Saying no to madness

After last week’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai, I sent a sms text message to a friend in the city asking about the situation. Her one-word reply summed it up: “Madness.”

Terrorists cause mayhem in the largest possible scale to send a message about their cause. They know no boundaries, and merely shrug their shoulders when “collateral damage” like Singaporean Lo Huei Yen die in the process. They do not wage a conventional war, but murder those who do not have a chance to defend themselves. And there little logic to terrorism and terrorists.

They initially targeted American, British and Israeli nationals in Mumbai, but eventually killed people from Japan, Singapore and Malaysia as well. They claimed to be exacting revenge for acts committed against their religion, but people belonging to their faith died in the process as well. They apparently targeted those who opposed their cause, but how can that include those who were watching cricket in a cafe, having dinner with friends in a restaurant, or simply walking by a beachfront marina?

Here, however, is their biggest problem. They may have a political or ideological aim, but our reaction matters as much as their goals. They want to change the way we behave and live our lives and, ultimately, their success or failure lies in our response as well.

It can be tempting to turn this into a religious or racial issue but that would be myopic. Discrimination is the worst possible response to terrorism. Around the world, people fight or kill while claiming to be atheists, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, or Muslims. The problem is that all of us fall under one of those labels. Yet, all of us love peace and condemn such attacks as firmly as we can. Generalisations only help the terrorists.

We should not cocoon ourselves either. A friend’s colleague cancelled her long-planned trip to India to attend a former classmate’s wedding due to fears about more attacks. The fear is understandable but this, again, is the wrong response. Statistically, there are many things with a higher chance of killing us when we step out of our front door. Even if we simply stay at home all the time, there is no guarantee of safety.

My job requires me to travel overseas a fair bit and every time I board an aircraft, there is always a slight fear at the back of my mind. My family and friends, I know, are worried as well. Yet, that does not stop me. You see, only the terrorists will win if we allow them to stop us from doing what we want to do. We cannot allow the madness to rule our world.

The best answer to terrorists is to give them the middle finger and carry on with our lives.