People across the world heaved a sigh of relief as the terror plot in London was unearthed. The terror may have been averted, but with it comes subtle, yet real, threat of racial recrimination. Samrat Ray Chowdhury sent an e-mail to IBNLive.com giving a candid account of the changed worldview post-9/11 attacks.
Yesterday's (Thursday's) unravelling of a terror plot by the UK police is a stark reminder of the fact how the world has become polarised after 9/11. Every time a terror attack anywhere in the world or unearthing of sinister designs of sick people reminds how deep the mistrust runs amongst people otherwise normal in a civilised society.
Though most of the raids were carried out at east London and I stay at north London, two kinds of fear lurks in my mind - one of a terror threat and the other is the threat of a racial backlash. Though everything is normal here, but at times I feel how my neighbours (English people) might perceive me. With terror map getting increasingly linked to Pakistan, do the people here differentiate between the Asians, the good and the bad?
All of us from the subcontinent look alike and that can lead to suspicion and unnecessary harassment. So it's a double fear that hits people like us. We avoid Asian outlets, or do not venture out or avoid suspicious eyes staring at us at busy bus stand or tube stations.
Sometimes I feel being in India at least does not invite suspicious gaze from onlookers... but at the same time, I feel how the general Muslims might be feeling in India at times of such disturbances. I can feel their pain as today being in a foreign land I am also subjected to that scrutiny (not yet, but may be).
Every time a bomb blast happens in India, a Hindu looks at his Muslim neighbour with an eye of suspicion. That's where the mistrust of a majority on the minority community comes into the picture.
How painful might it be for an Indian Muslim to prove that he is equally an Indian like me... something similar I will do to prove that I am noble Indian working for a leading company for earning my lively hood here.
At least here I have my passport, my company to stand by me, but just think if the same feeling of mistrust is in your country, in the same society you were born and grown up what recourse do you take to prove your identity as a noble citizen?
9/11 has really changed the world. The way we think, the way be look at our neighbours and behave with them.
I feel in this hour, it's more important for community leaders, politicians to come forward, re-inforce the bond of brotherhood and mutual respect and restrain from flaring up communal feelings. In India, we saw example of this after Varanasi blast or Mumbai blast, but failed to see them during Gujarat riots. And it shows how different were the aftermaths.
Let us take a pledge to have a zero tolerance to radical thoughts and ideologies and bring people who harbours such thoughts to justice. This is perhaps the only way to a safe and peaceful world. The world has changed forever and no place is safe unless we take charge of making the place safe for ourselves.
(Samrat is a software engineer presently in London on an official assignment. The views expressed here are his own.)
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