Innocents paying the price of terrorism

JULY 25, 2008, was a pleasant Friday evening and me and my family were making plans for the weekend. Suddenly, a headline flashed across the TV screen. “Seven blasts in the city of Bangalore……………” The news left us in terrible dismay.
Terror attacks have occurred in the past also, but today the world is experiencing its worldwide reincarnation. Not only are developing countries, even the world’s super powers, are stirred by this terrible monster. On September 11, 2001, the United States of America experienced the biggest terror attack of the century. The attack took a toll of thousands of lives and yet another thousand were left injured.
However, be it US or any other place in the world, the end affect is always devastating. Our country, India, the largest democracy in the world is also not safe from terrorism. A country known for its diversity is paying high costs to maintain the unity in variety. The northern state of India, Jammu and Kashmir, remains under the terror threat for the entire year.
The eastern borders shared with Nepal, Bhutan and China, face equal tensions throughout. The southern and the western borders of the country, with the presence of Indian Ocean, and Pakistan and Sri Lanka as neighbor countries, are also under similar threat. But be it a political, religious or a cross country issue, terrorism hits hard on the ordinary people of the country.
Whenever any bomb blasts or other violent mishaps occur it is the common man who suffers the most. Deaths, injuries, mental trauma, everything is served on the platter to lower and middle class strata of the society with compensation by government as the topping.
The turmoil , however, does not reach its end after the tragedy; it sustains for a longer period. The entire society gets affected. People fear to step out of their houses. Schools get closed, businesses are shut and whole economy suffers.
Additionally, terrorism erodes the safety and security of the people in one blow and also questions the control and order of the surroundings. The deliberate violence creates long lasting mental effects unlike the natural death or disasters.
The consequences are prolonged and people feel that injustice has been done to them. Depression, distress and fear nestle in the young impressionable minds of the students. The behavioral changes are also observed in the children post attacks.
Although, majority of the countries in the world are fighting together to overthrow this deep rooted evil; the cost is being paid by the innocent people alone.
At the end one can only narrate the following lines by Helen Keller: “I do not want the peace that passeth understanding. I want the understanding which bringeth peace.”