Letters: Terror firma

This refers to the editorial “The world after Osama” (May 3). The euphoria over Osama bin Laden’s death may be short-lived till another bin Laden arrives on the stage. We must accept that acts of terrorism are motivated by: one, the sense of injustice that prevails in a particular community or a country that has been wronged or suffered; and two, the fanatical conviction that a particular religion is supreme and better than other faiths. This also applies to fanatics who believe in an ideology to the exclusion of other thoughts. The Nazi ideology was an example of such extreme views.

It is sad to note that people can be easily influenced and are vulnerable enough to give into violence and terrorism. Therefore, one cannot simply blame a specific country or a religion for not standing up to terrorism. Doing so does not address the root cause of the problem.

Wiping out terrorism is not a possibility. However, if citizens all over the world make dedicated and honest efforts towards economic and social justice and promote the universal religion of humanity, we can hope to live in a world with much less violence.

Narendra M Apte, Pune

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