The world has turned mighty strange. The bizarre events in London and Glasgow last week make one painfully aware that criminals come in all forms and disguises. This time they were hiding behind the cloak of an honorable profession — medicine. These doctors were out to kill, not to heal.
In that they are criminals, there is no question. For what they were planning to perpetuate was an act of violence against innocent people. No civilized community can tolerate this. The authorities must deal with them swiftly and firmly. And we the public must be supportive of counterterrorism agencies as well, for indiscriminate violence touches each one of us.
While terrorism is being practiced often on a large scale against innocent people through state-sponsored mandates that bomb and kill indiscriminately, there is no excuse for those fringe elements who have decided to give light to their grievances by harming innocent people.
The regional violence that is being perpetuated today on a daily basis may have contributed to the rise in this perverted way of thinking. It is transforming minds into hate-filled psyches, with dangerous consequences. We have seen some of that on our own soil, where extremism and fanaticism had led to some very hostile acts against innocent people.
A line is being drawn where friends and enemies are being grouped. It is the “us against them” syndrome that is disturbing. Who are these “we” or “they”, I wonder. Are we not all humans? And should not we address injustices through legal forums rather than band together and hatch up plots to harm others indiscriminately? Are we not aware that such peaceful means were used in our historical past with remarkable results?
Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela battled grave injustices, but they did it not through violence, which would have begotten more violence. They did not tarnish their struggle with false claims of a religious or cultural fervor. Instead, they mobilized their resistance through peaceful means. And forever they shall remain icons of a civilized world.
Those who now choose to promote their terrorist activities behind the guise of spiritual cloaks are nothing less than criminals, ailing with perverse logic of revenge or power. Theirs is not a cause for freedom or justice or misplaced rights. It is about spreading mayhem and death. They resort to target civilian areas and this only exposes their cowardice.
They should not expect any sympathies from those of us who are simply appalled at the extent these criminals are willing to go to spread their message of terror. There is no end justifying their means, except perhaps a one-way ticket to the gallows. And there will be no reprieve in the Hereafter. No religion condones the indiscriminate killing of the innocent. It is time the rest of us took a more aggressive policy to denounce and reject the message these fanatics are attempting to spread through their despicable activities. Let us expose them from under whatever rock they dwell.
Let the message reach them loud and clear. We do not condone the means they have employed, regardless of their grievances.
