Who are these people?
The last couple of days have seen a lot of action in Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawer. The protests against the cartoons seems to be gaining some momentum. The proverbial "cutting off one's nose to spite one's face" is clearly applicable. Anything that gets in the way of these unruly mobs, gets decimated. So who really cares what they are burning down?
I thought the protest was against the countries that published the cartoons. As usual , I was wrong. The protest was against everything, the frustrations that we have as a society, come out in acts of random violence and destruction. All kinds of public and private property was destroyed and there are no signs of this abating.
I want to know who these people are. The Islamabad mob was made up of school kids, at least thats what I saw on TV and the newspapers. Totally understandable, an excuse to take the day off from school, a sort of field trip where you can do pretty much everything you want. The amusement parks that we have, leave a lot to be desired. So water slides are replaced by water canons, and people actually pay money to go to junk yards to break things, hey it can be done for free here.
I don't know what the mobs in Lahore and Peshawer were made up of. Probably students, and other people trying to find some entertainment, since kite flying is still banned and will only be allowed for two weeks, so we can have Basant a'la Elightened Moderation Style. The people in Peshawer even pulled down the telephone lines, broke windows of residences, set fire to the bus stand, I am just amazed at what we are capable of doing.
I wonder how many of these people had any idea what the cartoons were like. Probably 99 precent hadn't even seen the damned things. So somebody in the school backyard screams "Fight" and everyone rushes there. And throws in a punch or two.
I have nothing against protests. And if you just stand there and protest without making a nuisance of yourself, it really doesn't serve the purpose now, does it? A mob is a beast without reason, and I am not happy to say that the only way to control it would be by force. My lack of faith in humanity is reinforced every time I see things like this. Especially us, as a society. We lack the moral courage to stand up against anything. We are cowards. And understandably so. Hey if you are swimming in a pool of sharks, you really can't reason with them.
The analogy that comes to mind would be that you hear that somebody in the marketplace badmouthed you, and you come home and break your windows in protest. Does that make sense?
So who are these people? What drives them to do such things? Does anybody know? If yes, pray do tell.
I thought the protest was against the countries that published the cartoons. As usual , I was wrong. The protest was against everything, the frustrations that we have as a society, come out in acts of random violence and destruction. All kinds of public and private property was destroyed and there are no signs of this abating.
I want to know who these people are. The Islamabad mob was made up of school kids, at least thats what I saw on TV and the newspapers. Totally understandable, an excuse to take the day off from school, a sort of field trip where you can do pretty much everything you want. The amusement parks that we have, leave a lot to be desired. So water slides are replaced by water canons, and people actually pay money to go to junk yards to break things, hey it can be done for free here.
I don't know what the mobs in Lahore and Peshawer were made up of. Probably students, and other people trying to find some entertainment, since kite flying is still banned and will only be allowed for two weeks, so we can have Basant a'la Elightened Moderation Style. The people in Peshawer even pulled down the telephone lines, broke windows of residences, set fire to the bus stand, I am just amazed at what we are capable of doing.
I wonder how many of these people had any idea what the cartoons were like. Probably 99 precent hadn't even seen the damned things. So somebody in the school backyard screams "Fight" and everyone rushes there. And throws in a punch or two.
I have nothing against protests. And if you just stand there and protest without making a nuisance of yourself, it really doesn't serve the purpose now, does it? A mob is a beast without reason, and I am not happy to say that the only way to control it would be by force. My lack of faith in humanity is reinforced every time I see things like this. Especially us, as a society. We lack the moral courage to stand up against anything. We are cowards. And understandably so. Hey if you are swimming in a pool of sharks, you really can't reason with them.
The analogy that comes to mind would be that you hear that somebody in the marketplace badmouthed you, and you come home and break your windows in protest. Does that make sense?
So who are these people? What drives them to do such things? Does anybody know? If yes, pray do tell.
posted by Xoff at 2/16/2006 05:45:00 AM
2 Comments:
Its disturbing and sad.. can empathise with you.. happens all over the world too..what a waste of tax payers money.. Solution.. possibly more education at grass root level, more law enforcement, more stringent controls.. read your previous post too -perhaps a greater show of ones faith is needed too, ie where there is no need to prove anything to the world.
Its the educated that I am more afraid of, unfortunately. The illiterates are the silent majority. I wish I were more optimistic.
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