The 62-hour attacks on Mumbai, India, which began last Wednesday, have reaffirmed many individuals’ belief in the inherent cruelty and malice of which human beings are capable. These attacks, much like other equally heinous events in history, have shown the ultimate forms of inhumanity in the human condition, allowing for the ability to “gleefully”—as one victim described the terrorists’ actions at the Taj Mahal Hotel—snub out another’s existence. The terrorist actions in Mumbai were deeply tragic and heart-wrenching. While entire families were torn apart, some even completely eliminated, the aftermath of the attacks brought on a wave of goodwill, generosity, and selflessness the world has not seen since perhaps the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
It was this goodwill, generosity, and selflessness in the form of donations, warm thoughts, articles, e-mails, and Facebook groups, even before the tragedy’s conclusion, that provided me with proof that human beings are not inherently evil, unlike the terrorists who sacrificed their humanity. As a Hindu Indian American, I was especially touched by an e-mail sent out by Hillel—the foundation for Jewish campus life—offering their condolences, sincerest wishes, and prayers that our families were safe. Although Jews were killed and taken hostage in the Mumbai Chabad house, there was no need for them to send the e-mail. It was simply a selfless deed, which made me and others feel better about the situation, the nature of evil, and life.
It was also amazing to see how quickly a diverse array of organizations—not just South Asian ones—wanted to respond to the attacks by hosting a joint event. These groups came together and arranged a candlelight vigil for this Wednesday night, spending hours planning during their breaks, as a show of support to the families of the victims. I shamelessly encourage all of you to attend. Even if you feel that intercessory prayer does not work, a vigil—as a close friend explained to me—“mitigates fear and encourages a feeling of togetherness.” This is a way we as Columbia students can fight against terrorism. By diminishing fear, we are effectively standing up against terrorists’ efforts and efficiently making them futile.
The aspect of goodwill and social responsibility that I found most appealing were the speedy efforts on and off campus to disassociate the terrorists with Islam. This is an issue I feel strongly about, as I lost one of my closest friends due to a vengeful Sept. 11 hate crime in October 2001. Many Muslims—as well as Sikhs, who are commonly mistaken for being Muslim—who I know in the city are again scared they may be targeted as a result of mistaken associations of their religions and ethnicities with the Mumbai attacks. To these individuals and their allies, I encourage you to speak out about your religions and explain your positions on these very emotional matters clearly and openly. To everyone, we should all work with our respective communities to facilitate forums to discuss these issues and to remove the tarnish that the Mumbai terrorists have again created. By doing this we can bring ourselves to undo much of the damage that has been done to the reputations of these religions and peoples by other similar acts of violence in the last decade.
A closing item that I must mention, and one that brings me deep sadness, is how it took yet another globally-felt sorrow to bring us together as a community and world. Just as Isaac Newton sought to explain how masses attract each other, we should seek to explain why we are becoming so connected. Is it only in the face of tragedies such as this? Or is it because we are truly growing closer as a world and species?
I cannot claim to have an answer to either of these questions, as I am still unsure myself. I can only hypothesize and hope that the answer lies in the second question, in that we are becoming more unified for the sake of being unified. I hope that our togetherness is not spurred by a practiced response to tragedies, or by desires to just be tolerant of one another, but rather to form a genuine reciprocity of congenial emotions that allows us to see everyone equally. When one group puts itself in opposition to another group, a new dynamic forms. In this new dynamic, the members of the said groups become protective of their respective members for only—and this is the disheartening part—as long as the opposition lasts. We have reacted this way to past tragedies, coming together when it has been Tragedy versus Us. But is this the way we should operate? Would it not be better if we always were a unified human home team, regardless of whether we even had an opponent?
So even after the Mumbai terrorist attacks become but a memory, I hope you continue to interact with those who are not in your community. I strongly ask that you go out and work for the greater good with other communities as has been, and continues to be, done in the current situation. This is the way to vigilantly remain the paragon of goodness humanity has shown itself to be, without the need for another tragic occurrence.
Kanak Gupta is a General Studies student studying econometrics.