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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]

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