The Color of Hate

The attacks in Australia show us the ugly face of racism

It was high time that they reacted. With India toppling Aussies to gain the epithet of being the next team to beat in the world of cricket, the Aussies, it seems, have taken to a different route to settle scores. After allegations of racial abuse against Harbhajan Singh were quashed, the Aussies have decided to come hard at us with the same R-force that they pretend to abhor! Jokes aside, these are disturbing times.

When I saw the horrific images of a few teens bashing up an Indian being flashed on the television screen, I didn’t know how to react. The contempt was evident on the face of those guys as they drew pleasure in beating up a hapless guy black and blue. Racism is back to haunt us or should I say, is out of the closet to show its ugly face. Turning one’s head the other way does not mean that there are no problem areas. Discrimination based on the color of skin is like that Hit Me toy that springs back even after being punched in the face. The need is not to hit it hard but to deflate it. Such crimes need very stringent actions. Sadly, no one’s taking that.

I have stayed in the New York City, a place that is the most liberal if I may call it, for sometime. I might never have been subjected to any discrimination based on my color of skin upfront but I could sense the effort put in by many people I came to know to sound more genuine than they actually were. I couldn’t understand the need to proclaim one’s racial neutrality because if it actually was the case; there was no need to even talk about it. On deeper thinking, I felt that even we are to blame for the discrimination against us. I don’t think a lot of Indians carry themselves as equals in front of a ‘fair’ skinned man. If we ourselves are fascinated by the color of someone’s skin, we are bound to be treated in a different way.

Shravan Kumar battling for his life. The image raises the question - What is a developed country after all?

So, can we brand Australia as being racist because of the recent spate of attacks on Indians? I am not too sure. There has been growing resentment against Asians in particular after the rise of terrorism in the last decade or so. With people from Asian origin being involved in major terrorist attacks around the globe, the people of the countries under attack developed a wrong impression about the entire region. The only thing that the World knows about Afghanistan for example is that it was the safe haven for Al-Qaeda until the US dismantled the set up there. That is not a good introduction. There is a cultural divide too that adds to the woes. Remember the monkey-gate episode between Bhajji and Symonds? It turned out that the judge was okay with Bhajji abusing Symonds with a Maa Ki but not with the supposed monkey taunt. It would have been the other way round in India! The ignorance and the cultural divide might also have led to the increase in the levels of intolerance and thus in the number of attacks against Asians.

It is not as if there is a sudden surge in such incidents. A lot of what is happening may also be attributed to the media attention. It is not that Indians were not beaten in Australia earlier. It’s just that the situation is in the limelight now. Having said that, I would be foolish to rule out the unfounded feeling of racial superiority that’s entrenched in the minds of a lot of people from countries like England, Australia and France. It is very much there and too evident to be missed out. It is important to raise a strong protest against the discrimination and the inhuman acts of violence that has the whole Indian community living under the clouds of fear. It is not that they have moved to these countries illegally. We have Indian students in Australia on full time scholarships, doctors, engineers and other people who are contributing proactively to Australian economy and growth. There has to be a more just way to handle this than with a simple admittance of lapses. Australia must show its real intent before the situation gets murkier.

The New Year eve incident of Mumbai. The culprits, if caught, faced imprisonment for just one year. Is that the right compensation for the scar that the girl would carry forever?

However, an action by the Australian Government is not where the buck stops. In the entire furor created over the recent attacks, we have forgotten how we have been treating foreigners in our own land. True, it’s not of the racial kind but equally heinous. There have been umpteen cases of foreign tourists being befriended and then raped, robbed or murdered and we thought that predation was not a part of a civilized society? If we are demanding swift actions against the brutality committed on our kith and kin living abroad, where do we stand on handling such matters in our own land? The athiti dewo bhava motto that’s termed a tradition in India seems nothing more than a farce in real terms. Leave aside the foreigners, what has been done about the MNS hitting out at the North Indians and the Assam-Bihar tussle and acts of violence in recent times? Isn’t it imperative on the Government to come down heavily on the perpetrators of such crimes in India to send out a strong message? Discrimination in any form is highly objectionable. Action and not words is the call of the hour.

As I squirm seeing the images of battered young men being flashed on the TV screens, there is a larger question that pricks me – Is this evolution after all?

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Warzone - Mumbai

I wonder how many attacks it will take to decide that living in an environment of uncertainty requires us to prepare accordingly. Even after suffering innumerable terrorist attacks, India still does not have a crisis management team. It is surprising that despite being on the hit list of terror groups, we still have to manage by acting upon each incident in isolation. It has been 9 years post Kandahar. We still don’t have a law that permits action against hijackers. If you insist, there is an anti-hijacking law of 1982 that had such glaring loopholes that we made a mess of the Kandahar episode. God forbid, if any hijack occurs today, we will still be in the same situation as we were 9 years ago. What a pity!

City under siege

The recent attacks in Mumbai are akin to the 9/11 incident that shook the World. Never ever has such a massive operation been carried by terrorists where they have held a city under siege for over a day now. The preparedness of the terrorists and the manner in which they went about executing their plans casts a grim shadow on the intelligence services. Is it enough to issue a warning and then doze off to let the terrorists wreak havoc? How is it that the terrorists are able to successfully carry out 12 incidents of shooting and bombing at 10 places in one area of a city within an hour before action is initiated against them? How do they escape any checks from the coastal guards who are expected to guard the shores? This is not a commentary on the acumen of the police force but an indication that police reform is an immediate need of the hour. ATS might be a welcome step in that direction but the failure to restrict terrorist attacks is a question mark that needs an answer NOW.

We must also critically examine the role of politicians here. The lechers don’t let anything go without a political overture. For them everything is a chance to strengthen their vote banks. The investigations in the Malegoan blasts have been plagued with accusations and allegations from political parties forcing the ATS to defend itself. That derails the speed of investigation and also shifts focus from terrorism to petty issues like questions on the religious affiliations of the terrorists. No one’s really sure if the ATS is under pressure from the ruling party as well. A similar incident happened in Delhi too. The sacrifice of a brave police officer served as a catalyst to ignite another political game in the recent Batla house encounter. Where are we heading to?

The Buring Taj - Pride takes a beating!

Terrorism has no face. But the common man can be fooled. He will listen to and believe everything that’s lobbed at him. That’s the reason why we talk of terms like “Hindu terrorism” rather than dismissing them as absurd political hypothesis. That’s the reason why the media goes about according authenticity to these ideas and they get engrained in our psyche. We all are contributors in the success of the evil designs of the perpetrators. We might give each other a shoulder to cry on when disaster strikes but come another day and we go about the usual business of widening the divisive rift based on every aspect of our living – religion, region or color. Let’s not veil our incapability to handle terror and present it as our inherent non-violent bend of mind. Inaction is not non-violence, it’s cowardice!

Wreaking Havoc - Is there any end?

Coming back to the latest incident that has assumed massive proportions in the light of the manner in which the terrorists have chosen to act. The tragedy has gotten worse with each passing hour with over 100 people dead and at least thrice the number injured. I wonder what the toll would read once the operation is completed. It’s shocking to learn that the terrorists numbering around 20 get into a city that is always on a red alert. They are loaded with sophisticated weapons and loads of ammunitions that have not seized to blaze in over 24 hours since the first gun shot was fired. Of course, the priority task is to secure the lives of people held up at the two hotels and get hold of the terrorists. However, the lapse in the security grip needs to be investigated subsequently. We have had enough of “condemnation” messages coming from the Government. We have also had enough of martyrs paying the price for the failure of the intelligence agencies. The terror attacks which were intermittent have become the order of the day now. Why should we have incompetent people who can at best do post mortem of a terrorist activity sitting at the helm of responsible positions? How many more such lapses will it take for the leaders to take the moral responsibility and face the nation and say that THEY have failed? They shamelessly come on TV time and again and accept that there has been a failure on the part of our intelligence. That’s not enough.

USA had a 9/11 and then no one was able to infiltrate its boundaries and get anywhere close to harming its people. That’s called action. On what basis do we, as a nation, claim to be rising in stature if we are susceptible to the whims and fancies of some animals baying for the blood of hapless people? What have we done to the terrorists arrested on various charges of terrorism? Have we punished them? Why is Md. Afzal not yet punished?

The list is endless

Spare a moment. We are not safe in your own homes now. Nothing matters more than figuring out how we prepare ourselves to deal with future attacks on our sovereignty. The time has come, the time is now!

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