Gandhi gave up his life to instill non-violence,
Terrorism is taking lives to defy all sense.

Day in and day out, there’s news reports coming in on extremists’ actions taking valuable lives. From being isolated incidents across the world, this is now stretching to specific regions of the world being isolated. The justification from the perpetrators is that of fulfilling their ideologies but no matter what angle you look at it, there can be simply no reason to consume innocent lives. The extremists or terrorists, however you word them, have no right to take away something they didn’t create, period.

First it was the 09/11, then the London bombings, the Mumbai blasts in between – all gave widespread publicity. Interspersed between these incidents, I am sure there are other cases in lesser known places around the world which did not get the same publicity. Irrespective of the prosperity of the land affected, the bottom line was – human lives were lost. From being a regional menace, the issue on hand became a global problem with the mighty joining hands to eradicate this thorn of society.

There are various theories as to who helped groom the ‘bad elements’ of the respective societies. In some cases it was the local law of the land, in some cases external forces were to be blamed. In a few cases, oppression even was to be pointed at. I will leave the so called analysts and experts to provide judgmental opinions on the cause and effects of allowing this to blossom. The point I wish to make is simply this – there has to be a solution, and quickly at that, for the impact of every such incident has far reaching effects of gigantic proportions. I don’t think there is any disagreement that the majority of such blatant activities originate from a specific region of the world.

As soon as he took oath, the President of the United States, in spite of offering continued economic assistance and offering other support systems to the country in question, minced no words in highlighting this region as the problematic one, in one of his very first speeches. Canada and the United States are still debating how to get out of one side of this very region, and the Canadian premier even offered his honest insight yesterday that it may be impossible to defeat the insurgency there.

The political diplomacy didn’t work, the governments resorted to using coercion and when that didn’t work, they used force. But that isn’t working by any stretch of imagination. What’s the alternative? However controversial it may sound, I would take an “isolation” philosophy and approach to determining a solution – abandon all forms of trade with the region; stop providing economic aid or military assistance.

Isolate the region by preventing anything other than medical or humanitarian support systems to pass through, either inside or outside. Yes, the initial going would be tough for the locals, but the governments’ hands would be forced as its now a solely internal issue, instead of a regional or global problem, and they have to fix it. The most complex of problems have the seemingly simplest of solutions – maybe this does too.

Image Credit: Saital

Popularity: 13%

There was a furore in January when the Indian cricket team refused to tour Pakistan for a much awaited cricket series, citing security reasons. While the Indians thought it was absolutely rationale, the Pakistanis didn’t think so.

Their cricketing greats came out in strong opposition of the move saying that this was a black day for cricket. Their former captain turned politician, Imran Khan was the loudest of them all criticizing India and saying that sports was beyond politics and hatred and that India backing out was bad for the game.

He was joined by his erstwhile opening partner, Wasim Akram who too was surprisingly critical of India’s decision. Wasim’s reaction was a bit of a surprise for me as he always comes across as a logical person. The fact that he has logic is manifested in the fact that he is invited to comment on the game across the world. As they started off this India bashing, several other Pakistani players joined in.

I am a patriotic citizen and I completely understand how it feels when someone talks ill of your country. That said, one needs to apply logic to rationalize what is said before you react to criticism. The cricketing greats of our neighboring country didn’t and went out lashing with their loose tongue. In less than 60 days from their claim that their country was safe for cricketers has come back to slash mud on their faces.

A 26/11 style terrorist attack was unleashed on the Sri Lankan team that went to tour Pakistan as a replacement for India.  6 of them have been injured and are in hospital. The tour has been called off.

It’s a known secret that Pakistan is an epicenter of terror around the world. The fact that the Taliban has their government by their b***s and beat them into humble submission to their demand is evidence enough. What’s equally puzzling is the fact that the crickets who spoke so strongly against India’s decision have their residences in the heart of central London and don’t live themselves in their country that they speak so highly of!

While my heart goes out to the Sri Lankan players, I pray and hope that they recover soon. As for Pakistan cricket, this is their Black Day, a day that no cricket playing country will forget. As far as I can see it, the international cricket stadiums can now be converted into play grounds for kids as no team will ever step in to that country to play cricket ever! A decision on whether to convert them into play grounds or training fields will be taken by the Taliban I am sure!

While they say hind sight in 20-20, I am so thankful and glad that our cricketers chose not to go. Thank god for small mercies. Should this have happened to Indian cricketers who are larger than life here, there would have been another war! The result though, very different!

Image Credit: Prakhar

Popularity: 17%