The recent gruesome bomb blasts in Assam exposed the fact that no one anywhere is safe from the nefarious activities of the terrorists who wants to achieve “whatever they have on mind”. The blast claimed so many lives and destroyed so much that it would leave an irreparable fear and pain on the psyche of Assam for years to come. For many, things may become normal tomorrow; and of course life will go and maybe this incident will be forgotten within months but being complacent and not taking steps will not be a solution. It is a sad fact of life and the world that the good and the evil will always co-exist; only the balance will determine which way we will go!
The Aftermath
In recent times, innocent lives have been lost in Assam, be it in the conflicts between different groups in certain areas or activities of criminals and terrorists, or the mismanaged and illogical steps of the government. The ghastly blasts have been a rude wakeup call for all. But instead what happened? The blame games have started and the opposition parties are having a field day ridiculing the government. The need of the hour is for all to join together and make the government strong and help find a solution for the problem and not create a new problem.
But did the government react the way it should? The surprising and callous comment after the blast from the government side was reportedly “This kind of blast happens in USA too, and when they are able to do anything how do you think we can?”
To add to that the immediate reaction from the government was to reportedly direct the concerned officials to withdraw the parking places from under the over bridges and flyovers—as if this would prevent further attacks! In addition, government ultimately realized the importance of the intelligence wing of the Assam police and decided to appoint a Police Commissioner in Guwahati city. But the question remains, why were these not done earlier?
The blame for the atmosphere of fear and mayhem lies with the media too. As always the media sensationalized the incident and created further problems. They successfully instilled the seeds of fear, suspicions and mistrust in the minds of the people. The media could have gone a long way to help maintain the calm and help the government and administration in doing their job and also in bringing the afflicted people together. But no, they were more interested in sensationalizing the incident and increase their ratings and sales.
But was the general public beyond blame? No, they were not. Granted that in situations like this it is easy to lose your mind and do some things that you live to regret, but reaction of many was definitely deplorable. Instead of helping the government and the administration, the large portion of the populace seemed to have gone out on full scale attacks. Police jeeps, ambulances and fire trucks were burnt. At that time, was that needed or should that have been the reaction?
What Did We Gain?
To those who have lost their lives or their dear and near ones, and to those who are and will stay injured for the rest of their lives—this is a preposterous question. But then, from the midst of such calamities rises the goodness that engulfs everybody and helps in wiping away the seeds of evil.
The reaction of the people who helped each other was beyond the expression of the words. Gone was the hatred for color, creed and religion, and people helped one another selflessly. Strangers went out of their ways to help the injured and carry them to the hospitals, sick gave away their beds, doctors and nurses worked 24 hours a day and many offered their services for free, many gave their food and water and the condolences and pouring grief for the dead was overwhelming. Except for the few stray incidents, there was feeling of love and brotherliness and acts of selfless kindness. As one of my friends remarked, “It somehow brought the goodness in us and a feeling of love and optimism, though somewhat out of place at that time, it was very powerful.”
The blast seemed to even wake up the government and local administrators from their slumber of nonchalance The steps that have been taken, though late, are worth appreciation. The progress that has been made would have seemed unimaginable earlier.
We can honor the dead and injured by ensuring that we do not forget them and by taking steps to ensure that these incidents never ever help again.
What Can Everyone Do To Help
The Government
The government should take the main lead by laying such rules and regulations that would prevent such incidents. The scary situation is that the police force which is the law enforcing agency in Assam is currently a failure in all fronts. The reasons are many: from lack of good officers to low salaries and motivation. The police force needs a total overhaul and steps need to taken to make it as efficient and modern as others in the world. It’s shameful as well as sad to see the policemen taking bribes of as low as twenty bucks because they need the money to survive. The government should not tolerate inefficiencies and corruption in any department.
The Media
The power of the media to change the minds of the people is immense, and they can play a major role in curbing terrorist activities. But instead of showcasing the good, the media seems to be more interested in “there’s no good news as good as the bad news”. They give such coverage which helps the terrorist organizations in terrorizing people and prevent the society at large from expressing condemnation of such acts; whereas the media can very effectively publicize the wrong beliefs and faiths of the terrorists and help spread true human values.
The media should not immediately publicize the names of the terrorist organizations who want to gain fame after such incidents; instead they should pass it on to police and help them in their work. After all the main aim of the terrorists are to terrorize the people, and if people do not know about them their might be no reasons for them to do so. The media need a missionary zeal to arouse public conviction and help combat terrorist activities.
The General Public
We should know that we have in our hands the ability to shape the future our state Assam and our life takes. We should not keep on looking at the government to do things; we ourselves can do many things to ensure that these incidents never occur again. Just as JFK said “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
We definitely can take steps to help us. We can open the eyes of the misguided and help them find the right path, we can open our own eyes and do the right things, and we can open the eyes of our government and make them take the right steps.
The blasts have brought us together and let’s stay that way!
Conclusion
Who exactly is a terrorist? No one, but a human being, conscripted by various means like lure of money for the family, a heavenly afterlife for taking part in the activities, threat to the life of the person conscripted or to his or her kin, or a strong feeling of being wronged by the society at large. If we can help change the mind of one such person, that can be a huge achievement. After all, political and economic issues lie at the core of the problem.
We cannot expect everybody to join in, but even if the concerned organizations and enlightened sections of Assamese society try to persuade the Government into tackling the associated social realities, it will be a major win in the future.
We cannot call ourselves the most civilized beings on the planet till the time annihilation continues in the name of caste, creed and religion after all such acts are not even witnessed in the rest of animal kingdom!
Kaushik Phukan, Seattle
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