders, people who showed them the right way, gave them the basic rights and amenities to live a decent & respectful life, if all these energies were directed towards a constructive purpose... if these people had the comforts that we have, had better jobs - say if they were working in the IBMs or Wipros of the world, do you think they'd still be thinking about which place to bomb next?

I am not justifying any act of violence or terrorism. Any person who kills deserves to be killed, but there should not be generalisation based on a religion/sect or nationality. There are some who turn bad, but everybody else doesn't have to be and are not like that.

This my friend, has to be the longest reply to a comment that I've written.
Let me know your thoughts.

9 comments:

  1. Again u r missing the point..but i can imagine very well whts the impact of tht comment by prashanth, out of ur monday tight schedule u av made it a post to reply...my views soon!...

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  2. I want to answer this at the opportune time and place with words that reflect my deliberate actions.

    Till then ....

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  3. @Prashanth

    i dont know abt SriVidya..but i am eagerly waiting to listen from u!

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  4. @ arun - what is the point that I am missing? awaiting your views...

    @ prashanth - sure... will wait for your reply. just want to understand the reason for such strong feelings

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  5. if you extrapolate a terrorist is a human and if you keep zooming in (s)he is yet another individual...

    what you generalize depends on where you draw the boundary...one's view on this does get affected by the more apparent similarities among terrorists be it religion, be it nationality, be it social strata, be it the similar trauma, be it the economic state.

    yes, its human nature to act to stimuli, its not the baader meinhoff fighting in lanka nor the kkk demanding a separate kashmir. neither was it america to bomb afganistan while they were fighting amongst themselves.

    coming to music, it sounds good to ears but sadly thats where it stops. so does sports, movies, books and all other forms of art. they enchant the you and me who haven't undergone what goes into the making of a terrorist or what it feels to be a direct subject of his act.

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  6. @ passer by - points completely agreed with.
    only when u are directly affected (you being the terrorist or the victim of terrorism)do you feel the pain.
    all that i'm trying to say is that its not right to generalise based on religion/country.

    about the music - did u watch/read about the 24th Aug episode of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa? where does a country/religion come into the picture in a music competition ... this is what i fail to understand!

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  7. thats not my point...its not to the level of country and religion alone..for that matter there could be no generalization..

    for you every member of al queda could be a terrorist..i might extend that to pakistan.. its pointless writing a regular pattern to identify terrorists among humans..

    and i've stopped following sa re ga ma or indian idol cos a i hate the panel of incompetent judges..and the over dramatization..

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  8. It is quite reassuring as to the future of the subcontinent to see posts such as yours, even in the current situation.

    My thoughts are with you and like-minded people. And as to the comments you got: don't forget hatred is a way of self-protection. Even though, we can only hope no escalation will be triggered by these events - otherwise, the bad guys win.

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  9. @ passer by - so do u say it is ok to generalise or is it not?

    @ le plume - thanks for your thoughts :) as for the comments - everybody has their own reasons for thinking in a particular way. Here I'm just trying to express my thoughts as I try to understand other people's point of view

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