Muslims equal terrorists?

As the metro doors swished open, bringing with it the usual throng of jostling people, I singled out one man- a bearded Muslim -clad in white and carrying a black briefcase. A very inconspicuous briefcase and yet I couldn’t get my eyes off it and the man who it belonged to.

‘Terrorist’, I thought and then seconds later felt deeply ashamed of myself. Though ingrained in my mind that all Muslims are not terrorists, what were the chances of this man not being one? My thoughts tumbled over each other and refused to stop until finally at the next station the man in question got off the metro.

No blast took place. No bodies lay scattered. What remained was the sense of discomfiture I felt. I had just incriminated an innocent man because of his religion.

But am I entirely to be blamed for my thoughts? Haven’t Muslims become synonymous with terrorism? Newspapers and TV Channels carry stories of bomb blasts all over India by people who are incidentally Muslims. So if all Muslims are not terrorists how come all terrorists are Muslims?

The answer eludes me.

But what I realize now is that the average Muslim has more to worry about than I do. Not only are they subjected to prolonged security checks at metros and airports but a simple task of getting a visa seems more like an interrogation. However, they are not only incriminated as terrorists but also end up as casualties in terror attacks. Reason? Terrorism has no religion. What a paradox!

If I had put myself in the place of the man carrying the black briefcase I would have known exactly how it felt to have people shooting suspicious (maybe even hostile) looks at me. He, most likely, has to face many challenges everyday and overcome many fears-fear of being looked upon as a fanatic, fear of losing his job because of his faith, fear of becoming a casualty… the list is endless.

We in India consider ourselves to have a better understanding of the Islamic faith as we live in a culturally diverse country. But what about Muslims living in other countries? How do these countries treat their Islamic populace?

Take America for example: post September 11, there has been a considerable amount of prejudice against the Muslim community. Consequently, many American Muslims have denounced terrorism and have formed online forums and held rallies not only to make their voices heard but also to create awareness amongst those who see Islam as an evil.

People with limited understanding have severely tarnished the image of Islam all over the world. That Islam is a religion of violence – is a huge misconception. Even though Muslims are implicated for various terrorist plots, one must not judge all by the actions of a few. When terror strikes, everyone suffers regardless of religion.

Maasoom Dhillon

Why aren't we human?

A recent article in a newspaper shockingly found out as to why people are losing their temper and are not just giving their fellow citizens not only tongue lashings but also physical assault . It is a well known fact that temper ruins more things than fixes it. But we really care little about it. When a person is born, he often bangs into things that really irritate him and depending on the ability to hold on to the same; he sometimes ends up making things worse.

There was an article that was recently published in the newspaper that some unknown assailants stabbed a cook to death at a hotel as he had not served papaad. Then there was another article which said that a shop owner was set on fire over a Rs 100 phone recharge. There was one more story published in the newspaper which said 14-a year-old boy killed a nine-year-old girl for an I-pod in a West Bengal town. Besides these usual stories that have grabbed space in the newspaper, there are still many that we usually see all around like people fighting on streets if they accidentally bang into other person’s vehicle trying to reach office early.

It is really hard to understand as to why people have lost their patience over a period time. What is the ultimate thing that is actually making them do things that are not only morally unacceptable but also a crime? It is really hard to find what tensions actually helps things blow up. We cannot find things going the way we want them to and in this frustration we end up banging into people coming our way. Why can’t we just keep our frustrations aside instead of gifting them to people coming our way?

A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one. It is really a pity that we fail to accept the common human error and instead of making things right we tend to blow them. It is like an infectious disease that is killing the very basic requirement of being a human. There is a steep decline in our social dispensation.

(Shikha Garg)

Humanity is the best religion for mankind

SINCE MOTHER Earth was created, she has seen herself being divided both naturally (into sub continents) and then selfishly (into countries). She must have never thought that a day would come one when she would be divided by her own children in the name of RELIGION. When a child is born, he has no conscious knowledge about himself or about the environment around him. He is an alien, an innocent soul. His body is made up of the same elements as that of Mother Nature. They have the same two hands, two legs; a heart to love and not to hate and even the colour of blood is the same. It is really hard to digest that people forget themselves as in the direct gift of the Creator and fight for land, for power and for little things that hardly matter in life. We all pray to Him to give us all these things. We forget the purpose of our life, for what we have been created.

Man cannot create a leaf or a fly, though he is free to tamper with God’s creation to the extent he wills. He cannot prevent himself from getting hungry and thirsty, he does not decide what time or country he will be born, he is not free to choose his parents nor physical structure, nor does he know when and where he will die. When so many things cannot be decided by him, he has no right to decide which religion is the best. There is no point in fighting with each other or in instilling fear in other people.

There is a lot of hue and cry in this world- people are starving, they are craving for love, they are molested for some or the other reason. It is high time we rise from the petty issues of religion, fighting over ‘my religion is better than others’. We need to understand that we have to rise above the boundaries of caste, colour, creed, nationality, the conventional religion. Though we are living in the 21st century with all the technical innovations on one side yet we are still fighting over religion. Every human being must be treated with respect.

We Indians have always been boasting of our ‘unity in diversity.’ But do we practise it or it has just turned into a phrase.? Each of us must ask ourselves this question.
People need to understand that when they will die, they will be reduced to something that will be de composed. Neither the power nor the money will remain with him. Humanity should be the biggest religion for each and everyone.

A society can be served in this way thus making earth a better place to live in. We have to remember that we are all children of nature and we cannot go on fighting with each other. We need to decide what we are going to give to our next generation- hatred or love- the choice is solely ours.

(Shikha Garg)

Say no to crackers on Diwali, save kids from misery

DIWALI IS round the corner and everyone is busy preparing a welcome for Goddess Lakshmi in their homes. They are cleaning up their homes, white-washing, painting, buying new clothes and of course, stocking deadly crackers. Crackers are like the spice of Diwali without which the our food would taste bland.

But have you ever thought where do these crackers come from or who makes them?
We all agree to this statement that no poor child chooses to work in firework factories or take up other horrifying work in coal mines by will but they are either forced by people or destiny itself. They work in congested, dusty and horrifying environment that severely impair their health. The young innocent children are considered as the source of cheap labour by their bosses. Children also give more output than input and that also without creating any fuss. They can be easily manipulated into overworking and paid less.

They work in difficult environment for long hours as compared to adults. They face both verbal and sexual abuse. We feel pity for them but after some time we move on in our lives.

It is really difficult to understand how people can be more sensitive to their own children and totally insensitive to other’s children. Just see your children in place of them and then you would realise how painful it gets.

Not only Goddess Lakshmi but do you think any God of any religion would be actually happy about this idea of celebration that involves misery for children.
Before buying crackers this year just think that we may be contributing to their exploitation by buying products and services, which actually involves young children. This is not the real picture of true India where the future of it is itself so brutally moulded.

I would like to salute the spirit of those people who voluntary don’t burn crackers and who would pledge not to burn crackers after reading this article. Children are like soon to be made earthen pots that will be moulded the way we want them to. We would surely not like to see India’s future moulded this way, as this way we are only teaching them to be slaves.

(Shikha Garg)

Safer UP Roadways now

Do you think twice before boarding a UP Roadways bus because of traffic accidents? If that comes under your worry list, then you should throw it out of your mind. UP state transport, authorities have finally decided to install speed governors in all state roadways buses. The speed governors will now monitor the speed limit in all buses. The speed limit on highways will be now 60km and in cities, it is limited to 40 km. The passenger safety will now improve. 50 per cent buses are already fitted with speed governors while remaining 50 per cent will be installed with this facility soon.
Every month on an average, around 50 buses of UP Roadways meet with accident on roads. Some of them are severe accidents causing severe damage to human property and lives. In a survey it was found that in most cases over speeding is responsible along with the drunk driving.
UP Roadways Authorities are planning to counsel these drivers on a regular basis and if found that their condition is not stable, their duty charge can be terminated for that particular day so that safety parameters are not violated. Stricter action will be taken by authorities against the violators.
Drivers are now being sent to Delhi and Kanpur so that they can hone their driving skills on latest buses. Apart from this they are learning the art of evading the accidents and minimizing the loss of life and property in accidental cases. They are also learning how to evade accidents and to minimize the result of the accidents causing loss of human life and damage to the buses.

Saurabh Das

Have you ever spent time in a police lockup?

Have you ever spent time in a police lock up? How was your experience? Was it scary? Well I had a unique and exciting experience of a police lockup. I was in my Graduation second year, pursuing Bachelors in Tourism Management from IITTM, Gwalior. I was 19 years old and had a very casual attitude towards life. I was staying with my friends Manuj, Ankit, Ankur, Anish and Ajit in a rented flat.My friend Ajit was very influential in my college. He made close contacts with some of our college officials and faculty members. We often used to get benefits for his contacts. My other room mates were also actively involved in college politics; as a result I was always in thick of action whatever the case maybe.

In September 2006, our college was instructed by the Ministry of Tourism to celebrate tourism week as a part of a global initiative taken by the World Tourism Organisation (WTO). Our college for that purpose constituted an organizing committee in which I was also included as a member. My role was to make available the required costumes, accessories, equipments for various cultural events to be performed by the students of my college throughout the week. One day I was watching a dress rehearsal of a group dance on ‘Vande Mataram’ by A.R.Rahman. Suddenly my friend Sumedha who was also a participant in that group dance, asked me to find a sword as they needed it. I lethargically started my search but a sword was not a very common object, so I was having a tough time searching it. I asked the local shopkeepers, my neighbors, my seniors, juniors and every one I knew but all of them were clueless. Now the day of performance was also approaching fast and I was notching my hair in complete despair. Then out of nowhere I came to know about a place called ‘Char Sahar Ka Naka’ near Gwalior fort where I could find the sword.

I immediately set out for that place and that too very enthusiastically. I found the store and hired a sword. Finally my problem was solved I was happy but I did not realize that very soon another unwanted problem would emerge out of nowhere. I safely stacked the sword in my bag and started my journey back to college in an auto. I was sitting like a gentle man from beginning to the end of the journey. As soon as I reached my college area, I paid the money to the auto driver and started walking towards my college. Suddenly I brought out the sword and started waving it as if I was fighting a battle. I was deeply immersed in my play, imagining myself as a Rajput prince killing all his enemies. My play was ended when a police jeep screeched to a halt besides me. A constable jumped out of it and in typically Jat accented Hindi said “Uthao saale ko”, and put me in that jeep. I was terrified by the fact that now I have to be in a police lockup because of my foolishness. I was presented in front of the SHO who asked “bta kis ko maar ne jaa raha tha” I was speechless. I had never dealt with a police man earlier in my life and I always feared them. Somehow I gathered courage and said “uncle do I look like a killer?”. He said, “ I don’t know but now you will spend the entire day in this lockup.” Shocked, I called my friend Manuj and was further shocked to get his reply “we have just opened a full bottle of Royal Stag so please don’t disturb us.”


I was in big trouble, my trusted friends were not coming to my aide, family leaves in Delhi and I had no local guardian in Gwalior. I wanted to call my dad but realized that if he came to know about it he will disown me completely .I laid on my back on the floor of that lockup and started wondering what would happen to me, my career or my reputation etc. I did not know when I dozed off. I woke up when I received a blow of a lathi on my back. I jumped being completely stunned. The same constable who caught me was staring madly at me and in typically Jat accented Hindi said “saale apne mama ka ghar mai aaya hai kay tu” and “nalayk kuch to sharam kar le” I was actually happy seeing his frustrated face. Then the SHO called me and instructed me to write 25 times on a paper that I will never wave a sword in open area. After this I was dropped in my college with the sword. When I entered my college auditorium I saw that all my friends were aware of my foolishness and I was the buzzword in entire college. I quickly moved to the green room, found Sumedha and gave her the sword. The performance was brilliant and I was called on stage as a part of the team and was given credit for my important role and was acknowledged for my troubles. Even today whenever I recalled the incident, I laugh at my foolishness but it also make me realize that police man are like us, human being so there is nothing to worry unless you don’t commit a crime.

Saurabh Das

Empathy for the four legged

While watching a street play performed by students of a university, a certain sight made me smile. Two small puppies were curiously watching the street play from a safe distance! Fascinated with the dramatic act unfolding before their eyes, they were inching closer to the performers.
A boy got up from where he was seated and slowly walked towards the puppies as unobtrusively as possible. I presumed he was going to shoo them away before they became a nuisance. He did but not in the way I had imagined.
The moment he reached the puppies, he kicked the closest one hard in the stomach with the tip of his shoe. The puppy howled loudly and scurried away as fast as it could, still bent over with the pain, while the other one just managed to get away.
It was appalling to see that the whole episode stirred mild interest only. The spectators simply turned back to the street play where the group was turning blue shouting out the inefficiency of the government in tackling the Mumbai terror and the violence committed by the terrorists.
Isn’t this violence too? Someone ruthlessly harms an innocent and walks off coolly.
The difference between humans and animals is only this: humans have a voice and can speak of the atrocities committed against them. They can blame, fight back, and complain (things they usually do) while animals can only lick their wounds and bear the brunt of what life has inflicted on them.
So who can these voiceless creatures turn to? Does anyone have an answer?

(Maasoom Dhillon)