Terrorism...

Ever since man arrived on Earth, there never has been a time where the world, by & large, has been @ relative peace. Whereas other species also have conflicts, it is mainly restricted to survival (for food) & reproduction (more males competing to mate with fewer females). In man's case, it appears that GREED is by far the most significant reason for conflict. Apart from greed, the other significant reason appears to be man's nature of being prejudiced too easily with his own thought processes & ideas, without the patience or attitude to appreciate & respect others' opinions as equally valid & fair & justified. These probably could be the reasons behind the major military campaigns since ages, where many great men & empires from Alexander to the British, have waged innumerable wars solely to expand their empires, increase their influence, & to amass infinite wealth. It appears, these men & empires could not look & think beyond their own noses. Their attitude appears to be - I have to expand my house & amass wealth, even if it means encroaching upon my neighbour's property & grabbing his wealth. In simple terms, these men & empires could not mind their own business & in order to satiate their egos & prejudices, launched major military campaigns & caused incalculable damage to the human psyche & brought immense misery to millions of families.

Perhaps, in these pages of history lies the root cause for the modern day campaign - though not military, the same means are being used for religious campaigns - what we call terrorism. Why does anybody choose to become a terrorist, leaving behind all his near & dear ones, giving up one's own precious life for a cause nobody knows whose, for an objective nobody knows what, thru' means which do no good to anyone, & motivated by those whose psyche does not seem to be that of a normal human. All this while, it appeared that only uneducated youth were being inducted into these activities, but, now it has come to light that educated youth are increasingly being motivated to take up arms. This is a very dangerous phase in the fight against terror. Eliminating terrorists & terror camps is one thing, removing the root cause of terror from the human psyche is a totally different thing. It is important to recognize that before an act of terror materialises on the physical world, it is already executed in the minds of men. Hence, until the war is fought in the minds of these men, until the root cause is eliminated from the human psyche, the war against terror is not completely won. Also, it calls for total participation of the civilised world to root out terrorism. I do not think terrorism is a subject of the State alone. It is indeed a subject of the civilised society because, at the most fundamental level, it is the civilised society that has to bear the brunt of any terror attack. It is the daily wage earners, the office goers, the housewives, the children, the youth, who are affected. The State can be a means for the civilised society to put an end to terror. For that to happen, we need grassroots movements to address the issue & not leave the matter solely with the State. The State, in my opinion, can do only so much as the civilised society wants to be done. Beyond that, the State can only act as a facilitator & a representative of the mass psyche of the civilised world. Ultimately, the onus is entirely upon common people like you & me to root out terrorism @ the grassroot level. Self help groups, youth organisations, cultural organisations, etc., have to be at the fore front of this movement. It is important to drive home the message that, if one Faith can be true to me, in the same token, another Faith can be true to my neighbourhood friend. It is equally important to teach our children & youth that, all of us are children of the same Raama, Allah, & Christ. Equally important is to question the intentions & motives of our political & religious leaders. No person has the right to unilaterally decide what is good or bad for a civilised society. All our decisions have to be based on what is collectively good for the civilised society. Hence, we need men of strength, courage, & most importantly, men of character, who can be the beacons of the future by leading our civilised society into a bright & prosperous future for us, our children, & all the future generations to come. Let us all remember that, this Earth, with all her bounty, belongs to no one person, society, or Nation. It has never belonged to anyone. We all collectively belong to Mother Earth & never the other way around. It is our duty to care for Mother Earth, for...we have no business, we have no right, to make a mess of this world & leave it that way for our children. If not better the world, let us not worsen it further at least.