A friend of mine recently blogged about the latest bombings taking place in prominent Indian cities. He and I had a rather interesting exchange of comments which prompted me to write an entry of my own here.
I like to think of this as a memory-dump of all my thoughts on terrorists, freedom fighters, oppresive governments, fundamentalism, rights, duties, etc. – all that sort of stuff that sounds “noble” and “heroic” when told on stories.
Let me begin with one thought on Gandhianism (I admit I’m biased due to my own family being Gandhians and perhaps I never saw the proverbial “other side of the story.”) One of the things that any religion (well, all religions I know of so far) speaks of is purity of character. In particular, some of the great epics of Indian mythology (some may call it history) speak of this by far. There are no “gray areas”. There are no “acceptable deviances”. Even Yudhishthir, the eldest of the Pandavs, had to suffer Hell in order to atone for his one deception in his entire life. Sure, technically he spoke no false, but that didn’t let him off the hook.
What makes Gandhianism so appealing to me is the same principle reflected in his methods. You may claim Gandhi did absolutely nothing for the country. You may claim he was a worthless burden on earth. But no action of his can be labelled an act of Terrorism. Not by a long shot. A true religious movement cannot have “exceptions” or deviations. Perhaps we need to rethink whether Gandhi’s so-called secular movement was truly adhering to religion, or whether contemporary terrorists are more religious.
On this note, I will also venture to answer the question that most of you will start asking in the comments. What is meant by his advice that we turn the other cheek forward if the enemy slaps us on one cheek. The advice at first sight seems like that of surrender – of cowards. It is a matter of interpretation. To me, this is the same phrase that is glamourised in hollywood movies every single day – “The United States of America does not negotiate with terrorists.”
Turning the other cheek does not mean that you should not defend yourself. It rather means that the fear of getting slapped on the other cheek shall not deter you from what you believe in. It means that if a terrorist bombs one city, then the fear of bombing another city shall not make us negotiate with them or bow to their terms. In a religious context, it means that there can be no justification whatsoever for breaking religious rules. Just because a certain self-delcared religious cult claims they have the right to kill, doesn’t give you the “exception” to riot, kill, or terrorise and thereby ignore the rules of a religion you claim to follow. Turning the other cheek requires an act of immense bravery – it requires one to overcome anger, fear and other primal instincts and to adhere to religion.
So where does that leave terrorists? Are they just pure evil? Are they born this way? I refuse to believe that. Afterall, how many violent actions against the British Colonial regime do we glamourise in our own history textbooks in our schools? It is what we taught them. The right to oppose and overthrow an oppressive government is not only the right, but the duty of every citizen. However, now all citizens are shown a path by which they can do this – well, at least not the right path. Mathematically speaking, our school education boils down to this:
1. The British Government oppressed us. They do wrong.
2. Anyone opposing them do right.
3. Opposing them involved killings, terrorising, etc.
Some misguided, frustrated or desperate people get this message:
1. The Government is failing us every single day. Farmers dying. Inefficient management. An underground off-the-grid economy. A failing education system. Failure to provide even basic amenities.
2. We need to oppose them.
3. Lets do what people did less than 70 years ago.
It is on this note that I wish to comment. Many of you know my major fight with the University of Pune a couple of years ago – and I had raised this point to the Vice Chancellor at that time. When I take admission in the University, I get many threatening letters of my duties as a student – and the consequences of failing to follow rules. However, I am given no information on my rights in case the University fails to follow their side of the bargain. I have no rights as a citizen of the system. And while it shames me to say this – there was more than one time that I contemplated the use of violent means in order to exercise my rights – rights which I believed I deserved.
If any of you has ever had such sentiments ever in their lives, then we need to at least think of what outlets we can provide these terrorists as an alternative to taking lives of innocent people – which ends up making no difference to the oppressive government they are trying to oppose in the first place. The people they end up killing are potentially the very people who are frustrated and angry and the underdogs – the very people they are perhaps fighting for (if their claim is to be believed).
To be honest, I should like to learn how I can make a difference myself. I recently read about a person being charged with a criminal offense about posting to some orkut community. I may not know much about the case, but in my opinion, this is a blatant constitutional violation. Suppressing freedom of speech, censoring free expression, etc. are not what democray is built upon. I see corruption daily. I complain to the superiors and they take no action. You can complain to their superiors and they take no action. Less than 3% of Indians pay taxes. There are so many people who are making money on the black market. Ironically, these very people, due to their financial strength, end up getting all the previlidges of the government, whereas the taxpayers are insulted, humiliated and thrown out from most government offices. The educational system is the same – broken, filled with idiots, and stagnant with violations.
How does a common man exercise his right to oppose this oppression? How is the failure to crack down on money laundering different from the salt tax (basically a tax arbitrarily applied to some, and exempt to others)? How is the corruption in the educational system different from the era of the British?
Sure, let’s say 99% of terrorists are just plain evil – like the villians in childrens comics. They come out of nowhere and just spend their time and effort in blowing up bombs instead of using that time and energy in sleeping and eating. But if there are those possible 1% people who truly believe they are fighting for the rights and freedom of citizens, then can we help them? Can we educate them? Can we show them alternatives to oppose oppression?
If we don’t act now, we can capture one terrorist and more will come. As history has shown (as well as George Lucas), trying to suppress a rebellion only makes it stronger. The Indian Independence Movement, the American Independence movement, the war against Nazi Germany are examples we study in history every single day. Billions of people died in the 2nd World War, and the losses only increased the resolve of the Allied powers. They didn’t give up or surrender – even though that may have saved lives in the short term. I can’t even imagine the horrors if they had just “given up”.
Perhaps I’m a coward or I’m too lazy – but I didn’t act on my urges to react violently whenever I felt an injustice was being done to me. I can try and justify this cowardice off as “Gandhianism” or whatever but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m a coward. But not everyone will think that way – there will be those who will act. If they are shown a path of non-violence, perhaps we may save just those few 1% from turning into terrorists – that is of course, if we believe saving those few lives is important to us.
