by Anup Dixit

Created on: April 08, 2009

First things first. Let's not call this "Muslim Extremism". It is simply extremism. There are a whole lot of good muslims in this world, and we need their support to tackle the current terror situation in the world. Basically, no religion preaches violence. So, anyone who indulges in violence is not a religious person, in the first place. So, we cannot link such a person (terrorist) to any religion. There are bad people all over the world. It is just that today majority of the terrorists happen to be muslims, by birth only. Since Islam itself preaches peace, such people cannot claim to be followers of Islam. They have left religion far, far behind.

Now, coming to the debate title, well, extremism has definitely damaged world tourism, but it would be rather pre-mature at this stage, to declare such damage as 'Irrevocable'. Today, no country in the world is safe. We all have to accept that once we leave home in the morning, there is no guarantee of getting back. Even if you are at home, there is no guarantee that suddenly your home won't be bombed. As technology has advanced for the better, well the bad guys also have access to it. It is very much possible to spread damage in one corner of the globe, by sitting in some other corner of the globe. This is a situation that we have to live with now, day in and day out.

So, what should we do now? Live in fear, and die everyday, mentally? Sorry, that's no solution. Come what may, I will go to work everyday. When I take leave, I will go on my vacation. At worst, I'll get killed someday (maybe even in some other country). My name may or may not be reported in the media (or I may just be one of the numbers of the people reported killed), but at least I will die only once, not several times everyday, out of fear. At least I will have the satisfaction of living my entire life fearlessly, that is without being terrorised. Dear readers, if I can do that, then I think I would have defeated the terrorists, by not succumbing to their efforts to terrorise me.

However, just keeping this attitude is not the final solution. This is only the starting point. Next, we have to accept Muslims all over the world as one of our own, with all equal rights and more importantly, responsibilities (please note - no special favors for anybody). If we go against all muslims, then we will only increase the number of terrorists plaguing this world, thereby compounding our problems. Then I will probably have to vote "YES" for the debate title. Alternately,

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>