Je Suis Charlie - Charlie Hebdo attack

Picture this. You are a second or third generation Muslim immigrant born and brought up in a country where freedom of expression has no boundaries. Being insensitive to your religion or its religious figures through media mean an insult to your belief which you will not tolerate. What do you do? How far would you go to fight against blasphemy similar to this? Would you vandalize the office of those media publications? Gun down the people behind the publication? Well it all depends on what moral values you hold and how far your religious faith takes you to.

What happened in Paris on 7^th January 2015 was tragic. Two Islamist gun men opened fire in the head office of Charlie Hebdo  (a French magazine known for its biting humor) killing twelve people for publishing a string of satirical cartoons about Islam and the Prophet Muhammed. The events following that incident of hostage taking and subsequent killing of the gun men made headlines across the world.

The cartoons mocking religion  published in Charlie Hebdo maybe considered nothing out of the ordinary in a country where freedom of expression far outweighs hurting religious sentiments. While moderates take it as a joke and move on, the extremists do not hold the same view. They take it far more seriously and the consequences can be fatal.

On 11^th January 2015 millions including world leaders from several countries gathered in Paris expressing solidarity towards the French people condemning the terrible killings. The crowd included Muslims and Jews among others. It is reassuring to hear from many of the French Muslims gathered in the rally that they do not support terrorism and that Islam is a religion of peace.

The muslims rallied condemning the attack reassures that extremist minorities do not represent the vast majority of peace loving Muslims. While it is difficult to understand why certain individuals choose violent methods to protest, the question is, has Charlie Hebdo magazine gone too far with their freedom of expression in the form of cartoons making fun of Islam and similarly mocking other religion?  French foreign minister Laurent Fabier once asked of its cartoons, “Is it really sensible and intelligent to pour oil on the fire”.  Granted, no amount of blasphemy justifies taking someone’s life.

The question is who really is responsible or who is the mastermind behind the vicious attack at Charlie Hebdo? Were the two gun men who was involved in the attack merely pawns of a larger conspiracy? By and large that is most likely the case.

While we wait for the larger picture behind the attack to emerge, it is heartening to know that Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has come forward with an ambitious call for reform in Islam.  Al-Sisi’s professed goal is to purge religion of extremist ideas of intolerance and violence that fuel several terrorist groups.

Some view the problem with Islam is that it has remained stuck in a time warp. Islam has remained a 7^th century faith. As one columnist puts it, all religious texts are as good or as bad as their interpretations and unfortunately it’s the most violent and abusive followers who are heard the most.

The millions who lined up in Paris with the message “Je Suis Charlie (I am Charlie)” supporting the freedom of expression by the Charlie Hebdo magazine may have made very little impact on the terrorists who are out there plotting the next vicious attack. A much more deeper analysis of the terrorist outfits, tracking and hunting down the masterminds behind the attack, and cutting down their arm supply chain are some of the actions required by the authorities with the support of all countries. That is the need of the hour.

2014 Year in review

As we say good bye to 2014, it is saddening to note that not a lot has changed from the previous years. Overall gloom across the world prevails, threat of terrorism looms larger and the world remains a chaotic place to live.

The year began with Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa infecting over 19000 people and killing over  7000 people. It was the year ruthless militant groups such as Boko Haram and ISIS came into prominence. In April Boko Haram abducted 276 girls and held hostage from a school in Nigeria whereas a Sunni militant group called the ISIS began an offensive through Northern Iraq aiming to capture the capital city of Baghdad and overthrow the Iraqi regime.  

The year ended with the most deadliest terrorist attack ever to have occured in Pakistan. In December seven members of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) conducted a terrorist attack on the Army Public School in the Pakistani city of Peshawar killing 145 people, including 132 school children. TTP is said to be a merger of 13 groups to form a super terrorist group.

Militant groups such as Boko Haram and ISIS join the already existing militant outfits such as Al-Qaeda and the Taliban unleashing terror within their countries and beyond.  Pockets of terrorist outfits are mushrooming in various countries like spreading cancer cells. Countries that promoted terrorism are now paying a price as terrorism boomeranged on itself.

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had said while blasting a certain country’s support for terrorism…

“It’s like that old story—you can’t keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbours. Eventually those snakes are going to turn on whoever has them in the backyard.”

The former first lady has very aptly put down the consequences of supporting terrorism.

Moving on from terrorism, 2014 also happend to be the year planes started missing mysteriously. The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was one of the biggest shocks to the world in 2014. The flight vanished without leaving a trace on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The mystery of the disappearance of MH370 as of this writing is yet to be identified. 

To add to the woes, in July Malaysian airlines met with another disaster. MH17 enroute from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by rebels in Ukraine airspace killing all 298 passengers and crew.

Then came the Ice Bucket Challenge, sometimes called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, a bizarre activity involving dumping a bucket of ice water on someone's head to promote awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and encourage donations to research. It went viral on social media during July–August 2014. The challenge encourages nominated participants to be filmed having a bucket of ice water poured on their heads and then nominating others to do the same. A common stipulation is that nominated participants have 24 hours to comply or forfeit by way of a charitable financial donation.

Moving away from man made disasters, in the years ahead natural disasters remain a major concern. Chances of another earthquake triggering Tsunamis similar to the events occurred in Indonesia or Japan may not be too far ahead. According to a study Java, Sumatra the Indonesian islands remain to be one of the most dangerous earthquake prone places on earth and Istanbul, Turkey remains the top spot to hit a major earthquake.

On a lighter note, on the internet front while the world searched for celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence and Kim Kardashian, the most searched person in India was Sunny Leone a former porn actress and currently a Bollywood actress pushing Prime minister Narendra Modi to the second place!

So there we go folks.

Let us hope the year 2015 will be a more prosperous and peaceful year.

Wishing one and all a Happy New Year 2015

Malaysian Airlines MH17 crash - Gone too soon

It was a twelve hour flight from Amsterdam to Kuala lumpur. But it was cut short way too soon. Almost three hours into the flight, the ill fated flight MH17 disintegrated in mid air. Debris from the plane along with scores of bodies strewn all over the crash site. 298 precious lives were taken away. These innocent victims bore the brunt of a political conflict in Ukraine. 

As for Malaysian airlines, it was another shot in the arm.

MH17 has followed the highly controversial disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 back in March. Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was said to have disappeared from the sky in the early hours of Saturday, March 8th, 2014, subsequently over at 35,000 feet heading in a flight bound for Beijing. 

The tragic end to MH17, has had a fiery backdrop provided by other regions of the world as well, as Israel has engaged in a ground assault of Gaza, while Iraq has been wrought with manufactured terror for months, both of which are undoubtedly political factors contributing to the polarization of the MH17 incident.

As they say, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”. This saying goes true for pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine, who is believed to have shot down MH17, Hamas in Palestine whom Israel is fighting against and ISIS in Iraq. It is sad indeed to notice that innocent men, women and children are being killed as a result of several such political conflicts.

Are the general public safe anywhere in the world? Far from it. An otherwise enjoyable bus ride, a train journey or a peaceful walk in the park could turn into a tragic end if terrorists plant a bomb in the vicinity. Why do they want to take the lives of innocent people? Is it a political revenge against a country of target? Or is it a tiny representation of an impending mayhem they can inflict into a civilized society?

As hatred brews, countries divide, innocent civilians are unnecessarily drawn into these conflicts, often used as human shields or their lives being taken away.

The 9/11 attack in the US killing several thousands of people still haunts us. Similarly several conflicts across the world continues to cause turmoil through out the world, be it in Syria, Egypt, Iraq or Afghanistan.

No part of the world is safe as terrorism spreads across the world in a manner one could never have imagined. Global population is directly or indirectly impacted. One could be hit by a truck loaded with bombs, be hit by an airplane loaded with fuel, be blown apart mid air on board an airplane or simply be shot at point blank range.

A weapon in the hands of a wrong person is a sure recipe for disaster. So does the manipulative actions of some individuals who wants to push an agenda and turn them against the world.They have done it in the past and will continue to do so in the future.  One can watch it only helplessly, that is only if you are lucky enough to be alive.