Human Tragedy In Mumbai

“The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion.”

~Arthur C. Clarke


The gunfire was deafening. The kind of gut-wrenching sound that
echoes throughout your bones and makes you put your hand over your heart to keep it from falling out.

Screams followed. Lots of screams. People running. Running to get out of the way. Some of them shot - severely wounded. Others killed. Blood and bodies everywhere. Dismembered body parts. Chaos. Sheer chaos.

The Mumbai terrorists attacks that started on November 26, 2008 and ended November 29, 2008, killing 195 people and wounding 295 - affected people all over the world. Once again it reminded us of the kind of world we live.

A society pulling a double shift - that which is full of love and alas, that which is filled with hate - the latter which we often see as a result of such an attack. Extremists hell-bent on religious retribution and replacing religious texts with AK-47’s, ordered to “kill until the last breath.”

An act that sizzles beyond foreign policy into the toxic power and control machinations which comes down to the aeonian aggrandizement of comparison - my God is bigger than your God.

Though Britons and Americans were targeted, all nationalities were at risk and all came together to fight off those extreme bullies with guns.
Images of the Taj Mahal hotel engulfed with orange fire and black smoke and CCTV photos of the attackers dressed in black filled television screens all over the world.

During the 60 hours of the gunmen terrorizing India’s financial capital, Indian commandos dropped from helicopters and took the Taj Mahal hotel by force. The ordeal would also provide each survivor with their own story to tell.

An Australian man picked up his injured girlfriend and carried her to safety after she was shot.

A British man who desperately tried to escape an approaching terrorist in a hotel elevator by pounding the “CLOSE” button and then quickly pulling an injured Japanese man's foot inside that had been blocking the door.

A French woman who was vis-à-vis with a gunman carrying an AK- 47 that was bigger than him.

The hotel restaurant staff that laid on the floor in the dark for over six hours silently texting friends and family while the hotel lobby was burning.

Disasters and tragedies happen all over the world from tsunami’s, earthquakes, fires, to terrorists attacks. They shake us to the core. They rattle our cages. They are a red flag to our mortality, but do they shatter our faith?

Imagine going to work and dying before you can come home to your family? Most people are not ready to die, we are full of life, but life comes with a price - death.

There’s something unsettling about terrorist attacks. No matter how many times we hear about them, they are still discomposing. What is it going to take to end political unrest? How many people have to die at the hands of extremists?

I don’t know anybody in Mumbai. I have never been there, but I hear it’s cry. I mourn it’s deaths. They are the deaths of us all.

How can we combat the evils of society? How can we maintain an equilibrium and continue to be happy?

We have to act from love in everything we do. We have to breathe love and leave everyone with love. Make our actions gentle. Have faith that on some level we are reaching those unreachable Souls with hate in their hearts.

Rely on the fact that regardless of doctrine, we are alike. We were all made from love. It shouldn’t be difficult to maintain love.

We live in a society where attacks will continue to happen. While I am not advocating that we should live in fear, I am saying that the only way to combat it is with love - love - love.

Additional Facts.

During the two days of violence in Mumbai, 6.1 billion of the world's estimated 6,602,224,175 citizens did not commit violence against anyone else, and instead went about trying to improve their own lives and the lives of their children.

Although 217 people per day in the United States are killed, injured or commit suicide with the deliberate use of firearms, the coverage of the Mumbai attack far outweighs the coverage of firearm deaths in the US -- by a ratio of nearly 100% to 0%.

The World Heath Organization reports that during 48 hours of violence in Mumbai, more than 50,000 people --including 36,000 children -- have starved to death elsewhere in the world.

Asked why the network didn't report this death toll with as much Breaking News urgency, a CNN spokesman told the AP,

"That would just make the viewer feel bad and guilty, and might even make them think about having some sort of personal responsibility in resolving the situation -- in which case, they wouldn't watch. Our viewers prefer to meditate on subjects which bring about the emotions of anger at someone else's misdeeds, and which can be easily resolved -- at least theoretically and in movies -- by dropping bombs or killing someone."

The motives of the Mumbai terrorist cells is reportedly a desire for the democratic governments of India and the United States to respond by crushing the liberties of their citizens, making it easier for the terrorist groups to stir discontent and recruit eager followers. The two governments have responded swiftly, issuing terror alerts, increasing fruitless searches, and generally trying to accommodate the terrorist's wishes.

These additional facts were added by my friend Maithri, a doctor who brings life and love to a many patients and people around the world, especially Swaziland - a country with the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the world - 42%. As such it has the highest number of AIDS orphans in the world - 10% of the population.

20 thousand people die of terrorist attacks each year.

3 million die from HIV in the same year. And every 3 seconds of every day a child under 15 dies because they have nothing to eat.

Thanks Maithri.

Can we achieve world peace? Should we live in fear? What do you think?