23 August, 2006

Think about it.

Got this mail few days ago. And thought of sharing it with you all.

ISRAEL -POPULATION: 7 million (less than half of Mumbai)
SIZE: Less than that of Kerala
ACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST IT: 2 soldiers kidnapped by Hezbolla, 1 by Hamas
RETALIATORY ACTION: war on Lebanon and Gaza, 200 rockets fired the next day.

INDIA -POPULATION: 1 billion+
SIZE: 6th largest in the world
ACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST IT: 200+ dead in Mumbai blast, 8 in Kashmir
RETALIATORY ACTION: a soft speech by PM, Salute to mumbai people, clean chitfor SIMI by UP CM MULAYAM SINGH YADAV

A train blast in Mumbai kills approximately 200 Indians and injureshundreds others. The reaction from the apparent Superpower (The greatUSA) is that India must show restraint in its actions and urges for a political solution to the Kashmir problem. On the other hand of theglobe in the same evening 6 Israeli soldiers are killed and 2captured by Islamic terrorists. Israel prepares for a full frontattack on Lebanese settlements and the same superpower says that the terrorists should be dealt with a firm and iron hand.

Is it true that just because the population of India is more than 1billion, the value of a human life in India is that much less ascompared to an American, British, Israeli or any other European life? North Korea test fires a missile and the US moves a BattleCarrier group to the Pacific Ocean !!!!!!!!!!!. The right to selfdefend should lie with every individual and country. It is high timethat all of us as patriotic Indians do not take this thing lying down and ensure that each of us in their individual capacity spread thismessage of injustice across the world.For the death of 45 British citizens in a similar bomb blast lastyear, it was a world wide tragedy on CNN, while for yesterdays event the quote on CNN was "in their fight over disputed Kashmir" the twocountries ( Pakistan & India ) should look for a political solution.

May we all ask where was the political solution when the IRA wanted a separate homeland, and closer to the date where is the politicalsolution in Iraq. Kashmir was, Kashmir is and Kashmir will continueto be an integral part of our motherland. Let us all Indians pledgenot to be governed by vested intrests in US Foreign Policy and take our own destiny in our hands.

What I also read from the above mail was a line of thought that appreciated what Israel had done to protect it's 'honour' and people's sentiments. This thought also wanted to know why is the Indian Government not wanting bodies for a tooth (a tooth for another does not work anymore!) And this mail is being passed with great motivation under the guise of patriotism and injustice. What is a little frightening is that it is considered as right, because I know the person who sent me this truly believes in what is being written here.

Because I have heard sentiments that range from 'bombing Pakistan' and 'good for Israel!' to 'why the hell is out government sitting still and doing nothing, inspite of all the evidence?' While I do believe that as writers, we should motivate our countrymen to feel for the country; and to also condemn the acts that make them inhuman, I seriously wonder how can one draw a concrete line between self-protection and counter-attack?

5 Comments:

Blogger The Guy Next Door said...

I think you are taking things totally out of perspective. Isreal is a state where military service is compulsory and the status of a soldier is sacrosanct and unlike the statuses of soldiers anywhere else in the world. It is an unwritten but strictly-followed rule that the Israeli government and the Israeli Army must get back its soldiers,either dead or alive , no matter what the costs. And so it was expected of Israel what it did - And yes, they did over-do it. To compare the situation of Isreal to another country is being over-simplistic.

23/8/06 07:52  
Blogger Wanderer said...

Each country then has it's own situation...one cannot compare any of them with each other at all.
Yet, situations are changed and opinions differ....

Apart from that, I hope you realised that I have not written the perspective you are talking about. The words in italics are part of a mail that was sent to me. And I am only expressing what I can see the general public is feeling- that India should do what Israel did for it's own.
My point here is just the last line- where do we draw the line?

23/8/06 15:57  
Blogger zigzackly said...

Your correspondent should check his/her facts. To say that the acts of violence against Isreal are just "2 soldiers kidnapped by Hezbolla, 1 by Hamas" very ignores too many facts to be taken as anything but a heavily biassed statement.

This is not to justify (or condemn) Israel's (or the Hezbolla's) actions. Just a statement that too many people spout nonsense about things they know nothing about.

24/8/06 01:15  
Blogger Wanderer said...

Which is the reason I had put up the post in the first place...that a lot of uncertainties are spread and there are people who believe them.

25/8/06 01:04  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hmm......agree with you completely.here terrorists perform under our very nose and no one objects or responds or retaliates.high time the giant*Bhaarath* awoke from this profound slumber...when so much of Bhagavad Geetha is being preached these days and the message being so well propogated among the masses, high time people responded to what Lord Krishna said.

1/9/06 13:52  

Post a Comment

Comments are moderated. Please be patient - an admin will be along soon to check on the pending list.

<< Home