Now I’m scared…really scared

It was all right as long as India was mourning the dead, expressing anger, criticising the politicians and generally being outraged at the Mumbai terror attacks. But now things are getting dangerous. Most Indians seem to want India to attack Pakistan and wipe out the country. Most Indians seem to be coming around to George W Bush’s philosophy. Most Indians seem to be intent on wiping out terrorism by wiping out Pakistan.

The same Indians who were celebrating Obama’s win a couple of weeks ago; happy that Bush and his policies were out.

I hope like hell the warmongers in India don’t become a majority.

I hope like hell we are not planning to let Narendra Modi become the next Prime Minister.

I hope like hell the youngsters in the country don’t seriously think war is the answer.

I hope like hell the majority of the nation doesn’t answer an SMS poll saying India should nuke Pakistan.

I hope like hell the youngsters around us – and the minuscule number of people who read my blog – stop for a moment and read the excerpts from headline stories I am pasting below this (all from 2008).

These are just from a three-minute Google search – an hour would have provided more.

JAMMU & KASHMIR - NOVEMBER 22, 2008
Official figures released by the Indian government
The nearly two-decade-old anti-India campaign in occupied Kashmir has left 47,000 people dead, more than 20,000 of them civilians, according to official figures released on Friday. The figure did not include those labelled as having “disappeared” in the region since unrest began in 1989 and a prominent human rights group said the real toll was certainly far higher.

ANDHRA PRADESH
August 10, 2008: Incessant rain and flood killed over 150 people; more than 1500 people lost their homes and livelihood.

More than 30 farmers have committed suicide in Andhra Pradesh every single month in 2008.

ASSAM (till 30th October 2008)
140 people have been killed in blasts and shootouts this year in the state – the unofficial figures put this number at over 500.

October 30: A series of bomb attacks through Assam killed 74 people and wounded over 300; the government pointed fingers at the ULFA.

THE KOSI FLOODS
Over 300 people died and more than 2 lakh people were rendered homeless in the floods - you couldn't have forgotten this; it was a couple of months ago.

JAIPUR
The blasts in Jaipur (13th May) killed 60, injured 150 (official figures).

Floods, rains, droughts, famines kill over 5,000 people in India every year (a very conservative estimate picked up from a random website). Blasts, shootings kill over 2,000 people every year (according to government estimates; again picked up from a random website).

Remember this before you go to war against Pakistan. Just do a Google for photos of Afghanistan and Iraq before signing that petition.