Will the world shed a tear?

As the New Year dawns, the world is again a mute witness to a massacre.

310 people killed and more than a 1000 reported injured in the first 48 hours alone.

At this point, if you are inclined to shake your head in disbelief because you have not heard of this, you are not to be blamed. This news will never assume enough importance to tug at the conscience of the average Westerner. Not because they do not care. Because they will not know. Because their governments would have simply brushed it under the carpet. Because these lives have been deemed cheap.

The facts are simple. Israel has illegally occupied West Bank and Gaza strip since 1967. During the last 7 years, 14 Israelis have been killed by mostly homemade rockets fired from the Gaza strip in desperation, while more than 5000 Palestinians were killed by Israel with some of the most sophisticated US weapons. Israel has punished the 1.5-million people in the Gaza strip with an inhuman blockade of essential supplies since Hamas was elected democratically to power by the Palestinian people in 2006.

Ah but the Jews were so persecuted by the Nazis, where will they live? Surely so many atrocities have been committed against them, surely we must protect them?

Who committed the atrocities against Jews? Who were the perpetrators of the Holocaust?

From the way the world is now, it would have made more sense if the aggressors had been Palestinians/Muslims. Then their collective punishment and humiliation would have some explanation.

The truth is that the Western governments are responsible for the mass murder of the Jews. Now they are in the throes of a perpetual guilt complex and will not realize that the innocent child that they traumatized and then rescued has now grown up to become a bully, a psycho who kills without conscience. Such is the absence of logic and reasoning when it comes to Israel.
Muslims do recognize the need for Israel to have its right to exist but so do the Palestinians. Common sense says that you cannot grab one baby’s bottle to feed another. That is exactly what Europe and US have been doing for Israel at the expense of the Palestinians.

The rest of the world understands that executioner and victim cannot be deemed equal. We do cry when we remember the Holocaust and honour the Jews that were killed unjustly but we are ever aware of the role Israel is now playing in tormenting the Palestinians, trampling their rights, eroding their credibility and culture to the point of their extinction. Recognizing one does not negate the other.

I begin this year with a silent prayer for a peaceful solution to the misery of the Palestinians and insecurity of the Israelis that will enable both to live with dignity, mutual respect, prosperity, and peace.

Eternal Star

On a clear starry night,
There once was a magical sight,
A single star grew so bright,
Glowing wisely in her own light.

With soothing words and tender thoughts,
Soon she captured all our hearts,
Every lonely creature felt her warmth.
Venus held her luminous arms,
Mercury succumbed to her charms.

All the planets jilted the sun,
And fled to this glorious one.

The angry sun summoned a cloud,
In sharp cruel words thundered aloud:
“Go and ambush that new star,
I will watch you from afar!”

Edged on by his overlord
Descended upon her this dark cloud,
Shrouding her from all and sundry.
Venus hid her face in shame,
Moon cried and felt so lame.

But judicious Jupiter could not be fooled
And spoke thus, “This is just a passing cloud.
When this dark night is gone,
Another day is to dawn,
Grieve not over this eternal star.”

India-A phoenix in slumber

Gandhi said on the eve of independence, “Independence must begin at the bottom. … every village has to be self-sustained and capable of managing its affairs even to the extent of defending itself against the whole world.”

Standing amidst the devastation wrecked on Mumbai after the recent terrorist attacks, an ordinary citizen exclaimed in exasperation that she would rather every Mumbaiker stopped giving their taxes to the government and instead used it themselves for the progress and defence of their city. She was thus lamenting the helplessness of the common man and the complete lack of accountability and transparency in the functioning of the central and state governments.

In vain, we expect cosmetic fixes like resignation of the Home Minister or even the installation of a new party at the helm to instill fresh life into the anachronistic system. Even an ostrich burying its head in the sand will laugh at our naiveté.

We must strike at the root of the problem. The solution is to usher in peacefully a decentralized democracy that will bring real power to the people. Imagine a system of governance where every citizen has the power to make decisions that affect him directly like water, food, electricity, roads, security, healthcare, etc. Imagine every street in India clean, secure, and well lit with no signs of desperation or dehumanising poverty. No corruption, no slums, no ostentatious display of wealth while people die of hunger, no obesity or sloth or depression or anxiety but a sharing conscientious society that is content and has no communal or parochial inclinations. There will still be inequality in that there will be some who are richer than others but there will not be anyone without dignity. There will not be any beggars nor will the rich indulge in mindless philanthropy that is self-serving. The more privileged (in terms of wealth, education or any asset) will be humble custodians ever ready to serve the less privileged but the right to private property will be preserved. There will be healthy debates, diversity will be encouraged, differences upheld and unity preserved.

Would you decry this as an utopia, unattainable and unrealistic? Would you rather preserve the status quo until we sink into more depravity, violence, and finally the crumbling of the very society whose fabric we wish to protect and enrich? Would you for fear of the unknown hold on to the present stalemate and refuse to move your cheese?

Let us start our political reforms. Let us begin to understand the dreams that Gandhi envisaged for India. Let us bring the government to the people. From the ashes of Mumbai, let us rise.

Sacrifice

Bakrid falls on Monday and it reminds me of sacrifice as Bakrid is celebrated in memory of Abraham’s (peace be upon him) sacrifice to Almighty God. Last week in the Mumbai terror attack so many brave people--policemen, men from national security guard and navy and antiterrorism squad, hotel staff--sacrificed their lives to save that of others. Gandhiji sacrificed his life for our nation. Mother Teresa sacrificed her life in the service of the poor. Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln---the list goes on---so many men and women of our times who have loved beyond the call of their daily life and found truth and victory in their sacrifice.

I feel so small when I compare myself to these noble souls but compare I must in order to escape from the trappings of daily life and rise beyond the petty thoughts of anger, envy and pride that I sometimes fall prey to. It helps to remember that human beings just like us have overcome their fears and desires to make the world a better place.

When we face insurmountable inequalities (economic, political, social), we shrug it off saying, “What can one person do?” Well, history teaches us that it is precisely the ‘one man’ who has always changed the world.

Apart from these bright stars that inspire, I take courage from the so many faceless heroes that are all around me-I see a young boy of 14 sacrificing his education and his dreams to support his elderly parents; a young woman divorced by her husband because their daughter has cancer, struggling to keep her alive, refusing countless marriage proposals and sacrificing her desires; a young girl of 13 who kept her honor without succumbing to the advances of men who frequented her prostitute mother and growing up to be a fine woman having a respectable marriage and educating her sons, a middle-aged lady who bore the emotional abuse of her alcoholic husband countering it with love and faith reforming him with endless patience, mothers who eat less so that their children would have more to eat, husbands who work hard braving poor health and old age to support the extravagances of wives they cannot help but love---the myriad tales of sacrifice.

As I look at their lives, my heart fills up with warmth, my soul lifts up in prayer, and I become nothing.