Ram Kamal Mukherjee
We, in today’s world are fighting against terrorism in every foot, because it has loomed large. Everyday we wake up with news’ of an attack, death tolls and heartbreaking sounds of weeping. The recent attack on French city ‘Nice’ again showed us how we are trapped in this game of politics and as a result with a regular gap, we are witnessing brutal and diabolical massacres. If it’s happening today in Dhaka, the next day you will see it happening in Paris and so on. The juggernaut is rolling on!
In the early 2000, when I was in my early 20s, the environment was not so bloody until the famous destruction of World Trade Centre took place. Like every single person in this world I was also shocked and an interest was built in me. I studied a lot and found that, the pages of world history had been turned to its ugliest after this incident. The leaders started utilizing the situation skillfully but the people lost the confidence. Barbarism in the name of checking, spreading venom under the wrap of execution and religious inequality were taking places. Intentionally hatred was poured into on the innocent minds for the personal agenda and as consequences two groups were formed in the world, ruler and the other who are getting ruled but at the end of the day it’s human that is in the losing while fighting for the supremacy.
Gone are those days when we believed that ‘All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination and poetry.’ Now, it’s radically changed. In every country, a certain section of religion is dying of political blasphemy. After I start working, I started seeing the situation in a different manner and when I talked to some of my friends who stayed abroad, they share the same stories. No trust, only suspicious eyes.
The whole situation was nicely portrayed in the Oscar nominated Zero dark Thirty. A Muslim had been followed by some suspicious eyes and then a gruel some interrogation, this was the reality. Few months ago when Paris was attacked, these things came into play again. Even in New York too. A Muslim cab driver of New York like other days was waiting for passengers but due to his religion none was ready to get into his car and the man remained empty on his stomach and who can forget the famous detention of Shahrukh Khan, Irrfan Khan and lots of other dignitaries. Same thing happening with Hindu priests in Bangladesh. Every day Hindus are killed with zero mercy. If people treat others with such shameful and brutal manners, they will be alienated from the mainland and they will crawl to live. Most of the terrorists were born of this kind of scenario.
Another heinous activity I have noticed from past few years that in most cases, terrorists are aiming at the kids to hurl their vengeance! What a sad taste? How can we neglect the innocence of kids? I have a kid, every day when he leaves me for school, like every other parent, I remain nervous till he comes back. The nervousness, the tension in parents’ eye is growing and for the kids, we are forgetting that we will reap the harvest. Instead of presenting the excerpt of life we are showcasing them about the crude reality. As a result in their adolescence, they are crossing the forbidden lines and turning themselves into terrorists.
We are busy in forcing others to see through our eyes and those who don’t believe are eliminated. Children are not allowed to go, women are getting raped and sold like goods, respect is not mutual and with every of this abnormality we are approaching for doomsday.
Now question arises, what we are up to? We are human, we always hoist our flag of excellence and when we need to show, we are failing miserably. The reasons behind these shortcomings are degrading mentality, the lacking respect and more than anything, the humanity! The efforts are going into vain because our humanity is butchered in both inside and outside. We must be careful. When most politicians are trying to figure out a solution to end terrorism globally, somewhere we need to look closer home because we all have a monster in us.
Qandeel Baloch
Remember Qandeel Baloch? The Pakistani model was murdered by her family member. She did nothing but posted some of her bold and revealing photographs in the social networking site. As she was a girl from a conservative family, she wasn’t permitted to do so. Hence her brother planned to execute her for maligning her family. It’s a big example of Misogynist activity. Taslima Nasreen, the famous novelist who was also faced sexual discrimination once quoted ‘I was always objectified by my family members and others and had been sexually petrified but none had talked in my favour’. Not only her there are other celebrities who faced this cultural atrocities. One of them was actress Veena Malik who had faced the ‘fatwas’ of so called high society people for being bold in front of everyone.
The extremists are the biggest problem in these days. Salman Rushdie wrote a beautiful line about the extremists in his famous and controversial book ‘The Satanic Verses’. He wrote ‘from the beginning men used God to justify the unjustifiable’.
I have travelled a lot for the sake of my profession and found extremism in the top of social hierarchy system. There, freedom has only glorified in the book pages, Independence Day celebration only seen in TV there. None has right and honour to live the life with. If someone marries from other caste, that person will be sentenced with heinous acts and eventually murdered. The fact shown in Anushka Sharma’s ‘NH10’ is a true incident and people on those areas have accustomed to lots of barbaric rituals. After 69 years of freedom, in India, Khap Panchayat exists. They are no less than evil creatures who are boasting of huge political powers.
Every day we are fighting for our existence and with each passing day it’s getting tougher. The religious tussles, the economical battles, the political diplomacies are enough to make our breathing heavy. They aren’t helping us to rise above hate because this is planned. If common people voice their demand, the players have to be silent but sadly we’ve become too self obsessed that we are ignoring others. Human has created everything to improve themselves and now to play the game of thrones they are finishing themselves in the worst most style. We must form a force with unity!
Dinosaurs had disappeared after the ice age; Mammoths too disappeared after the climate change in the earth. The increasing bombing attack, the rising rate of massacres and the decreasing human value are asking a big and serious question to the whole species, are we the next?
Bollywood Journalist 
