Dear Annie,
It has been ages since I last wrote to you. Every day when I
look around, there seems to be so many things to speak of or discuss but the
daily grind drains the wish out of me by the time I manage to get some time to
do so.
Nevertheless, I have managed to shed my lethargy and finally
write to you as I have been deeply disturbed over the past few weeks (months?).
Every day when I glance through the newspaper while sipping on my morning cup
of Darjeeling, I get depressed. Kashmir and more recently the Uri incidents
have left me feeling really empty. You know some random rioter in a so-called
urban posh Indian city actually felt he was better than “some random Kashmiri
stone-pelter” because he unlike the Kashmiri was “Indian”. Anyway, sorry I digress.
As usual, I wanted to offload my burden to you as who else
would have the patience to hear my ramble. The heightened rhetoric of
patriotism is really scary. We have alienated a large section of the populace
in Kashmir and now with the Uri incident the so-called enlightened internet
warriors are baying for blood. Cries for war and bombing our neighbouring state
fills my news feed and the posts are full of vitriol. Reading these leave me cold
every time.
Annie, do we realise that this is not that simple or
desirable or in any way sensible? What do we really want – the death of hundreds
/ thousands of sons, daughters, brothers, husbands or wives guarding our
borders to avenge the 17? Am damn well sure none of the people who spew hatred
from the comfort of their homes using their top-notch smartphones / laptops
will go to sacrifice their precious lives. So we are happy to let others die
for us while we claim the baton of patriotism. How exactly are we better than
those who send suicide bombers in that case??
I know, by now you must be itching to interrupt my rant to
tell me, so what do we do? Do we not avenge those who were killed? Do we not
make them pay? The answer unfortunately is also yes. It is high time that we do
take a tough stance but that stance is not through direct confrontation with a
nation that has highly unstable and unscrupulous government with access to
nuclear weapons. The modern warfare is perhaps won via economics and not guns.
Let us be prudent and let us be strong and let us try to prevent more deaths
rather than inciting for more. The government seems to have reacted on these
lines only which is heartening and I sincerely hope we find it in ourselves to
truly be strong and stop this cycle of hatred via the internet – YOU ARE NOT
HELPING.
I will stop now and hope once again you find it in you to be
patient enough to calm my agitated mind. When I write again maybe I will be
more positive
With all my best wishes,
Rain Messenger
