Skip to main content

Post 9/11

USA reaction to 9/11 continues to date. America's 9/11 has created many 9/11's for the rest of the world. One wonders how much different world would have been if America had thought through its line of action in the wake of the attacks. If they had reacted by seeking an understanding of the complexity of the situation, maybe 7/7 in London, 9/20 in Islamabad and 11/26 in Mumbai could have been prevented. Situation in Iraq is nowhere under control and Afghanistan is getting worse. America's reaction has generated a series of events that are getting worse as the time moves on and well into the 8th year we have a situation where another '9/11' has jolted the world.

One wonders also, what India's reaction would be. The initial signals coming from Delhi are not very promising. Before they even captured any attackers, Delhi pointed fingers at a 'neighbouring country' and it was no great puzzle who that 'neighbour' was. It reminded of long ago when there was only PTV in Pakistan and Doordarshan in India and we had RAW confessions of terror attacks in Pakistan and the same by ISI in India. Up until recently we laughed thinking of those days and thought that was propaganda through state run television and now even with a 'free media' we get the same kind of reporting. How far have we really come? How free is our mind?

Pakisatn as a reaction has been forthcoming but has underlined that if India brought its army to the borders, Pakistan will pull its forces from Pak-Afghan border and move them to Pak-India border. At a time when the world is plunged into an economic crisis and majority of the people in both countries are crying out for a roti a day, escalating tensions between these countries spell suicide for millions of people in both countries. It is for us to see now, whether India will react like a woken monster or will she seek out a saner response which may even be a step in the direction of preventing future 9/11's for the rest of the world!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fantasy or reality: Where do we want to live?

An eagle is told that it once lived in huge nests on high mountains and tall trees at high altitudes and the big bird scoffs at such a preposterous idea. How can such a big bird living in caves and hunting on rodents soar in the skies over mountain tops and oceans. Not a bad idea but quite unlikely. Seems like these humans are crazy and think of anything about other animals to hide their own embarrassment over their monkey ancestry. Pick up any great novel, Hundred Years of Solitude, Blindness, Beloved, Alchemist or any others that you have read where imagination is stretched but you flow with the narrative. You easily believe what the writer is asking of you. It seems plausible and hence possible and you like a bird open your wings and fly where the winds of possibilities take you. Marquez creates a parallel world of freedom and we camp in this world with him; Morrison brings a spirit from the dead and we unblinkingly accept her character; Saramago presents a sightless world to us ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Snapshots

Naseem, is a six year old girl. When I met her she was sitting on the charpoi with her mother and constantly clapping but without any mirth. Her hair was cut almost to her scalp. I was told that she was a miracle child, she had been suffering from severe acute malnutrition and her family and relatives had almost given up hope that she would survive but she had proven all stats wrong and was sitting right in front of us. Physically, she was on the mend but her mental growth had been irreversibly stunted. She did not respond to any movement, any gesture or sound, her mind was somewhere else... A little boy, hardly seven, sitting on the curbside on an otherwise busy junction but at 0100AM he seemed so out of place on that dark, deserted road. As we stopped at the traffic signal, on the road perpendicular to where he was sitting, my attention was drawn to his posture. His slumped back was towards me and as I watched, two cars stopped on the lanes furthest from him. He made an ...
2 comments
Read more

For the children of Gaza

Dua bhi dil sei nahi nikalti, kaisey nikley? Kahein issey bhi shuba hai kei iss ka asar khatm ho gaya gai. kaisey na ho, pichley baras bhi dua kei thei aman kei, insaaf kei, sachaei kei, laikin iss baras bhi aghaz hei iss khooni tarah hoa kei dua ghut gaei. Masoomoon ka gham, un kei din aur raat kei chain gum honey ka gham, bachoon kei masoomiat khatm honey ka gham...kaisey khatm hoei masoomiat? Iss yaqeen kei khatm honey sei kei ghar kei char diwaari woh faseel nahi jisey gola barood cheer na sakein. yehi tou hota hai bachoon ka yaqeen, kei unke maa baap unhein hur museebat, hur dukh sei bacha saktey hain, Khuda kou bachey kahan jantey hain, yehi tou un ke Khuda hotey hain, yehi yaqeen tou pehchaan dilata hai Khuda ka, ab yeh bachey kiss ka yaqeen karein? Kiss khuda ka? Aur hum? Hum kya karein? Cheekhein, chilaein, qalam azmaein, sadkoon pei aaein, laikin kyun? Kiss kou bacha paein gei hum? Hur maut, aik mayoosi choodh jaati hai, akhir taqat kei phir fath hoi aur kamzoor phir mara gay...
Post a Comment
Read more