7/11
Speech at 2006 Union Terrace before the Jazz fest-
I am Som and I belong to a city called Bombay “Mumbai” in India also called the City of Dreams/The Home of Bollywood.
This week on July 11th at 6.30 pm local time Bombay was struck by a series of 7 deadly bomb blasts, which left 149 dead and counting and hundreds injured in a span of 11 minutes. Bombay was struck before in 1993 by a series of 12 Bomb Blasts, which left 250 dead and several injured. This happened even before the word “War on Terror” was coined.
Bombay with a city of 18.4 million is a mirror to India in itself. Founded by the British and Portuguese in the 1600. Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Zoroastrians, Jains etc have all lived side by side for over two centuries. Bombay is more like a city of foreigners and although nobody belongs to Bombay, everyone wants to belong to it. The unprovoked terror attacks today are one the most dastardly attacks on innocent civilians. If they had ever a message, they have diluted it with the insensitivity of the nature of these attacks. People, who were traveling in the rush hour to get back home and loved one , had their journey cut short without their knowledge. No one should accept such a brutal attack as a means for a negotiation or discussion. As part of civil societies and democracy worldwide, we cannot accept this form of action as a means of expression or negotiation. Terrorism can happen anywhere to anybody regardless whether its east or west.
I quote a view of the reader from the BBC, which I think speaks volumes of what lessons we can learn through the coming days.
India has shown great restraint and a far more mature approach to the terrorist threat than other countries. The Indian heritage of non-violence and universal justice will prevail far more forcefully than unnecessary wars, profiteering and deaths of soldiers and civlians alike.Mario Benefede, Rome, Italy
With this I ask all of you all to join me in observing a minute of silence in the solemn memory of the victims of the terror attacks in the city of Mumbai.
Now the Show may go on.
I am Som and I belong to a city called Bombay “Mumbai” in India also called the City of Dreams/The Home of Bollywood.
This week on July 11th at 6.30 pm local time Bombay was struck by a series of 7 deadly bomb blasts, which left 149 dead and counting and hundreds injured in a span of 11 minutes. Bombay was struck before in 1993 by a series of 12 Bomb Blasts, which left 250 dead and several injured. This happened even before the word “War on Terror” was coined.
Bombay with a city of 18.4 million is a mirror to India in itself. Founded by the British and Portuguese in the 1600. Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Zoroastrians, Jains etc have all lived side by side for over two centuries. Bombay is more like a city of foreigners and although nobody belongs to Bombay, everyone wants to belong to it. The unprovoked terror attacks today are one the most dastardly attacks on innocent civilians. If they had ever a message, they have diluted it with the insensitivity of the nature of these attacks. People, who were traveling in the rush hour to get back home and loved one , had their journey cut short without their knowledge. No one should accept such a brutal attack as a means for a negotiation or discussion. As part of civil societies and democracy worldwide, we cannot accept this form of action as a means of expression or negotiation. Terrorism can happen anywhere to anybody regardless whether its east or west.
I quote a view of the reader from the BBC, which I think speaks volumes of what lessons we can learn through the coming days.
India has shown great restraint and a far more mature approach to the terrorist threat than other countries. The Indian heritage of non-violence and universal justice will prevail far more forcefully than unnecessary wars, profiteering and deaths of soldiers and civlians alike.Mario Benefede, Rome, Italy
With this I ask all of you all to join me in observing a minute of silence in the solemn memory of the victims of the terror attacks in the city of Mumbai.
Now the Show may go on.
Comments