Guilty unless proven innocent
There was a time when humanity and general legal systems believed in the adage 'innocent unless proven guilty'. However, with time, we have come to a point when every person who comes under the legal scanner of any countries judiciary is 'guilty unless proven innocent'.
That however, is not the point I wish to make.
News channels went abuzz with the news of the Australian Federal authorities dropping all terrorism charges against Dr Mohd. Haneef in the case of failed bomb attacks in London. Although Haneef is in home detention and waits for a decision on his immigration status, his family in Bangalore is quite relieved with his out of custody status only.
(The 27-year-old had his visa revoked after he was charged with giving "reckless support" to terrorism. The charge was withdrawn on today after Australia's chief prosecutor admitted "a mistake has been made".)
It's all quite nice and I'm sure a lot of people are happy for Haneef.
However, this brings up to some question that need to be addressed now:
Does this help in repairing the damage that has been done to the fabric of Islam so far?
Does this end the constant scrutiny Muslims live under all through the world?
Does this mean that no Muslim will be picked up and traumatised for simply belonging to the community?
Can someone tell me what now?
In fact, even for Haneef, the nightmare is not really over. He will be forever under the scanner wherever he goes. He will be carrying the label of being involved in terror strikes - even if it was a mistake - for the rest of his life. And currently, he might just get deported instead of travelling back the normal way.
I know a lot of people may think that I'm being too cynical... but the way innocent people of in the community have been put through hell, I suppose I'm just being realistic.
Any thoughts?
Hurt and bleeding
I happen to be a member of a business networking site that has forums for writers, ramblings, random thoughts, profound musings etc.
Couple of days back, I got an alert in my mailbox about something a fellow wordsmith posted with the title 'A
Kaafir killed'. Intrigued by the title, I went on to read what it was...and I found this...
I always wrote the best verseThe teacher would often sayThis pandit boy will be a poet one dayMy pen drew images Of Kashmir, Meadows and pinesSprings and brooks Snow and shineAlas, I forgot….I was a Pandit too,Soon they will comeTo take me awayTo the cold street And shoot me downMy blood will freezeBefore it oozesMy verse would freezeMy voice, go dumbThe azan would riseAnd the warriors of GodWill soon find another Voice to quellAnother pandit to killThe morning news would readA KAFIR killed on a cold street(By Rashneek Kher)It pains to see that as
Muslims, we have lost face to even sympathise with people who are wronged by followers of our own faith.
I don't know if I should apologise to people who have been at the receiving end of religious fanaticism or if I should sympathise with the ones who think they are doing the right thing by killing mindlessly...they are themselves victims to someone's selfish motives.
I don't know what more to write here... this poem hurt me... hurt my religious sentiments... no, not because it points a finger at Muslims... but because it generalises the idea in the reader's mind that all non-followers of Islam will be killed as
Kaafirs...while Islam has no such ideals.
With a bleeding heart...I sign this post...may Allah give the 'Warriors' some wisdom to not kill in His name or in the name of Islam.
If tomorrow comes
Amitabh Bachchan in
Cheeni Kum, suggests a solution to combat terrorism by turning all terrorists into life insurance agents. For all we know, he was possibly promoting the bank he endorses and whose current campaign has the line he uses in the movie '
jeete raho'.
However, it does draw attention to the fact that no matter how far removed a movie's plot is from terrorism or world peace, we can't help but mention it.
Does this mean that we have accepted to co-exist with whatever is happening in the world around us?
I think that is the case.
How else do we explain the total chaos around? Blasts in Glasgow. Lal Masjid terror strikes. Blasts in Pakistan. 60 killed. 30 killed. 40 killed. So many injured.
Oh God! What have we come to? What have we done to good old humanity? What kind of a world are we going to leave to the future generation... if at all we let it be.
Is this the beginning of the end? I think not... I think it's quite close to the end.
As the numerous channels flow more news of acts of terrorism, I, like many others in the world, have one question on my mind... where will the blast happen tomorrow? If tomorrow comes.
Back in element
Life has a funny way of tossing you around and making you lose sight of things you wish to pursue. The same happened to me when all of sudden, life was thrown in the fourth gear and I just managed to cope in time to not let my goals get out of sight! Thank God for small mercies...
Well... wanted to revive this blog from slumber on July 13 - so as to mark an year's hiatus - but to my dismay, I just couldn't remember the password. So finally after some struggle with good 'new' technology on blogger, I have been able to enter my own blog to post something once again... thank Google for this huge mercy!
On a serious note, I am back here to reflect, to write and to read what other's want to know from me or feel about what I write... but before I begin, a word to people who have been reading this blog so far. You may find my writings a lot different from what they have been in the past-lighter, to be precise. That's something the past one year has taught me... to improvise on the style of writing on a blog..so people don't grow old reading it.. but grow old with it - if you know what I mean :)
Happy reading!!
Over to the wordsmiths then...
