I was 13 years old when I had come across the word terrorism for the first time. I was studying at a residential school in class 7. I saw WTC twin towers in the NY being demolished which was later termed as one of the most dastardly act of terror. I can recollect that I had gone to the house of our housemater sir for some work. The news was being flashed on his TV which was continuously broadcasting the visuals of the incident. For a student of 7th standard it was hard to understand the word terror attack. It was something that I thought happened in a far country and we need not worry. For several days newspapers carried the news and updates about that. Being a newspaper-buff since childhood(even today I read 6-7 newspaper daily on an average) I still failed to get the whole idea of what was being talked about. Read about US, Afghanistan, Iraq etc., read about Bush and Osama, about New York, Washington and Pentagon. This is my story of getting acquainted with the world through terrorism. The visuals of twin towers engulfed in heavy smoke has been painted in my eyes, it seems. Everytime any act of terror I hear, those visuals come alive in front of me. 13 years later, today I see several children observing silence and marching silently with placards that read the word terrorism in abundance. Many of them would be studying in 7th like me. Many of them would be in 3rd-4th-5th also. Like me all of them would have come across the world they live in an unusual manner. They would have realized that the a different world exists outside their classrooms, houses, playgrounds & parks- the world where students like them are butchered. Many of them wouldnt have known and would have Googled the words like terrorism, taliban, suicide bomber etc. My concern is bigger than what happened yesterday. My heart goes out at the thought that many of these children would see yesterdays visuals all their lives at, god forbid, any such occurrence. A whole generation who should have been taught to love and to be compassionate now knows the words like killing, hatred, assassination and other morbid/violent terms. My question is- Is this the right age for them to learn about these? Shouldnt they be playing or watching cartoons instead of coming on roads for something that they dont understand at all? Curious kids(like I was) would by all means try to know more and may come across disturbing details not suitable for them at all. I mean what is the world becoming? We want but cant stop our children to refrain from violence, guns, bombs, blood etc. The butchers have not only massacred 140 childrens but have sowed the seeds of violence in a whole generation that will, some way or the other, definitely change their attention and behaviour towards love and compassion.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 11:42:53 +0000
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