featherpensandswords

2006-09-25T05:25:00.000-07:00

Peace for humanity

Thinking about everything

That goes on in the world.

All the wars and the fights between us.

We are brothers, we are not bound

By blood and even by race

But still we are brothers.

We have the same creator.

We want everything to change for all of us and make our lives better.

Wishing instead of war

To have unity among all the countries

In the world.

And wishing all sickness and poverty

We have right now disappear

From all of us.

And with all the changes happening

All we need is love, harmony, and peace

For all humanity.

Let us forget about our difference

And our cultural block.

Let us become one

Under one banner,

The banner of peace and love.

Courtsey: Osman A. Moncada

2006-09-25T02:06:00.000-07:00

Dear Terrorist,

Even if you are not reading this we don't care. Time and again you tried to disturb us and disrupt our life - killing innocent civilians by planting bombs in trains, buses and cars. You have tried hard to bring death and destruction, cause panic and fear and create communal disharmony but every time you were disgustingly unsuccessful. Do you know how we pass our life in Mumbai? How much it takes for us to earn that single rupee? If you wanted to give us a shock then we are sorry to say that you failed miserably in your ulterior motives.

Better look elsewhere, not here.

We are not Hindus and Muslims or Gujaratis and Marathis or Punjabis and Bengalies. Nor do we distinguish ourselves as owners or workers, govt. employees or private employees. WE ARE MUMBAIKARS (Bombay-ites, if you like). We will not allow you to disrupt our life like this. On the last few occasions when you struck (including the 7 deadly blasts in a single day killing over 250 people and injuring 500+ in 1993), we went to work next day in full strength. This time we cleared everything within a few hours and were back to normal - the vendors placing their next order, businessmen finalizing the next deals and the office workers rushing to catch the next train. (Yes the same train you targeted)

Fathom this: Within 3 hours of the blasts, long queues of blood donating volunteers were seen outside various hospitals, where most of the injured were admitted. By 12 midnight, the hospital had to issue a notification that blood banks were full and they didn't require any more blood. The next day, attendance at schools and office is close to 100%, trains & buses are packed to the brim, and the crowd is back. The city has simply dusted itself off and moved one - perhaps with greater vigor.

We are Mumbaikars and we live like brothers in times like this. So, do not dare to threaten us with your crackers. The spirit of Mumbai is very strong and can not be harmed.

With Love,
Qasim Mehdi

2006-09-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

Muslims…….The Soft targets.

Whenever and where ever a blast claims innocent lives, we, with a fair degree of conviction, point to Islamic militants of whatever ilk, Kashmiri jehadis or desperate groups out to avenge Gujarat. No sooner does an incident takes its toll, the story is laid out threadbare — the organisation and its module that carried out the operation, its link with Pakistan, antecedents of the terrorists involved, their training camp in Jalalabad. Incriminating documents, AK-47s, suspects and their confessional statements are out in double-quick time. We can hardly restrain our pride at the ability of our sleuths to track down the culprits — SIMI, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba, teachers and students of madrassas.

Religious profiling is what Muslim youth in India, especially those in the ghettos, live with every single day. The situation is as such that if a Muslim youth especially from a middle class or a lower middle class family is caught or is a suspect, he is considered as guilty unless proved innocent. Unlike the cases with other communities where one is still and accused unless proved guilty.

SIMI was an instant suspect in all eyes following the Mumbai train blasts. The anti-terrorism squad (ATS) of the Mumbai police, therefore, relinquished all other lines of investigation. Irrespective of their involvement in the blasts, a witch-hunt for all ex-activists of this radical Muslim students organisation was launched.

An overzealous superintendent of police in Tripura found the beard and the cap of the Tablighis too offensive — 11 members of the Tablighi Jamaat from Mumbai were detained in Tripura for a week on mere suspicion. Only in April this year, two Bajrang Dal activists died while making a bomb in Nanded, leaving a trail of evidence — detonators, timers, remote control devices, costumes associated with Muslims, maps of the mosques nearby. And indeed, mosques were bombed, in Parbhani, Purna and in Jalna. But for the Maharashtra police, this was not worth investigating.

The script, however, seems to have changed with Malegaon. The ATS is in no hurry to name the culprits; neither have India’s elite intelligence agencies pointed the needle of suspicion towards any outfit, Hindu or Muslim. The foreign office, as of now, has not given any briefings on Pakistan and its involvement. There is little frenzied speculation in the media about the identity of the perpetrators. Also absent are those Muslims, who with placards in their hands ‘Down with Pakistan’, would come out to display their loyalty lest anyone doubts it.

This time, they are taking to the streets, in Malegaon, in Akola and in other parts, to ask certain fundamental questions. Why is the police so reticent in naming the suspects or the organisation to which they belong? Why has Malegaon remained so neglected?

Malegaon has a history of communal riots, so newspapers inform us. But the last big flare-up in 2001 was less a communal clash and more an instance of state terrorism unleashed on its Muslim residents. Some local youth were distributing pamphlets after the Friday prayers. The pamphlet ‘Be Indian, Buy Indian’ made a fervent appeal to boycott US goods in protest against the American war on Afghanistan. But the state reserve police posted there tried to stop distribution of the pamphlets. Indiscriminate police firing left three dead. If this is not religious profiling at work, what is? Why must every political move of Muslims be met with suspicion and dread?

It is now clear that the investigating agencies are just looking out for some more incidents like these to frame the muslims and get medals and public accolades(of the majority community)