Mumbai
Bombings:
A Requiem For The Victims
By Mirza A. Beg
14 July, 2006
Countercurrents.org
We
need to speak and speak with the courage of conviction. It is time for
unequivocal condemnation of this and all heinous acts. The train bombings
in Mumbai India, the attacks of 9/11 in the US, the Madrid and London
bombings the suicide bombings on Middle East, Sri Lanka and many other
places are not isolated incidents, but a pattern of deadly causes and
deadly effects. They do not seem to have any chance of abatement in
the near future. The world is reeling in spiraling brutal abyss.
Imagine one of our loved
ones on that train in Mumbai and the dimensions of the tragedy suddenly
hits home. There were many loved ones who perished in this dance of
death, in a wider sense they were us; mindless tits for the multiple
tats and on it goes. Governments suppress and repress some in the name
of many with impunity under the cover of national, but in blatant violation
of humane law. Thus they kill thousands over the years in the name of
those whom they purport to represent and protect.
Some otherwise ordinary people
on the receiving end, blinded by anger take refuge and find justification
in terrorism committed against some distant clueless humans going about
in the mundane drudgery of life. Terrorists become so callous in their
anger multiplied many times by hate filled ideologies that they lose
all sense of decency, distinction and humanity visiting carnage in distant
lands on innocent people.
These incidences are going
on around the world with the regularity of seasons. Many countries are
perpetrators and victims at the same time. When we think of whose lives
snuffed out and those that will carry the scar for the rest of their
lives, our eyes well up. It is a reflection of our individual failure;
we keep quite, in the face of atrocities, often for selfish reasons
or false pride, but above all apathy.
It is also a reflection of
our utter failure to tame our split personalities forcing us into compartmentalized
thinking. As individuals we suffer and grieve and perhaps throw a few
crumbs through a charitable organization for the victims, but as a society
we create conditions through our governments to be duplicitous, and
cruel while claiming to be good.
In the modern times with
communications and transport facilities the problems of hunger, poverty
and ethnic cleansing can and should have been solved. But what we give
officially in charity with fanfare we take away many times more through
the support of corrupt regimes for the benefit of our mega corporations
who give mega bucks to the ones whom we vote to represent us.
We have unwittingly become
a cog in the deception machine. All these lost lives had a story to
tell. Once in a while some decent soul makes us see this. We feel momentary
shock and sense of dejection. At times we feel utterly helpless and
guilty for every morsel we take while others in distant places are suffering
utter indignities, but life goes on.
The tyranny of power has
been with us since the dawn of the civilization. The rebellious especially
if they were powerless in terms of armament fought guerilla wars or
indulged in hit and run terrorism. In modern times with the enormous
power of explosives including the WMDs and the means of remote controlled
impersonalized delivery systems the governments especially the rich
and powerful ones became brazen in their hegemonic pursuits. The terrorists
though lagging behind have kept up with the technology of destruction.
The idea that the governments
have an unbridled right to crush opposition within their borders even
if they are contentious, or ethnically torment or kill the pesky minorities
have been proven to be barbaric and unattainable. British experience
in Northern Ireland (Ulster) is a prime example. British draconian (State
terrorism) iron fisted glove could not subdue the Ulster, instead the
tit of torture created the tat of bombings in London. The British took
head and settled with the Northern Ireland on difficult but equitable
term, bringing peace to both and negating the old and false truism of
force.
The “one percent “Bush
doctrine “Bushism” is the last gasp of the hegemonic powers
from the 20th century. The doctrine stated by Cheney and adopted by
Bush as reported in the press is that if there is even a one percent
chance of harm to the US, we should attack. One wonders how a one percent
chance is calculated. There is always a one percent chance from many
changing sources at any given time. Essentially it means that they will
lie, connive or use any means to the preferred ends against whomever
they please, inventing such inane phrases as axis of evil to lull the
electorate. This policy gave us Iraq war, hundreds of thousands of civilians
killed and the worst reputation in our history. Imagine how this enormous
expenditure could have been used towards constructive ends.
It is time to stop saber
rattling and adopt the rule of national and international laws with
transparency. It is time to bring the offenders, the terrorists to justice
through legal means. Not through violations of human rights and gulags
that Bush doctrine preaches. It will be a very slow and tedious process.
The ushering of a new paradigm truly based of internationally recognized
norms will be difficult and slow, but start we must, to reach what we
the citizens of the world hope for, but have never truly tried with
honesty.
There is no decency, courage
or honor in killing thousands of innocent people in distant places by
the governments in our name, or the terrorists in the name of what ever
they represent. We know this, but just as we have learned to put our
personal family tragedies behind, we will put this behind as well, and
the dance of death and destruction will continues in our name. We have
been guilty of silence, and they feed on our silence. It is time to
speak with voice of humanity within us. No more blood tyranny, torture
and terrorism in our names.
Mirza A. Beg can be contacted
at [email protected]