A SCHOOL TURNED INTO AN ABATTOIR   in Peshawar (Pakistan), on Dec.16^th. It is five days now but the pain is raw.  I went through a gamut of emotions when I first heard about it. First it was numbness and then slowly it grew into an uncontrollable anger and the anger turned into helplessness at the impotence of my anger.  I know for sure, many would resonate with my feelings. I could imagine the immediate reaction of parents, after hearing the news, giving their children a tight hug and thanking God that their kids are safe.   The main reason for the outpour of grief from Indian sub-continent, as I believe, is the realization that this could have happened to us. Have we not been victims of terrorism again and again?

If we look at History terrorism is not something new now but has been practiced in various forms. We also have the knowledge about government sponsored terrorism.  The terrorist methods applied by states include censorship, tortures, abductions, extrajudicial executions and in some cases, mass killings and genocide. The power of the totalitarian regime has in principle, no limits. We learn from History genocide killing of six million Jews. Churchill considered the bombing of German civilian population would break their will in supporting Nazis.  However he regretted it later. JALLIANWALLA BAGH MASSACRE is etched in our memory where more than 5000 innocent people died.

Islamic terror which is politically and religiously motivated is different in one aspect- using large scale suicide as a weapon to kill a mass population. This seems to be their most dangerous weapon. By accepting one’s own death the terrorists are no longer driven by the most essential human feature- the desire to live.  September 11^th,2001 is a proof of this.  This again is stored in our memory.

We use words like “beastly”, “brutal”, “savage”, “barbaric” in condemning the act of terrorism and the pain it inflicts, loses its sharpness as time passes by and the visuals fade away. Ministers and VVIPs and celebrities insulate themselves with body guards and many a time it becomes a status point to talk about the kind of human shield they have. What can we, the lesser mortals do other than pray and hope?  If only we could have an egalitarian society!

We all are aware that where there is a “rise” there is a “fall” too. So far, we have witnessed the “rise” of terrorism and now our children are waiting to see the “fall” of it.  Let us not compromise our laws and curtail the human rights. Let us not reduce ourselves to celebrating the arrival of our children from school alive.  Let us not live with these horrendous memories. Is this the reason why Shakespeare said “pluck out the memory of rooted sorrow”?

Let this not become another chapter in the History.

From a wandering mind.