Saturday, November 28, 2015

Islam - Terrorism & Next Steps

Paris suffered one of the cruel casualties in its history. And, it is not due to two nations fighting against each other, or two regions facing each other for supremacy...Here we have terrorists, who are waging war, who have sole intentions to imprint fear in people's minds; and can go to any extent to terrorize the world.

I have been firm believer of not linking terrorism to any particular religion...Our current Prime Minister Modi did rightly announce the same within first day of Paris attacks...and so the several other world leaders. However, we cannot continue to live in denial, it is time for us to identify the root cause to eliminate terrorism from across nations and world.

The underlying justification from all terrorists is on the name of Islam. They bring in all the verses from the Holy book Quran; and all explanations on how Islam as a religion justifies all the wrongs that they do and are doing. It is time for us to accept that there are some underlying problems in the Islam religion itself...not necessarily in the Holy books or preachings of Islam; but the followers of Islam. Terrorism is quickly spreading as a contagious disease...it is spreading across the continent very fast; which is continuously affecting the humanity, and quality of life for all of us. So, it is time for us to act now.

All the religions have some kind of problems, at some time. The important steps were taken at right time to eradicate those problems. For e.g. Hindu as a religion is a perfect example. Pardon me when I say Hindu as a religion, although it is a way of life for people born in India. It has evolved over time. Raja Rammohan Rai was one of the reformers to identify Sati tradition as a problem, and worked towards removing it. Jyotiba fule and Baba Ambedakar were the strongest reformers who worked towards removing un-touchability from the society. Similarly, Government of India identified Polio as the biggest problems; and implemented several steps to make India as Polio free nation.

Similarly, we need to assess what is causing the young generation to follow the path of terrorism, and why do they join terrorist organizations. It is need of the hour that all the religious leaders of Islam, Islamic scholars & preachers, Islamic institutions, and Islamic governments get together, create a platform, and solve the terrorism problem.

It may require reforming Madrassa education, spread awareness across youths, reaching out to extremists, providing clarifications on Holy book Quran verses, setting up forums to address brain-washing. All of these require strong courage and conviction from all of the Islamic set-ups.

Why I say it is Islam itself need to understand and identify the problems, because anybody else doing it would be considered encroaching sovereignty of Islam as a religion; and it may have catastrophic effects. Islamic platform can reach out to several government heads, and science institutions for help. However, it is their duty to recognize the problems, work with the youth, and implement proactive steps to eradicate the terrorism disease; howsoever years it may take!

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Black & White: Better to be "Grey" at times

Indian Society is going through an exemplary phase of demonstrating to the world what freedom of speech is! And what really democracy is, and how it can hold people of various faiths, various castes, and various cultures together.

Black & White represents two extremes...Let me mention I am not referring to religious extremists in any society, now there is a trend to misrepresent and misinterpret the words; so I obviously want to be careful. It was all initiated by a few writers returning awards on account of growing intolerance, and attributed all of this to Central government. It was subsequently followed by another set of writers, scientists, and more folks in various creative fields returning their awards. It was a wonderful movement, and it garnered attention from several streams...Local & international media put it as headline, and made common people like us worried on what is happening to our dear country.

Then there was other side, which took a few days to come to explain the other side of it...They were genuinely concerned on the fake movement of returning awards ...An event "March for India" was organized to demonstrate the strength of our country, and expose such individuals who were returning awards on account of growing intolerance. If one had followed the event, it was visible that this group had more support from people; not only in the creative and intellectual field; but also from common people.

I enjoyed the space that both of these groups got in the Indian media...This shows how open the Indian democracy is, and accommodates very easily the thoughts from two extremes. People of India have absolute faith in Indian democracy; and freedom of speech that one enjoys. Howsoever, the other group's "March for India" event is yet to be covered in International media...Looks like International media wants to be selective about coverage with whatever the intent.

A society functions well, when the thoughts are balanced, and a specific movement is not orchestrated. If a group of people take an extreme step, it agitates the other group to take a stand. Particularly a group which represents minority (not religion, but thought process) must be respectful to the other set of folks who represent majority. But it is also true that a movement may convert a minority into majority. Anyways, I always feel that there is a BIG space "GREY" between Black & White, and all of us can live happily, had we decide to live in that space instead of taking extreme sides.

By the way, with everyone taking a stand either on one side or the other...Let me present my thoughts. I do see a much better India in what it used to be earlier when it comes to "Tolerance". I see our countrymen becoming more tolerant, and more aware of their self-right, taking stands, exercising their right of speech. There may be one or two rare instances, however there is a clear intent from the government and people of India to identify the culprits and curtail happening it again. India is growing in terms of economy and its Brand equity, and becoming a renowned nation across the world. Definitely this is BETTER India; and much better times for an Indian!