This is a great topic - global, impersonal and deep....
As all of us reasonable people know, most of us are above being partisan; least of all based on religion. Terrorism or violence of any kind has been there as long as humans have been. Its specific linkage to Islam is a rather new phenomenon since the birth of Islam; Christianity has also used terrorism from its birth to seize control over the world from Judaism. I remember having great muslim friends in my village with whom I studied and grew up; we went to the mosque and temple together. Many of you would have had similar experiences. It was even more harmonious during the immediately previous generation. But following events in my opinion have had large bearing in getting us to where we are now:
1. Polarisation of the world from the WWs,
2. Brewing of anti-colonial spirit therefrom,
3. Emergence of muslim leaders who successfully took advantage of nuances in Islam to propagate religion based politics,
4. Formation of Pakistan due to shrewd politicians both Muslim and other wise,
5. Rise of religion based politics in other countries (like Egypt, Turkey),
6. Rise of fundamentalist clerics backed by parties in all these countries,
7. Exploitation of cold war opportunities by these countries and these clerics,
8. Creation of Frankenstein monsters like Al Quaida (a.k.a Mekhtab el Khidmat which had direct funding from US congress prior to re-christening), Taliban (part of the same funds indirectly flowed here too),
9. Learning by example from these groups by other terrorist groups like ISIS (further morphing channelizing the same funds)
10. Continued scheming politics by the above mentioned political and religious entities,
11. Continued funding by the leading rich nations in the world,
12. Mushrooming growth of such terrorist organisations
..... and here we are.
Some of it may sound too simplistic and life is not, I agree. And, I am limited by my individual knowledge/information. However, by and large, we have come to be here pretty much because of the age old principle - 'Counted few decide the destiny of millions; the latter are lucky if the former are good.' In this case there may have not been very many good people amongst the one who shaped the destiny of billions in the last 1500 years. Just a matter of probability, and time and place.
And as regards religion, I would like to share a nice analogy I read somewhere. Sikhhism is in infancy/childhood (700 years plus). Islam is about 1300 years plus or minus (?) which is the tumultous youth years (from 1000 to 1500years) for religions. Christianity is about 2000 years plus and that signifies mature adulthood (1700 onwards). Judaism (>2200), Buddhism (>2500) and Sanatan dharm or Hinduism (>5000/10,000/20,000/...) in that order (later is older) have aged gracefully to wise old ages. Similar templates can be applied to other known faiths/religions.
Its a dynamic world; stuff happens and will continue to happen. We are a sum total of how we were conceived, where/to whom we were born and what all we have been through and what all we have taken ourselves through in life. In many of these we do not have much choices, just like bulk of the terrorists who end up blowing themselves and others, and the boy in 'Slumdog Millionaire' movie who was force-blinded by the beggar gang owner.
From the time time we get cognition, life may present us opportunities to make a difference to our lives and the world, but only to those of us who want to - like the black american youth who says no to drugs and bad company and chooses to dream being the president of the United States (and millions of such examples). What we make of those opportunities matters to ourselves first, and then to the world. So do our individual religions, faiths and beliefs.
As all of us reasonable people know, most of us are above being partisan; least of all based on religion. Terrorism or violence of any kind has been there as long as humans have been. Its specific linkage to Islam is a rather new phenomenon since the birth of Islam; Christianity has also used terrorism from its birth to seize control over the world from Judaism. I remember having great muslim friends in my village with whom I studied and grew up; we went to the mosque and temple together. Many of you would have had similar experiences. It was even more harmonious during the immediately previous generation. But following events in my opinion have had large bearing in getting us to where we are now:
1. Polarisation of the world from the WWs,
2. Brewing of anti-colonial spirit therefrom,
3. Emergence of muslim leaders who successfully took advantage of nuances in Islam to propagate religion based politics,
4. Formation of Pakistan due to shrewd politicians both Muslim and other wise,
5. Rise of religion based politics in other countries (like Egypt, Turkey),
6. Rise of fundamentalist clerics backed by parties in all these countries,
7. Exploitation of cold war opportunities by these countries and these clerics,
8. Creation of Frankenstein monsters like Al Quaida (a.k.a Mekhtab el Khidmat which had direct funding from US congress prior to re-christening), Taliban (part of the same funds indirectly flowed here too),
9. Learning by example from these groups by other terrorist groups like ISIS (further morphing channelizing the same funds)
10. Continued scheming politics by the above mentioned political and religious entities,
11. Continued funding by the leading rich nations in the world,
12. Mushrooming growth of such terrorist organisations
..... and here we are.
Some of it may sound too simplistic and life is not, I agree. And, I am limited by my individual knowledge/information. However, by and large, we have come to be here pretty much because of the age old principle - 'Counted few decide the destiny of millions; the latter are lucky if the former are good.' In this case there may have not been very many good people amongst the one who shaped the destiny of billions in the last 1500 years. Just a matter of probability, and time and place.
And as regards religion, I would like to share a nice analogy I read somewhere. Sikhhism is in infancy/childhood (700 years plus). Islam is about 1300 years plus or minus (?) which is the tumultous youth years (from 1000 to 1500years) for religions. Christianity is about 2000 years plus and that signifies mature adulthood (1700 onwards). Judaism (>2200), Buddhism (>2500) and Sanatan dharm or Hinduism (>5000/10,000/20,000/...) in that order (later is older) have aged gracefully to wise old ages. Similar templates can be applied to other known faiths/religions.
Its a dynamic world; stuff happens and will continue to happen. We are a sum total of how we were conceived, where/to whom we were born and what all we have been through and what all we have taken ourselves through in life. In many of these we do not have much choices, just like bulk of the terrorists who end up blowing themselves and others, and the boy in 'Slumdog Millionaire' movie who was force-blinded by the beggar gang owner.
From the time time we get cognition, life may present us opportunities to make a difference to our lives and the world, but only to those of us who want to - like the black american youth who says no to drugs and bad company and chooses to dream being the president of the United States (and millions of such examples). What we make of those opportunities matters to ourselves first, and then to the world. So do our individual religions, faiths and beliefs.
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