… says the Chief of the British Police, on his men shooting dead an unarmed Brazilian, in London.
I was talking to Bonti on mail in the UK, and basically asking her on how she and her family were after the bombings. She was fine, having missed the bombings by about 10 minutes, but she wrote to me, and i quote:
The mood in London is a combination of sympathy and a real desire to catch the b@stards and make them pay…My concern is that anyone with brown skin could now be in danger if they live in neighbourhoods with ignorant people, but the divide in the asian community between muslims and non-muslims is becoming more apparent. And what a lot of people forget is that Islam is colourblind and muslim population is made up of brown, black, white, and yellow….
It is being seen as a Muslim Problem in the west. And Bonti is right, Muslim is seen as brown. And brown is targetted. How does it matter if a Spaniard or a Brazilian or a Hopi Indian is also brown? Or that Cat Stevens is white? or a Mohommad Ali Black?
It is a receipe for paranoid times ahead.
The one thing that stands out is the British System, which owns up and apologises for an error. Hats off to them.
Quite unlike either the US or us, where bluster often whitewishes a cock up!
They have apologized becoz of the immense amount of media scrutiny over that incident. I wonder how much of media space is given to the unfortunate human rights excesses going on in Kashmir or Northeast for example.
Can one take a stand here…. I mean. Who is right?
Whether they had to shoot him and then investigate or could they have enough time to investigate and shoot. What is rational? Or in the least sense Was it ethical?
Hi Kamesh
what u said ended up being prophetic – with 3 kids being shot in Kashmir. I am sure that people are shot by mistake in India. But, i guess that bluster – especially nationalistic bluster – manages to keep the errors under wrap.
I also think that it this is the ‘state’ that those who adopt terrorist tactics aim for. a state of such insecurity that police and para military aim to shoot at sight and shoot to kill.
Can you imagine the state of society then. At risk from the ‘good guys’ and at risk from the ‘bad’.
Hi Laxmikant.
the rules of war are fairly simple. The side that wins is right:)
On the ethics of this – there are none. and innocent man was shot dead – suspected of being a terrorist.
he should have stopped.
having said that, if i was chased by 4 plain clothes men carrying guns, i would have run too!
Society would then become a mob. The basis of any society is Honest and Just value excahnge. If the state doesn’t trust people and will kill innocents to proove a point and also the terrorists do the same. The basic foundation of the society itself is questioned to the core. What will remain is the cultural echos that will hold the people together…. they wont have anything else to hold on to.
Wonder why no one thinks about whats happening in Iraq. there are suicide bombers everyday blowing themselves up like life was a peice of shit. Because there is no society… it has turned into a anarchic mob. Simple freakonomic analysis. And it is this anarchy that destroys economy… just like Kashmiri economy… thats what i guess the terrorists are gonna do to the world
Regarding the Brazilian who got shot:
There are a number of questions that arise out of this incident.
1) Why was he thought to be a suicide bomber in the first place
2) Why was he allowed to get into a bus and then later into the train without being challenged.
3) What would be the responce of the police/uk gov. if the guy who got shot was a muslim and from UK/Leeds.
The police/uk gov. has aplologized becoz the person who died is of a different Nationality and a Non-Muslim on top of that.
I agree with you that Security agencies work under tremendous pressure in terrorist attack situations. Using brute force under such circumstances is like walking on a double edged sword. The wrong side might be that you end up alienating your own people.