On September 12, 2001 in the morning, my friends who seemed to be discussing something animatedly, suddenly stopped talking when they saw me approaching. There was an eerie silence. Later, one of them told me they were talking about the Twin Tower attacks that happened the previous day. Little did I know that there would be no dearth of such incidents in the coming years.
Years later, my 10-year-old son asked me: “Are Muslims terrorists? My friends are saying so”.
I knew the answer. I have been repeating it like a parrot for more than a decade now. There are fringe elements in every community. People who think their God will be pleased if they massacre innocent people. People who have so much hatred in their system that they cease to be human beings and end up becoming blood thirsty devils. Islam is a religion that propagates peace and mercy. Not just to human beings, but even to animals. I doubt if these answers are going to help my son face his friends. It didn’t help me. When a misguided man with no purpose in life decides to go on a killing spree and end his own life, the rest of us ordinary people who work hard to make a life for our families are the ones who are treated with suspicion and contempt. It’s happened yet again now. The shooting in the Florida nightclub in the US has left 50 dead. My heart goes out to those innocent youngsters who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. My thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones. May God give them strength to bear the loss. Now for me and many others, it’s back to facing hatred and the usual questions.
From Ms Mariam Jinnah
Ajman
Proper punishment for offenders
If Pakistan punished the offenders properly and severely, then these kinds of attacks would stop (‘Mukhtar Mai still fighting for justice, more than a decade after gang rape’, Gulf News, June 11). This does not show how Pakistan is looking after their women. She is a very brave woman. I hope she finally gets the justice she clearly deserves. The village elders who meted out this appalling sentence are horrible.
From Mr Ali L. Cuuex
UAE
Facebook comment
Protecting the wrong people
Only men will think that money can buy back honour. I hope and pray that this woman finally gets justice and that the laws regarding rape and honour killings change in such a way that women are protected rather than her abusers.
From Ms Nilofer Taher
UAE
Facebook comment
Ignorance
Some people are ignorant about history (‘Facebook greets Filipinos on Independence Day but gets flag wrong’, Gulf News, June 13)! Blue should be always at the top of the Philippines flag as a sign of peace. When the red is put on top, it’s a sign of war for the country. Every colour and design in the flag has its own symbol regarding the Philippines.
From Ms Zy M.
UAE
Facebook comment
We are at war
It’s alright because, technically, the new administration is at war with drug lords and criminals this time.
From Ms Jennifer Refinnej
UAE
Facebook comment
Meaning of war
It can be meant as war of all kinds against Filipinos. It can be on drugs, corruption, nepotism and any other threat.
From Mr Geoffrey Adolfo
UAE
Facebook comment
Not the first time
Russian fans have done this before in the last Euro Cup 2012 (‘Uefa charges Russia over violence, enhances stadium security’, Gulf News, June 13). Good luck for the upcoming Russian Euro Cup.
From Mr Daniel Teraza Itong
UAE
Facebook comment
Boost for the Olympics
Kudos to Saina Nehwal for clinching the Australian Open title, thus ending a long title drought (‘Badminton: Saina shines against Sun to win Australian Open’, Gulf News, June 13). Definitely, this victory is a boost not only for her, but for her team ahead of the Rio Olympics. We are confident that India will go all the way at the Rio Olympics. We wish her and her team the best.
From Ms Janaki Mahadevan
Mylapore, India
Good things can come from stress
My Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) used to dominate my life like an omnipresent monster waiting to slowly take over and leave me stranded (‘Runaway boy, 9, found after 10 hours in Dubai’, Gulf News, June 12). Stress can do a lot of things to you. It can make you look hideous by causing breakouts and forcing you to binge eat. It can stop you from focusing and achieving goals that you need to be working on.
Because I was so worried about how I was going to manage to pass in my midterm examinations, I studied a lot. During those two weeks of hard-core immense studying I learnt two things: Time-management skills (God knows how I managed to cram in six subjects within the span of two weeks) and sometimes stress can really fix your life. It was because of the piling stress that I somehow managed to do well. There were times when I felt absolutely drained and questioned whether any of this was worth it, but I collected all my negative thoughts and buried them in a bag deep underneath all the chemistry equations and English notes in my head.
Stress doesn’t always have to be so bad. Sometimes, when this dark period subsides, your life becomes brighter than ever. I had a few epiphanies after my exams. The most prominent one was that I am in control of my mind. My OCD cannot take over without my permission.
I feel like there is always going to be that one point in your life when everything seems to be falling out of place, but you will make it out alive.
From Ms Paakhi Bhatnagar
UAE
Pressures facing teens today
Every individual between the ages of 10 and 25 is referred to as a ‘brat’ nowadays, they are the black sheep of the current generations (‘Speak your mind: The black sheep generation’, Gulf News, June 3). A very crucial factor that many fail to notice is that this generation faces a lot of pressure. There is higher peer pressure, pressure from parents and social pressures that weren’t there before. There is a constant fear in the mind of every student of failing to achieve the conditions penned down by society.
There is also educational pressure on all where they are pushed to a breaking point. The system continues to grade a fish on its ability to climb a tree. Parents and society fail to understand talent and continue to nag and compare with people completely different from us.
No generation was ever perfect. I am not saying that there aren’t disobedient children, I am saying that there is always a reason. It’s important that people help and not attack children who may be different in manner and behaviour. To help this cause, it’s paramount that every school have counsellors and regular counselling sessions where students are given advice.
From Ms Akshitha Unnithan
Dubai
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