In unity is our strength

There are moments when words are useless. Black Tuesday was one such. The diabolical gunning down of over 30 devotees in the Akshardham Temp...

There are moments when words are useless. Black Tuesday was one such. The diabolical gunning down of over 30 devotees in the Akshardham Temple in Gandhinagar has brought Gujarat 8212; and India 8212; on the edge of the precipice once again. Even as we condemn it as an act of insanity, even as we deeply commiserate with the bereaved and hope for the complete recovery of the injured, we need to deploy every resource we have as a nation, strain every fibre, to secure the peace in the uncertain days ahead. The terrorists who stormed the temple have been defeated physically. But that was the easy part. The far greater challenge lies in defeating their project of hatred and communal polarisation. If we fail to do this, those who masterminded Tuesday8217;s attack would have ultimately succeeded. The recent history of Gujarat is just too calamitous to risk a repetition.

How, then, do we secure the peace? Already there is some evidence of wisdom gained at great cost. People everywhere, from all communities, have urgently and unitedly condemned the attack and expressed the need to remain calm, politicians have spoken in one voice, and those in charge of the local administration and the rule of law have been prompt to do the tasks required of them under such circumstances. But these are early days yet. One wrong move, one cynical manipulation of popular sentiment, and we could be back facing the barbarism of that infamous interregnum when Gujarat was reduced to an inferno and its people brought face-to-face with death. This is also not the time for bandhs and yatras because they introduce more tension in situations that are already fraught with uncertainty. Unfortunately, the Congress in the state 8212; its anxiety to reap political dividends out of this tragedy plainly visible 8212; rushed to declare Wednesday a bandh in Gujarat. The VHP, wanting to do one better, has declared today a national bandh. The Shiv Sena has followed suit. As for Gujarat8217;s chief minister, it will only be a matter of time before he rides his delusional gaurav chariot once again, even as words of abuse spew forth from his lips. The man seems incapable of learning anything, even as he forgets nothing.

All we can say is stop this endless churning of animus, this interminable pitting of community against community, religion against religion. No good can emerge from this. It can only breed unending insecurity, and a vicious cycle of violence and counter-violence from which can emerge no winners. Black Tuesday underlines one central truth: our security as a nation and as a people demands that we unite to defeat the terrorist, whether that threat emerges from outside the nation or from within it.