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Who are the
“terrorists?”
We are living under a constant threat of what are called the
'terrorist attacks'. How do we answer a child's queries about the
so-called 'terrorists'? While we must condemn the way these groups
mindlessly kill and maim innocent people and create scare everywhere
for their cause, we also need to go a little deeper to find out what
exactly is the motive of such people - what do they achieve out of
their acts of violence, and what is the history of their struggle. We
may realize that the so-called terrorists are mostly misled young
people whose emotions have been whipped up by their leaders for
political gains. Sometimes they have taken to arms as a protest
against long-term discrimination or persecution by more powerful
forces around them. However, there can certainly be no excuse or
justification for the killing or harming the innocent people by
anybody for any cause. Moreover, we must not try to link a violent
incident occurred somewhere, to a particular community in some other
part of the world. No scheme of terrorism should be identified with
any particular religion (such as calling it Islamic terrorism or Hindu
terrorism) just because the persons involved in it are Muslims or
Hindus. No religion preaches terrorism or violence. Human life is too
precious to be destroyed for any purpose in the world. In fact,
anybody willing to sacrifice his life in the name of religion does not
know that committing suicide is one of the worst sins in any religion.
Creating borders between
people
Some people take to arms, as they want to create a separate state for
themselves out of a larger country, on the basis of their religious
identity. But how can a land, where people of many religions have
lived together for hundreds of years, be divided on the basis of only
religious identity, especially if all the people there have been
following similar culture and language? Haven’t we already learnt
the futility of such efforts in the past? If we have to create
borders, then maybe the basis of such a division could be culture or
language, but not religion. To give an analogy, a new state called
Uttaranchal was recently carved out of Uttar Pradesh in India, because
of the unique culture, language, and geography of that area. But
during its creation, no community in Uttaranchal needed to migrate
elsewhere, nor was anybody from outside asked to migrate to
Uttaranchal, even though Hindus, Muslims and other communities live
there. Hence, if we start respecting all cultures and religions in our
neighbourhood, there would be no need for creating borders any more.
Television and Media
Television serials, movies and other modes of entertainment and
information that show some prejudice, or make fun of one community --
even jokes that make fun of a community -- must be discouraged. If you
find a particular television programme derogatory or unacceptable, you
must make complaints about it to the concerned authority. If you find
something odd in newspapers or magazines - prejudiced reporting or
comments - you must protest by writing to the editor. Carefully
analyze the content and the style of magazines, newspapers, and
television channels, to judge what editorial policies and ideologies
they profess. If you find anything doubtful or irresponsible in their
content, either complain to them, or look for a better newspaper or
channel. If possible, read more than one newspapers to get a clearer
picture. Make sure that your children read the right kind of
literature, or at least they are reading/watching things critically.
Try to shun any literature or television channels that focus too much
on patriotism, religious propaganda, and mythical or superstitious
folklore. When you don't want your children to see television, think
of some games and activities you could do with them while the TV is
off.
Inside your office/workplace
In many offices and corporate houses, the white-collared workers and
executives are supposed to be educated and therefore considered
unbiased. While many people may genuinely be nice and honest in their
approach towards people of other communities, some disturbing
tendencies have also been noticed, mostly concerning the relationship
between the bosses and their subordinates, if they belong to different
communities. The boss may give undue advantage to his juniors who
share his religion or community, or discriminate against his staff who
belong to a different community. On the other hand, the boss could be
secular and unbiased, but one of his/her subordinates (from a
different community) may mistake him/her to be otherwise, and qualify
all his/her actions to be based on communal prejudice. These are
sensitive issues, and many times even talking about them openly may
not be possible. Nevertheless, it is better to express your feelings
than hide them. Dialogue can always improve situations. So if you
start feeling extremely uncomfortable, you must break the ice by
openly talking about it. This applies not only to offices but to
similar situations in factories, shops, schools, and other
institutions as well.
Know your colleagues
Another common situation in the workplaces arises when a person of a
certain community wants to perform some prayer or other activity
related to his culture during office hours, but feels uncomfortable,
as many others find it odd. Often, the boss doesn't allow the person
to spend time for such activity during office hours, or does not
sanction a leave for a festival that only this person wants to
celebrate. In such a situation, everyone, including the person in
minority, the boss, and the rest of the office, needs to have an open
mind and some leniency towards the work as well the religious
activity. The best thing would be to create an atmosphere of friendly
sharing of information about the cultures of each other. The person
who wants to perform the prayer or whatever, should tell everyone what
exactly he is doing. He may even invite everyone to join at some
point, for instance while breaking a daylong religious fast.
Similarly, a majority of people belonging to one religion observing
their festival or religious activity should make sure not to
intimidate one odd colleague of the other religion. If the religiosity
and the traditions have to be followed in a workplace, then there
should be acceptance of all religious traditions with equal measure -
and above all, no compromises with your work or professionalism in the
name of religion.
Shopping with a bias
While buying vegetables in the market, do you ever wonder
what the religion or caste of the shopkeeper is? India's economy and
markets are a complex network of manufacturers, dealers, retailers,
petty shopkeepers, and buyers, all belonging to different communities
and castes. Traditionally, in this complex web, the people of
different communities have played their specific important roles. If
one community is deliberately marginalized by the others in the
market, it will affect the entire economy of that area and ultimately
other areas. Never let the religious identity of a shopkeeper, trader,
or a client affect your decision to do your business or shopping. Let
only quality and price be the factor for deciding where you buy your
things. Markets are the only places where people of all communities,
casts and races can join without any hang-ups or taboos. Historically
too, markets have provided platforms to different cultures and
languages to interact with each other and evolve into newer cultures.
They should continue to remain so.
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