@ Ms. Kabir
"More of our boys and girls will mutate from man to monster. We will never feel safe."- Ms Kabir
On Mon, Jul 4, 2016 at 3:29 PM, 'zainul abedin' via PFC-Friends <pfc-friends@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Salam,
The heading/title of the story "The roots of reality" is OK, but did not address/conclude with roots that is primarily inherent in the power of the states/governments.
Zainul
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On Mon, 7/4/16, Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com> wrote:
Subject: {PFC-Friends} The roots of reality
To:
Date: Monday, July 4, 2016, 12:02 PM
The roots of
reality
Ayesha Kabir
We have been in denial too long.
Don't shy away from the scenes of bloody dead bodies
strewn askew on
the floor of the restaurant. If you can look at the smiling
faces of the
young killers, heads wrapped in red checkered cloth and
automatic
weapons in the hands, then you can look at the tragic scenes
of death
too.
This is reality. This is a reality we have been shying
away from for
too long. This is the reality of which we have been in
denial. No more.
No more can we write off such terrorism as random
killings or
isolated incidents. What has happened in Paris, in Brussels
and in other
places around the world, has now happened here.
The enemy is with us, the enemy is among us.
The killers of the recent tragic incident at Holey
Artisan restaurant
in Dhaka were no stereotyped semi-educated parochial
madrassa students,
driven by poverty to fanaticism. These were young men,
still just boys,
from affluent educated backgrounds. They were modern city
boys,
educated in renowned schools, full of fun and life. Then
they changed.
They changed into monsters who could actually slaughter
innocent people
in cold blood. How could they commit such atrocities? What
drove them to
such senseless murder? What sort of indoctrination did they
receive
that instigated them to such brutality? Who made them like
this? Who
contacted them and how? The questions go on…
But questions are not enough. The answers must be there.
If we can't
find the answers to these questions, we will never be able
to forgive
ourselves for these deaths. And the deaths will continue.
More of our
boys and girls will mutate from man to monster. We will
never feel safe.
No matter how much security do we put in place, no matter
how
advanced our counter-terrorism measures may be, this evil
cannot be
stopped unless destroyed at the roots. That is where we need
the
answers.
What drives these young people to such extremism? They
were grown and
nurtured as normal young people, what happens along the way
that
changes them so radically? These are questions that must be
addressed
seriously.
The answers are there. Some of the very common answers
are
frustration with the western way of thinking, with the
injustices, with
the anti-Islamic propaganda spread globally, with what they
perceive as
immorality and sinful ways of life, with the turmoil in the
Middle East
and the complexities of international politics therein. But
the young
have always had a fair share of frustrations. Youth has
always been
angry. But the expression has never been so destructive.
Rebellion has
had different forms, has had political implications and
social
outbursts. Now things have become dark, ominous and
insidious. Evil
forces have taken over the impressionable young minds.
The killers at the Holey Artisan restaurant were cold
blooded
killers. There can be no mercy for them. No words can
describe their
heinous cruelty, their inhuman bent of mind. If they were
truly
religious persons with deep faith, they would never have
been able to
slaughter a fellow man, innocent men, women and children.
They claim to
be religious, but how will they answer to their Creator?
They do not answer to the Creator. They answer to the
people who have
motivated them into this militancy. Even while in the midst
of the
killing spree at Holey, they were reporting back to whomever
their
"bosses" were, giving blow-by-blow accounts of the
events, updates and
pictures. Surely the intelligence agencies will be screening
these calls
and messages now.
The innocent victims who died are lost forever. What
trauma they
experienced will never be known; those horrors have died
along with
them. May they rest in peace forever, in a place far better
than this
cruel world.
Meanwhile, the survivors will have to live on, haunted
with this
memory. In this devastated state of sorrow, shock and
trauma, they have
been undergoing interrogation by the state security
agencies, having to
relive the horrors all over again. Undoubtedly this
interrogation is
needed. And so is immediate and prolonged therapy. It will
take a lot
for them to recover from their post trauma disorder.
And what about the families of the victims? What
consolation can be
given to them? There is really nothing to say or do, nothing
than can
relieve them of this pain, this hollow sense of loss.
The challenge ahead is to uproot this dangerous evil
presence in
society. Crossfire and gunfights are obviously not the
answer or the
cure. While all the militants must be caught and tried,
interrogated to
locate the mastermind behind these acts, the challenge is
even bigger.
The task ahead is a mammoth one.
With madrassas the problem was a relatively easier one.
There were
programmes to modernise madrassas, include pragmatic studies
in the
madrassa curriculum and ensure that these students would be
fit to join
the mainstream job market when they graduated. This
programme has not
been carried out to satisfaction, but it is doable.
But what about the youth who are already modern,
outwardly
westernised and from well-to-do families? When a young
person turns to
religion, are we to be alarmed instead of being happy? That
does not
bode well. Religion is supposed to be a healthy construct.
It is not a
drug or a cult. So it will take much careful study and
action to set
things straight.
Whether it is the state, educational institutions,
parents and
guardians, the media, or those who mobilise public opinion,
all must
come forward to ensure a healthy, progressive generation of
young
people. These young people must be made aware of the
impending dangers
of indoctrination. They must be imbibed with the spirit of
humanity.
They must build a safeguard against the evil that targets
their minds.
Such values must be inculcated from an early age, at home,
at school, in
our mosques and other institutions. Our imams and religious
scholars
must come forward teach the new generations the true spirit
of faith.
Everyone of us must stand vigilant against this new
reality which has
dawned upon us. The onus is naturally on the government to
protect the
nation from these militants. They have the institutions, the
security
forces and all facilities on hand to address this
challenge.
However, from the state, to the educational institutions,
to the
family unit and down to the individual, each and everyone
has a role to
play. It was those unfortunate people at Holey that fateful
evening. It
could be anyone of us next.
Looking away from death won't make death
disappear.
http://en.prothom-alo.com/opinion/news/110725/The-roots-of-reality
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