The world has turned mighty strange. The bizarre events in Nevada and Texas in the United States recently, whereby lone gunmen took to using firearms and taking the lives of more than 85 innocent individuals, is indeed disturbing. One gunman fired into a street festival on the streets of Las Vegas, killing 59 people, while the other marched into a church in rural Texas and shot at the congregation assembled. Twenty-six innocent people died that day.
These acts of violence committed by heavily armed individuals make one painfully aware that criminals come in all forms and disguises. This time, they were hiding behind the cloak of ordinary members of society with no external signs of impending violence or aggression. What was coursing through their minds were the plans to put into action their deviate ideas.
In that they are terrorists and criminals, there is no question. For what they were planning to perpetuate was an act of violence against innocent people. And that has zero-tolerance in a civilised community. Such terrorists are no different than those who pretend to carry out their macabre deeds using religion to justify their motives. In all the great religions, there are no footprints for such dastardly deeds.
For the terrorists who survive the assaults that they perpetuate, the authorities must deal with them swiftly and firmly. And we the public must be supportive of counter-terrorism agencies as well, for indiscriminate violence touches each one of us.
While terrorism is being exercised often at large scale against innocent people through state-sponsored mandates that bomb and kill indiscriminately, there is no excuse for those fringe elements who have decided to give light to their grievances through the bodily harm of innocent people who had no part to play in the twisted minds of these violent individuals.
The violence that is being disseminated in our region today almost on a daily basis may have contributed to the rise in this perverted way of thinking. It is transforming minds into a hate-filled psyche — a phenomenon with dangerous consequences. We have seen some of that in Saudi Arabia, for instance, where extremism and fanaticism has led to some very hostile acts against innocent people.
A line is being drawn where friends and enemies are being grouped. It is the same old ‘us-vs-them’ syndrome that is disturbing. Who are these ‘we’ or ‘they’, I wonder? Are we not all humans? And should we not address our injustices through legal forums rather than band together and hatch plots to harm others indiscriminately? Are we not aware that such peaceful precedents were used in the past with remarkable results?
Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela battled grave injustices, but they did it not through violence, which would have in turn begot more violence. They did not tarnish their struggle with false claims of a religious or cultural fervour. Instead, they mobilised their resistance through peaceful means. And forever they shall remain icons of a civilised world.
The Muslim world has unfairly been targeted by most of the globe’s media, whenever an individual or group of terrorists take matters into their hands and target innocent civilians. Islam has been unjustly maligned by those unwilling to understand and learn about a great religion. Undeniably we have had our share of terrorists who invoked verses from the holy scriptures or used other religious props during their devious and murderous spree. But they surely do not represent the rest of us.
Those today that choose to promote their terrorist activities behind spiritual cloaks are nothing less than criminals, ailing with perverse logic of revenge or power. Theirs is not a cause for freedom or justice or misplaced rights. It is about spreading mayhem and death. In that, these thugs target civilian areas in displays of cowardice. These creatures should not expect any sympathy from those of us who are simply appalled at the extent these criminals are willing to go to spread their message of hatred. There is no end justifying their means, except perhaps a one-way ticket to the gallows. And there will be no reprieve in the hereafter, for no religion condones the indiscriminate killing of innocents.
It is time for the rest of us to take a more aggressive stand and denounce and reject outright the message that these deranged fanatics are attempting to spread through their despicable activities. Let us expose them from under whatever rock they dwell. Let the message reach them loud and clear: We do not condone the means they have employed, regardless of their grievances.
Tariq A. Al Maeena is a Saudi socio-political commentator. He lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. You can follow him on Twitter @talmaeena.
