"Live by the sword, die by the sword."
From, Gospel Of Mathew, verse 26:52
While having my tea with hubby this morning, he broke the news of world's most wanted terrorist leader, Osama Bin Laden's death. He refrained from sounding very thrilled and I could feel his concern for the likely repercussions this major historic development in "the war against terror". Honestly, it took me some time to accept the news. I was soon glued to the television and only when I got the confirmation after listening to the U.S president Obama's speech, I experienced momentary sense of relief.
Let's accept, in an instant, world changed completely post 9/11. World's political climate changed forever and the gruesome attacks on 9/11, established terrorism as legitimate tool for politics and religious fundamentalists. Islamic terrorists continued fierce "jihad" with deadly force at Bali, Riyadh, Madrid, London and India that changed the psyche of people world over. These heinous acts of Islamic radical fundamentalists made world accept terrorism as reality of the day and compelled us to learn to live with this nightmare!
Remember that black man, trying to jump off the twin tower? Images of macabre deaths caused by terrorist attacks still haunt our minds and the conscious. Have you experienced pain of watching tiny children play games of "terrorist and police"? Have you seen the expression of a child who plays role of a terrorist and goes about shooting his play mates with his toy gun? Every time I witness such scenes, something within snaps sharply.
I remember, some time back, after having learnt about incidents of bombings in Delhi, I called a friend of mine to check about him and his family. His response was shocking! He said, he and his family were fortunate to be safe and added that he didn't wish to watch the news of the incident on television as such attacks were "same world over, the same scenes of chaos, bodies lying in blood, people crying and the media going bonkers, as usual."
The death of Osama Bin Laden is certainly not an end of the global threat of terrorism. "Jihad will continue even if I am not around," Osama bin Laden had declared, long back. It is evident that radical Islamic terrorists groups like Al Queda will continue to massacre innocent people. Albeit, the greed for power that is often disguised as politics and religious fundamentalism would change the games hence forth.
For Mr. Barack Obama, and the U.S.A, death of Osama Bin Laden is a historic achievement. (Have we forgotten who created Osama Bin Laden and allowed him to grow?) The media has enough content and "theories" to last for few weeks, till it finds something equally important to focus on!
It is ordinary citizens like us who are finding it difficult to heal all the pain inflicted by terrorist attacks. We would still continue to worry for our loved ones. We would continue to witness random mayhem some where in the streets near us or in some other country and despite our insecurities and vulnerability, thank God for our safety.
What about the wounds that have deeply ingrained on humanity? What about the society that is becoming insensitive and numb? Well, we live in interesting times. We have learnt to maneuver our conscious, our psyche, our emotions and feelings in this ever changing world that hardly provides opportunities for a permanent closure.
