Posted by Shishir Saxena on Friday June 23, @12:28PM
I guess I can never forgive myself for what happened to Staines and his two sons even if I had nothing at all to do with it.
But then, I guess I did have something to do with it because of the simple fact that those selfless souls were so brutally done to death in the same country which I had been so proud of.
Just try and picture this, " A foreigner comes to India just for a visit and decides to give away all western pleasures beacuse he could'nt turn a blind eye to the sufferings of the people here. He stays here, washes the wounds of the ailing lepors, selflessly serves them. Some years later he gets married and his wife too joins him. He is blessed with a girl and two sons. His children can't speak english properly and speak chaste Oriya. They even wear only Indian clothes and apart from their western appearances they are as native to Orissa as one can possibly be. Then one black day, some bloody "guardians of religion" decide that Graham Staines doesn't deserve to live. Perhaps because he was a Christian and moved by his service and devotion towards them, a few of those shunned by society leprosy patients decided to adopt the faith of their kind server. Damn those cold blooded muderers...........did'nt even think twice about those young souls before. burning them alive with thier father." How does it feel ? Well it sure made me sick ............. right to my soul !!!
Where the hell where these "holy killers" when those suffering people were dying of hunger, disease and eternal despair ? Who are they to impose anything on them ? The mere sight of that widow and her teenage daughter refusing to go back to a more humane atmosphere and still carrying on the unfinished work of Graham Staines in those poor and thirsty regions of Orissa makes me ashamed of belonging to this ungrateful country.
After more than a year of that ghastly incident the ghost of these ugly and violent so called "protecters of religion" are back to haunt this beautiful multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-religious nation.
It really worries the hell out of me that inspite of the glaring example of hardcore religious fundamentalism infront of our eyes and the consequences of the same. I mean just look at Pakistan, by making every non-follower an enemy of their country and above that a threat to their religion, that country is today at the brink of complete and total failure. What do you expect of a country when the youth of that country carries the ambition of joining the "Jehad" eventually ? The state is of complete and mass dis-illusionment. Do we want the same to happen to us ?
C'mon guys this is the land of "Amar-Akbar-Anthony" !!! The place where the caretaker of the Amarnath Cave ( holiest of Hindu shrines ) is a Muslim and where all of us bounce on the " Mohd.'s" and "Kenneth's" in our group of freinds for Id-ul-Fitr and Christmas. The place where Shahrukh Khan is "Maxi" and Amitabh Bachchan is "Anthony". A country whose junior team was lead by Ritender Sodhi and vice-captained by Mohd. Kaif . Guys......we don't need this communal shit.We really don't !!!
Our country is slated to be the next super-power. The biggest and the most high-quality resource of infomation technology manpower. A land which has always mystified and enchanted the west with its boundless diversity yet somehow oneness. A nation whose borders are guarded by "Khans", "Pandeys", "Singhs" and " Pintos" standing guard shoulder to shoulder. A country that freaks out on music by Daler Mehandi and Remo with the same enthusiasm. To put it simply, a place where the boundry lines were never drawn and should never be drawn.
I just refuse to believe that the unfortunate actions of these "custodians of religion" are at all supported let alone encouraged by the general public. I think there is no one amongst us who will hold these shocking religion specific crimes right and just. The country has a healthy democracy if not highly successful. There are platforms to voice one's concerns incase some one feels that there is something wrong happening anywhere and needs to be stopped. Ther are auhtorities to go to if one feels threatened by some one.But who the hell gives these sinners the right and the authority to burn down religious places and attack the faith leaders of these minorities. Each such act of utter foolishness is often enough to drift apart old friends and neighbours somewhere in some way. The bad name all such incidents give to our country in the international community is also a cause of worry and for the knowledge of the "saviours of faith" most of the developmental work done in this country is done by the aid of the same people who are supposedly a threat to their religion. If they care so much for their faith then why don't they go and fight the enemy on the border. Or is it that killing innocent and defenseless people is more pious and sacred thing than puting one's life at risk to save hundreds others. Really shameful.
Now the question arises, " If its not me and you then who is it ?" Most probably it is the work of some political party or some mentally insane religious leaders who are using their power and following to cast brothers against brothers and neighbours against neighbours as a means of furthering their sinester plans. Believe me friends the problem needs to be nipped in the bud or else if this thing blows up then a fate similar to our fundamentalist neighbour is inevitabe. India would become erstwhile India.
It becomes our duty to see to it that the rift these criminals want to create amongst the sons of this soil naver takes birth. Condemn any commumnal incident strongly and if you can see to it that the culprits do not get away unpunished. And perhaps most importantly never let the hope and faith of the minorities diminish. This is the land of " Live And Let Live ". Remember that India was not built by one religion or one community. It is the result of the sweat and blood of every faith and every community co-existing here since time immemorial. No one's claim is more than or less than the others.
Yes, I am a Hindu by birth and do go to the temple once in a while. But the one community I'm most faithful to is the Indian Community. Why don't we realise that when foriegners know us as just "Indians" then why don't those of us living here regard ourselves as ONE.
India has always been one big joint family why don't we keep it that way. At least we can try. Can't we ???
What stayed with you?
A line that lingered, a feeling, a disagreement. Great comments are as valuable as the original piece.