Pulwama: On The Day Of Love When Hatred Reared Its Ugly Head

Posted: February 16, 2019

The Pulwana terror attack is to be condemned, but we need to do more than that, to support the families left behind by those who died, and to stop this cycle of violence somehow.

When the world celebrated love, 40 families lost their loved ones. In a gruesome and despicable attack, the men who believed in the power of hatred managed to slay more than 40 innocent custodians of our country.

The entire nation stands united in condemning this attack and in sympathizing with the families of the martyrs. Each political party had its own way of retaliating verbally to this attack, the US condemned it, the UN also offered its views, but is that enough?

The aftermath of the terror attacks

More than 40 coffins covered in the tricolor will reach their hometowns to a grieving mother, to a widowed wife or to an orphaned child. There will be outrage by the media, there will be political blame game, there will be multiple tweets, Whatsapp posts and forwards and probably a counter attack where hopefully many more terrorists lose their lives.

After this revenge, the terrorists will want to kill more people and they will hit back in a much more gruesome way and the hatred will continue, innocent lives will be lost and the entire nation will be grieving for them all over again. There may never be an end to this cycle of death. Like I read in a Whatsapp forward, the terrorists have nothing to lose. They are trained to die, they fight to die and their families have lost them anyway. There is nothing appalling about the terrorists dying as they are brainwashed into it.

But spare a thought about the families of those 40 martyrs and there are so many things that come to my mind. It is so easy and convenient for us to condemn the attack, forward some messages, add some tweets; many of us could never go beyond that.

I’m not sure how many people would give a thought to the survival of those families that have been left behind. I doubt if the jobs that these martyrs have been in, offers the privilege of a respectful salary and perks thereof which the families can brag about. So there may never be a question of people of their cadre living off a fortune that has been left behind. Furthermore, I wonder if even the pension that these families get will be enough for them to take care of their essential needs.

The actual help that needs to be offered

It is indeed heartwarming to see the nation come together and condemn the act. No matter what is done, nobody can ever make up the losses of these families. What these families need is not a series of Whatsapp forwards or tweets, they probably need jobs to sustain their families, they probably need financial aid to educate their children and take care of the elderly members therein.

As an individual and not connected with the armed forces in any way, it is very difficult for me to connect to a genuine organization that supports the families of these martyrs. It is assumed that their own organizations, i.e. the Services would probably be doing the needful for them. But the fact remains that beyond a certain measure I assume that their own organizations cannot do much for them because of their own limitations.

It would be a great initiative if the celebrities and the erstwhile industrialists could use their connections and promote genuine organizations, or come up with new organizations that can work for the support and benefit of these families. I presume that these families need and deserve more than just homage. Their loved ones died in the service of the nation and such a nation can definitely do better than just tweet and message in solidarity.

I cannot even imagine the plight of those who witnessed this inhuman act and watched their comrades die. No matter how much a soldier is prepared for this day, it seems so traumatic to handle the coffins of the very people that you lived with, day in and day out. Not 1, not 2 but more than 40 of them.

Their sacrifice will be avenged for sure, as it has been in the past. I shudder to think this, but the hate will continue. The question is when will all this end and where will it all lead to? The answers are unknown, but devastation is assured. Only time will tell whether it is more of my countrymen who will see the end or it will be the inhuman carriers of hatred.

For now, let us pray that peace prevails and we cease to lose innocent lives.

Image source: YouTube

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