Times of Pakistan

It was really dark….

London. Humairahs house. Not only the Londons clouds were dark, also Fahims room was. The room was lit up only by computer monitors glow. He was checking his electronic mail and then he entered a website. The website read as “We train our boys for 2 months in all the latest and sophisticated rifles. Also the camp concentrates on grenade bombs, crude bombs and handling gelatin stuffs. We give an additional attention for outstanding boys in a plan called Suffah tour, comprising three months in which they are trained for guerrilla war and the mine blast, fighting & firing missiles and rockets.

Next reward in this training program for those fidayeen who fare exceedingly well is launching them into Indian Kashmir. Our experts train some of them to make remote control bombs and missiles.

There is no restriction to go for jihad training. A boy must possess strong muscles and body. Age is not a restriction. Boys, right from 5 yrs. to 50 yrs. are trained in this program.”

After all age is not an essential factor for a cannibal.

He switched over to his e-mail page and clicked reply. He typed “How much donation you need from us? Money is not a problem. I want to hear good news like those happened on December 24, 1999 and September 11, 2001. I was happy to contribute donation for Kathmandu flight hijack and Twin tower & pentagon demolition. If you are ready to plan a series blast in Indian cities like the previous occasion, I can assimilate funds here, as God wishes. We have to revenge babri Masjid demolition. Also keep an eye on Myanmar, Chechnya, Iraq, Kosovo, Philippines and America . Where ever our brothers are oppressed we will fight. Also clear those Shiites in Pakistan. Here we are happy to convert nearly 4000 persons to Islam in France and Germany. In times to come, no force can withstand us – Insha Allah, Fahim.” And clicked send. Yes, it was really dark. He switched off his computer and went to bed.

Terrorism has strong foot hold in many countries. It is a global issue. Even in a country like India, where human resource is enormous, religious fundamentalism is inevitable. Poverty and unemployment make life even difficult. Almost every second religion is run like a business in India. There are hundreds of people, who became millionaires and billionaires, because of propagating religion and converting millions of people all around the country. Mass conversions are a part of daily news. Anti – conversion laws are puppets before this massive conversion and these laws face international displeasure. Funding is too high from different parts of world. Local money swindlers enjoy the flow of these foreign funds. The word secularism lost its original meaning. Pseudo – secularism is even more dangerous than religious fundamentalism. Also terrorism prevails in the name of caste, region, and language – Thats Diversity in Unity of India. The country, closest to Democracy, can also boast of its unimaginable corruptions triggered by and with the help of politicians. The overall medicine for this condition is individual discipline. A social revolution is the need of the hour to save Her own grace and chastity.

In countries like SriLanka, the terrorism has a different face. It is on the basis of language. Sinhalese and Tamils fight for power. Even in a country like Albania, where there was no religion, terrorism prevailed.

When he was with other animals, he was scared. It is because he was not strong. Now man has grown in stature and he must understand that strength is not because of weapons he made. It is the scientific inventions that made him superior. He does not have a weapon against Nature. He is still afraid of it.

Man became a thinking animal. The urge for reproduction and spreading his own genes everywhere, was natural in him. Religion and politics were two modes he found to curtail his wild nature. Fear in the name of religion and control in the name of politics. As usual, the History repeats. The thinking animal has gone back to evolutionary Survival of fittest.

A man in china, for example, is not worried of an earthquake in Mexico. When it attacks his place hes scared. This is humanity. In a family with five children, the children fight a lot. When their mother slap one child, others become quiet .It is because he might get the same slap sooner. This is true with humans. He is afraid of one and only Mother Nature. Here and there she slaps few children, but the rest did not really learn a lesson or two from it. Nature is superior ruler and this fear at least should stop these nuisance children from their unearthly activities.

Terrorism industry all over the world is promoted in the name of religion, region, language, caste, creed, colour, and money. It is estimated as the highest turnover business in the world.

Days passed by. Humairah happened to trace her dads hidden identity. Her parents wanted her to marry Hafizs Brother-in-law in Pakistan. They insisted her to wear chador, while going out. Meanwhile Karthiks parents left to New York to stay with their daughter. Vaishnavis mother passed away. Vaishnavi decided to marry a Malaysian Tamil. Karthik found a new job in his home town, Chennai in India. Humairah cheated her parents and fled to India with her friends assistance. All this happened within a months time.

Its a chill summer in Chennai, unusually. The hottest month incurred a record rainfall. Karthik was stunned. “Hum, what have you done? We cannot rationalize all our decisions. You should have spoken with your parents anyway.”

“Karthik, you dont know. My dad is sponsoring terrorism and the bridegroom they selected is an international terrorist. My parents knew that. My dad argues that revenge is a religious duty and revenge against India is special because he lost 38 of his relatives in partition violence. He is originally an Indian , Karthik.

“All of us are humans first”, replied Karthik.

“If Id have born in Pakistan, I may have succumbed to this male chauvinism. You can rule people only by love. They wanted me to be a jihad donation. I dont know what would have happened if we would not have met. I have left everything for you in my life. If you are going to deny me…”Tears came out of Humairahs eyes as she paused.

Karthik shut her mouth with his hand.

Karthik consoled “Ill marry you, Hum. Definitely. But before that Ill get my parents permission.”

Humairah looked at him pathetically. Karthik ringed his dad. The phone was picked up after a while “Appa is sleeping, Karthik” said uma. “Its twelve in the night here.”

“Wake him up Uma, its urgent.”, Cried Karthik.

Sadasivam came in to the line little later.

“How are you? What is it, Karthik?”

“Appa, Ive decided to marry.”

“What? We will speak in the morning.,” said a shocked Sadasivam.

Karthik pleaded him “Appa, I love a girl and shes here.”

“Dont tell me you are going to marry that iyengar girl, Vaishnavi” commanded casist Sadasivam.

“No dad. Not Vaishu. This is Humairah from London.” Said a tensed Karthik.

“Muslim?” asked Sadasivam in a sarcastic voice.

“Yes” said Karthik.

“My son is dead. Leave my house immediately.” Shouted Sadasivam and banged the phone.

Humairah standing near Karthik understood the situation.

“We will marry.” said Karthik.

Humairah kissed him on the forehead holding his shoulders with her hands.

Pre-boomers have been blessed. While many of us served in the military, few were ever involved in a shooting war except those old enough to be part of the Korean “policing action.” However, our generation (born between 1930 and 1945) grew up with the belief that it was our duty to serve if called. We considered it the patriotic thing to do.

Younger generations dont understand the notion of a popular war – one where the populace believed we needed to win no matter what. Unfortunately, the United States has not experienced true victory since WWII. That was nearly 65 years ago.

Public opinion has changed since the Vietnam disaster. The shame of this war was taken out on the returning troops and led to the discontinuance of the draft and an all-volunteer military, even though the Army had become the only branch using the draft to fill its requirements. This tended to separate the military from the general population and distanced most Americans from the honor of this service. It also shielded us from the unfathomable sadness experienced by families who lost loved ones as a result of the US engaging in military activities.

Over the years, war has become more and more politicized. Many of those voting “yea” in congress almost immediately started back-peddling in order to placate their anti-war constituents. And, of course, the “nay” voters continued to protest military action. These combined to affect news reporting and ultimately influenced public opinion. It happened in the first Gulf War and the divide became greater in the recent Iraqi War.

However, many of those opposing our involvement in Iraq complained we should have first finished the job in Afghanistan, because thats where Al Qaeda was headquartered and they were the ones behind the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center buildings. Now we are at the point where the general in charge of our troops in Afghanistan is calling for 30 to 40 thousand more soldiers in order to fight a successful counter-insurgency war.

This buildup will take money and cost lives, neither of which are popular options with Americans. Yet, we know Afghanistan is a haven for those who would destroy us and our way of life. If we withdraw it is likely these fanatics will over run Afghanistan, establish themselves as the new government, and affect our relations with Pakistan, a country with nuclear weapons. So the choice is not an easy one.

Whatever you believe is the appropriate approach for us to take in this God-forsaken part of the world, we must consider what the commanders on the ground are advising us to do and always support our troops who put their lives on the line in order to protect us from further terrorist attacks. Ultimately the final determination is in the hands of the Commander-in-Chief; all we can do is pray that the president makes a decision that, in the long run, is best for America.

Don Potter, a Philadelphia native, was born in 1936 and is a 50 year veteran of the advertising agency business. Now living in Los Angeles, he has written two novels in retirement, frequently writes on marketing issues, and has a blog dedicated to pre-boomers (those born between 1930 and 1945).

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