Saturday, January 10, 2015

Reply to Tunku, Sunday TOI, India Mumbai

Hey Tunku,                                                                                                           11-01-2015 10:53:55
I am taking the liberty of addressing you by your first name because I sense a bit of closeness with you. I follow you in twitter and have been reading your articles in the “The Daily beast”. On a friendlier side, I have a very similar pepper-salt combination over my head. I also love your hairstyle which reminds me of the Shahanshah, where Amitabh plays a hero.
Some caveat. I am not scholarly, reasearchly Standfordish kind of guy. So I don’t compare well with your English and flamboyance. However, I have seen life and death at close quarters and lived my life, true to my feelings. Yes, that is what prompted me to address this reply directly to you.
It was the headline in Sunday Times, India that jolted me out of my senses today morning.  The headline “Why Paris is even more shocking than Peshawar”. This headline was under the column “Deep focus”.
You say –“the mowing of school children was blood curdling, but random. At Charlie Hebdo, the dead were chosen by name, and chosen expressly because they were a symbol of freedom".
Schoolchildren for no fault of them were murdered for revenge, as a lesson to their parents, who happen to be doing their own profession, whatever that be. These terrorist did not kill these fathers/mothers but their kids, innocent, unknowing, full of life. Yes life, before this horrendous act.
And you have the cheek to say, that the Charlie Hebdo “as an assault on the moral senses”, it had arguably an even greater impact than mowing down of schoolchildren. Tumku, you should be either out of your mind or indulging in nepotism. I am sure, it’s not the former, because of your pedigree and scholarly work, but surely it is nothing but nepotism at its worst. Kids are but an expression of life. Yes they are expression of life. Its only when you are alive, that you get the freedom of speech. These kids had not even earned their freedom from their parents, and lost their lives before even reaching the stage of enjoying freedom of speech.
How can this dastardly act of murdering school kids be not an assault on moral senses? How can this not have a greater impact? Why random people when murdered senselessly do not have impact while selected few becomes a problem to be solved? The truth is, it is only now, that journalists like you realise that terrorist have entered the homes of people and normal life is hit.
And in the end you suggest to the “West”, and I quote – “But fears of such a backlash need not be an alibi for paralysis, and the longer it takes for the west to find ways to combat the Islamist cancer in its cities, the harder it will be for the vast majority if law- abiding Muslims who live in the west to distance themselves from the poison of rabid few”.
Do you know that these terrorists have been terrorizing Indians for last 30 years and every time there is move by the “East” to tackle this head on, loads of Western socialist, journalist and random evangelist  heaped pressure on the Government to see this as a “minority issue” rather than as a terrorist issue. After 30 years of such hobnobbing, we the normal office going professionals, don’t know when and where these terrorists will strike again. Moreover, if the “moderates” from majority take this issue for public debate, they are beaten down to pulp by random journalist as “Sanghi”, Hindu nationalist and such other names.

My point is clear – killing by terrorist of any human whatever his profession is, wherever he is, is blood curdling and assault on moral senses. Charlie Hebdo need not take the position of having greater impact.  Journalist will have to become part of the normal life and not give themselves elevated positions. Join us in the fight along with normal people as equals. Good day.

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