The Mumbai Attack- An appeal for Peace

The Mumbai Attack

Another attack, life’s lost and in all probability Hate and Venom seeded in the minds of thousands.

I wonder what is the bigger success of people who’s brain behind these things? The attacks themselves or the amount of hatred they are able to generate.

Strangely I remembered what Bhagat Singh the revolutionary of Indian Freedom struggle said after throwing smoke bombs in the parliament run by British rulers, he said, you need a bang blast to open the ears of people who have stopped listening to the calls of freedom.

The question in my mind is what are we suppose to listen to. Also what state of mind we need to be in to listen.

Compassion is what comes to my mind.

The easy way out for all of us is to blame a group, a community, a religion, the inefficient security, and what not. It will allow us to curse them and wish horrible things to happen to their near and dear ones as has happened to 100 or more people who have died. Again will it stop anything is the question?

But can be listening to the pain or the hatred in people, who do such things, Imagine 22 year old young people, putting their life at stake, how many us will risk our life for anything. What will be the reason, what passion (hatred/pain) they might be carrying? In coming hours and days, you will her a lot of rhetoric about how terror is taking over, how Mumbai is so resilient, how we need to act against terror (like Bush said). Watching countless hours of TV and reading news and discussion we will also get passionate and speak with hatred about some group/community. I am wondering how more HATRED will help any of us? Can we be different from people who do these kinds of attacks and actually listen to what is going on, what is making us more violent?

Normally talking about peace is seen as weakness at such times, and I want to reaffirm that Peace is not absence of violence it is way of living. We all have a choice we can contribute to the hatred that exists between groups/people/communities/individuals and it will only create more hatred and lead to more violence. Or we can distance ourselves from any kind of hate and even doing that will tilt the balance in favor of peace.

Question is Do we have the courage?