Pardon 26/11 murderers?
November 22nd, 2009
“Without forgiveness, life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.” And “The longing for vengeance is like craving for poison.” These lines are from an article written by Pierre Lavalle, a Canadian therapist, published in Times of India dated 22 Nov 09. He goes on to say that though it is very difficult for us but we should try and forgive those who carried out these terror attacks in Mumbai last year. Well, it had to come to this someday but it is rather surprising that Times of India published this article within just about an year of the most horrific terrorist attack on our soil. The call first got diluted from an all out war against Pakistan to just action against perpetrators of 26/11, then it got further watered down when Pak govt let go of one perpetrator after another while at the same time giving lip service of all possible help against terrorists even as our govt watched it helplessly and now sections of media within our own country are telling us that we should move on and forgive those murderers altogether, albeit on the prodding of westerners. The very fact that such an article has been published in the paper implies that the paper supports whatever is being written. Interestingly, when I wanted to link to this article on their website I could not find it, though everything else in today’s paper is very much there. But don’t worry. Here’s a scanned image of this article.
Forgive and forget- Tell that to Karambir Kang the manager of Taj who lost his wife and two sons in this attack. Tell that to little toddler Moshe who lost both his parents at Nariman House. Tell that to the woman who was a prostitute but was taken off the street by a sandwich vendor who died in this attack because of which she is quite likely back on the streets to feed her children. Tell that to the father of Major Unni Krishnan who laid down his life fighting these terrorists. Tell that to hundreds of other grieving relatives of all those who lost their lives or were handicapped for life. In fact Major Unni Krishnan’s father wants Ajmal Kasab to be hung from a lamp post. Quite ironically, this story too is in Times of India of the same date, ie 22 Nov 09. What it goes to show is the kind of respect the paper has for the feelings of kith and kin of people who lost their lives in 26/11 attacks. Or may be they are just plain inefficient to carry both these articles in the same edition published on the same day.
What the writer Pierre Lavalle conveniently overlooked is that we are not talking of vengeance any more. We are asking for justice. There is a big difference. Yes, quite a few Indians wanted us to wage a full scale war on Pakistan but that was immediately after these attacks. Things have cooled down a lot since then and now most of us only want justice. We want to see these perpetrators punished and the terror infrastructure in Pakistan demolished. Whats wrong with that? By the analogy given by this so called therapist we should forgive everyone who commits a crime and let them all lose on the streets to commit more crime. And then forgive them again. Forgiveness in such cases is not a sign of high morals or character but a sign of weakness and will only serve as an open invitation to terrorists to come and commit more such heinous acts. Quite frankly, it’s plain stupidity if not irresponsibility.
Whether this is a calculated manipulative move by westerners to shape public opinion within our country or not may not be very clear at this moment. But if it is, its pretty sad to see a well reputed Indian newspaper supporting such a move. Or is it because of some money which they may have got for this purpose? Quite frankly, I can’t really say for sure but I do have my doubts. Also, since Mr Lavalle is basically a Frenchman I wonder if he has asked the French govt to forgive Carlos, the Jackal who is serving a life sentence in France for several killings and bombings all across Europe. Has he tried to give that advice to Americans where trials of accused of 9/11 is currently in progress? If not, well here’s my advice to him- JUST SHUT UP AND MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS.
We will neither forgive and nor forget what happened in Mumbai. Not now. Not ever. As for Times of India, I hope they come out with an apology for this article which is in an absolutely poor taste. Lets see if they have the gumption to admit their mistake.
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November 22nd, 2009 at 1:27 pm
You are right. Revenge and justice are different things. Even the Bhagwad Gita says that those on the side of adharma should be defeated even if they are our own relatives and friends. In that sense it is important to punish not only Kasab but also the top conspirators behind this. It is really sad that these kind of pseudo-intellectuals are given space and encouraged by our media.
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Comments on : You are right. Revenge and jus....
Comment By : Sush
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November 22nd, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Its a co-incidence that we both chose to write on the same topic today! Yes, absolutely we must pardon, but not forgive. We need to work out a solution so that such situations doesn't arise anymore in future. Life is beautiful when everything is filled with love and happiness. But this cruel terrorism needs to be uprooted from the very grass root levels. I have proposed a solution on my blog.. let us see if people get to understand my point.
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November 22nd, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Again Hi Sush! I m here to bring discussion on (Forgive & Forget). No body is asking all Indians to forgive or forget.Sometimes when we see or listen things, might be hidden picture differs from the external truth.It is 100% true the power game will shift from west to east... Today's Macbeth knows his destiny... and who is new born baby who will demolish his false democratic presumption. Before Kargil issue, both countries were near to solve Kashmir and all pending issue. When Yanki knew he took help from Pakistani Army General to turmoil the peace process.
I know personally Lashkare Taiba people some were studying with me in college and university. They are very austere Muslims.. whereever the insurgency is going on in Kashmire ... not only this organization but the whole country help them. This religious faction abide by their true policy to attack Indian Army and Law Enforce Agency people.
It is against the spirit of its motto to attack innocent people as it happened in Mumbi is totally contrary to their policy. All Indians do not know they only believe what their Govt says. 9/11 was fraud becaz Americans mission to come to Afghanistan so that they cod able to destabilize the whole Asian region. If America captured Pakistan.. remember one thing.. it will be standing near to the door of India. Same mecanism can be deployed against India.
Who was Ajmal Kasab?... he was not definitely Pakistan. If u ask me, Pakistani Govt personnel and Media accepted that he was Pakistani. Majority of politicians and media channels are bought by American Officials.As Hillary accepted in one Press conference.. we are heavily investing on Pakistan. Then who is involved in Mumbi Drama ?... those who killed to Karkaray.. whose wife is not believing in the fabricated story of Government officials.. We know tri-powers ( America. Israel & Indian a few Zionists) want to destabilize Pakistan, they will cost heavily and badly.
I pray to Allah if we are on wrong path to demolish us. But if we are on right path, to expose our enemies and bring the possibility of our victory. Jeya Sach Hameisha kay leya
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November 23rd, 2009 at 8:32 am
be it paki indian american or any indivijual the truth-science-fact is that every indivijual reaps wot he sows...u throw a flower u get back a flower u throw shit on sumwun u get back shit on ur face.... do good get back good do wrong get back wrong--this is the simple science of human life.....KARMA RULEZ N WILL RULE FOREVER!!!!
also ppl watch this
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tv/Devdutt-Pattanaik-East-vs-west--the-myths-that-mystify/videoshow_ted/5247330.cms
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November 23rd, 2009 at 8:33 am
anyways nice article sush....hats off from swami www ji :-)
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Comments on : anyways nice article sush....h....
Comment By : Sush
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November 23rd, 2009 at 11:41 am
As for America, though I'm not exactly a supporter of their past policies which has lead to a divide between Muslims and the rest of the world, so to speak, but to say that Musharraf launched Kargil operations at the behest of Americans would be too far fetched.
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November 23rd, 2009 at 5:00 pm
I read this article in TOI and was immediately repulsed by it.......newspaper has gone nuts 2 say that v cn forgive nd forget. not only shud v not forget but v need 2 b careful that it doz not happen again......god willing.
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November 24th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
As far as forgiveness is concerned, though I think its the right thing to do right now, firstly nothing is really going to come out keep this guy in jail, or even hanging him, it will obly give some more peoople a reason to avenge his death which will mean another terrior attack, secondly if we forgive him it will give a good signal to the people around the world. Having said that forgiving him would mean having to deal with allot of angry victims who have loast thier near and dear ones.
Anyways great article as always. :)
There is a small poem i have dedicated to the people affected in the Mumbai Attacks. here is the link:
http://tavishviews.blogspot.com/2009/11/tribute-to-people-who-died-on-2611_23.html
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November 24th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
@Tavish, r u really serious abt this?
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November 24th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
@Govind: Well thats just an opinion. All I wanted to say was that hanging him wouldnt solve the problem, thats all, I too like all other indians feel very emotionally about this the Mumbai carnage, but somehow when I think of Kasab, I dont think hanging him would solve the issue. Thats all.
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November 25th, 2009 at 1:14 am
Yes Tavish, hanging Kasab does not solve the problem of terrorism. Does writing poems bring the people who died back to life?
It is not a question of revenge but it is the question of justice and law of the land. When we have hanged many Indians who were convicted of murder why should we pardon Kasab? It is nowadays fashionable to call for the abolition of death penalty and the pardoning of terrorists. You don't realize that the best way to deal with baby killers and serial rapists is to kill them. Any other way (like life sentence) only increases the expenses for the tax payer who is also affected by terrorism.
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