While You are Sleeping : The Young India

Kartikey Sehgal

If you have read the articles on Jammu and Kashmir (here and here), then you’d know that the Kashmir land issue was political fabrication. While political parties were wasting time in preparing for elections in the state, and provoking people to kill, a bunch of people were preparing to plant some bombs in Delhi.

The politicians and the bomb planters achieved their aim.

The politicians succeeded in dividing people in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) along religious lines but the bomb planters united many religions on September 13 when the survivors and family of victims cursed terrorism despite any prior religious bias.

Perhaps it can be inferred that had the bombs been planted in empty places, with the blasts not hurting or killing people, the event would have been more meaningful than the wasteful exercise of the government and its rivals in J&K.

The elected representatives of ‘We the People’ spent months over an infertile stretch of land when they could have planned to start thinking about public safety. And therefore, should we not tell the aggrieved families–if they ask us– that the source of their anguish lies in the minds of decorative kurtas and seamless cotton saris?

It can be expected that the thrust of politicians would be towards managing people and soothing their fears instead of generating ideas to prevent future killings.

A solution that has taken centre stage is the formulation of a ‘Federal Agency’ to deal with terrorism or religious killings. If this idea, floated some years back, had force and purpose behind it, then it would have been implemented immediately. It was rejected by the political opposition that is now keen to accept it since it is in power.

This is an apt example of the usage, ‘playing with lives’.

A solution that I propose has assumed a sense of cliché among the non thinking section of the people who are bored or discouraged by promises of social change. Education.

I have mentioned about education in my earlier story on ‘Orrisa Riots‘.

“While you are building nuclear missiles, the country may be bustling with riots.
Make some libraries and schools. Include sex education in every curriculum.”

Open public libraries and stop censorship. Let people indulge themselves in subjects of their choice and do away with the importance given to religious identity. Let children and adults unite under the pretext of thought. If a thought has any potency, then it will not advocate murder or injury. A human thought that is allowed unhindered exploration of the self generates ideas for its betterment.

Understand this.

The number of religious killings may reduce if we allow education to anybody who seeks it. The unlettered masses must be set free from adopting the thoughts of the politicians and they must think for their self.

Illustration: Kartikey Sehgal

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The Young India

While You are Sleeping

on September 15, 2008

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