MOSQUITO'S MEMORY OF HINDUS

Date: 02 Jan 2009

Comment:

We forget too soon and forgive even before forgiveness is asked for. 
Our tolerance has brought more and more marauders and murderers. Our 
virtues 
have been taken as a mark of cowardice. Remember December 13, the 
day our Parliament was attacked. Everyone said it was an attack on 
India. What happened later? Afzal, the terrorist accused of waging 
war against the Indian state, has found patrons in Delhi. 

Let's not forget our fellow citizens who have been victims of brutal 
terrorist attacks. On the eve of December 16, when the arrogant 
Pakistani marauders surrendered before our armed forces in Dhaka in 
1971, let's revive the spirit of victory and firmness to punish the 
Pakistani terrorists, even if it means bombarding their hideouts. 
Sometimes to take revenge becomes a pious duty, synonymous with 
righteousness. Sometimes to be intolerant to the barbaric attacker 
is the path of virtue. 

Sometimes using constitutional instruments for silencing the 
homegrown shields of the terrorists masquerading as secular human 
rights advocates and apologists for the Batla House module is the 
only way to protect the meek and plundered classes. 

It's our politicians' deeds or misdeeds that brought us this day. As 
guardians of the state and its people, it was their duty to 
strengthen the security and keep assaulters away. Surrounded as we 
are by failed states, which are exporting jihad and Marxist 
terrorism, it was the first and foremost duty of the rulers in Delhi 
to make the nation's security their first priority, no matter which 
party they belonged to. 

They failed us collectively and became spineless chroniclers of a 
nation's misfortune. Or the registrars of the unending agony of a 
people. They would simply present reports every year — banned 
terrorist organizations, number of citizens killed, number of 
security persons killed, number of bombs and rifles unearthed or 
captured, number of infiltrators estimated to have sneaked into our 
territory, number of terrorists eliminated, number ... 

What a game they played. 

And now they are talking tough. 

They used the same language whenever there was a terror attack. 
Gauge the mood of the people and speak what they want to hear. Soon 
everything will be normal. Public memory is always short. 

I am sure the way Kasab, one of the perpetrators of the Mumbai 
mayhem is being presented in the media, soon there would be 
committees demanding his release, for the sake of India-Pakistan 
relations. Or his trial may be delayed to another decade, or maybe 
he is exchanged in a deal. That's what our past has been. How can we 
have a different future unless we have a different set of rulers? 

We are all familiar with the denial mode for the invasions we bore 
in the past: Aurangzeb didn't demolish Kashi temple, Babar didn't 
build mosque over Rama's birth place in Ayodhya, Kashmiri Hindus 
were not driven out by jihadis but were pushed to leave their home 
and hearth by Jagmohan, the Godhra train was not set blaze by Muslim 
terrorists but by Hindus themselves, there are no Bangladeshi 
infiltrators. 

This attitude isn't going to help anyone — neither the "bigots" nor 
the Muslims nor the nation. Rather it will increase the bitterness 
and reinforce divides. So how does the black ribbons help Hindus, 
the principal targets and the victims of a pogrom that pronouncedly 
bears the identity of a religion? Or Deoband's ambiguous fatwa 
against terrorism? They look, unfortunately, more of an effort to 
buy a civil space in a Hindu majority country than a serious attempt 
to make jihadis desist from doing what they are doing quoting 
religious books. 

Protect plurality, fight unitedly 

This can be successfully carried on only if every Indian joins it 
irrespective of his faith. The naked truth is that the last two 
decades have seen a terrorism which is called Islamic in its 
contours by the very perpetrators and is powered by Pakistan's 
military agencies including the ISI. It needs an Indian response, 
ruthless and decisive. 
Time to wake up and wave your tricoulour against the marauders. Show 
a profound solidarity for soldiers. And remember, every single 
person, whether in olive green or in khaki, fighting the terrorists 
is a soldier in times like this. 

Defeat the homegrown shields of terror 

Phrases like "zero tolerance" mean nothing. The state must be 
intolerant to the terrorist and merciless in its dealings with those 
who shelter them and provide a workspace or a kind of legitimacy 
through religious covers and secular columns. 

Now, how to combat this situation? 

Rise united as Indians forgetting parochial, religious, ideological 
and language fault lines. Those who raise such issues to garner 
votes must be treated on a par with these terrorists and handed over 
to the ATS. Any party or organization raking up or assaulting 
religiously sensitive issues must be discarded and condemned. This 
can be done through non-political organizations and leadership. The 
temples, churches and the mosques can't be bigger than the nation, 
all gods need a space to be identified and worshipped. The nation is 
the space that counts more than anything else. The Lok Sabha 
elections are fast nearing. Prepare the entire democratic arsenal 
for that and choose young fresh faces on the basis of their 
patriotism and brilliance. Hanif or Hari, doesn't matter, what 
matters is that they are ready to take on terrorism head on. 

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