Sunday, March 19, 2006

3. HUMAN BOMBS

In the fiction ‘The Negotiator’, by Fredrick Forsyth when in the last pages the hostage is blasted by a remote control, it made a chill pass through my body. It all sounded so scary. But within few days from reading such a fictitious account, in the very same way Rajiv Gandhi was brutally assassinated. When details of the assassination came to light what surprised me was how can anybody be motivated to push the trigger to explode oneself. Moreover during investigations almost everyday there was the photograph of Dhanu, the human bomb, clicked just a few seconds before she pushed or pulled the trigger. She was all smiles in those snaps. There is no tinge of fear or shadow of death on her face. She looked so cheerful. How is it possible for a person to be so cheerful when facing death so close? Would they have been doped? A person selected for such a crucial mission cannot be served with dope and so that is ruled out. Then what could be the other factors? Brain washing is another theory. Even when some one might have gone through great ordeals, just for revenge will anyone kill themselves? Assuming that Dhanu, the assassin was personally affected by India’s IPKF, assuming that she lost all she held dear to her because of IPKF and assuming that all her anger and animosity was nurtured against the Prime Minister of India, still can a person’s vengeance could go beyond ones own life. And, when one is so sure that he or she is going to die in a few more seconds how can he or she be so normal? So what triggers such people to push the fatal button of ultimate self destruction? It is an enigma.

In the7/7 London explosions, all the three ‘live detonators’ were from a normal background. No precedence of criminal behavior in their records. Just a short sojourn to Pakistan. Now, within such a short span how could they be molded so differently to convert themselves as human bombs. Are human minds so meek to be changed so thoroughly? Can any body’s religiosity be whipped up so much making them so fanatic in a jiffy. It all surprises me.

Of course now all of us have gone to the next stage of accepting these instances as regular features in our daily lives. It could be anywhere in the world. Only if you don’t get a news item in the front page of your daily about any such bombing in any part of the world is a news now. 9/11 has become one of the most important dates in the history of mankind. And the dates of such importance are to be followed, it seems. If 7/7 is followed by 9/11, will the next be far beyond? Where will all this lead us to?

12 comments:

Muthu said...

எங்களுக்கு தெரியாம எதுவும் செஞ்சுற முடியாது.....

Unknown said...

When details of the assassination came to light what surprised me was how can anybody be motivated to push the trigger to explode oneself./

They hate somebody more than they love themselves or their near and dear.


"எனக்கு ரெண்டு கண்ணு போனாலும் பரவாயில்லை.அவனுக்கு ஒரு கண்ணாவது போகணும்" mentality.

தருமி said...

partner,
one another thing - the SMILE! can anybody smile so carelessly and casually when he/she knows that his/her life time is ticking away fast?

Unknown said...

partner,
one another thing - the SMILE! can anybody smile so carelessly and casually when he/she knows that his/her life time is ticking away fast? //

I dont know whether any psychological research has been carried on these persons.what makes a person to willingly accept death?

In some cases I have read that such people will use heavy drugs or even hypnotized..

தருமி said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
தருமி said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
டிபிஆர்.ஜோசப் said...

Brain washing is another theory. Even when some one might have gone through great ordeals, just for revenge will anyone kill themselves?//

Can anyone brainwash all those who have sacrificed themselves in the war with the IPKF or for that matter with their own Srilankan Army? It is the passion for the cause they have undertaken which drives them relentlessly. Please let us not cause aspersion on their motive by saying they could be brainwashed, doped or drugged.

தருமி said...

Joseph,
in no way i demean their sacrifice. my Q is how can any person 'smile' when his/her life is ticking off. the whole idea of a person smiling and willingly plunge the detonator switch causes a chill passing thru me.

Amar said...

There was this story about a 7/7 failed-to-be suicide bomber who pressed the trigger when he standing next to a kid!

சிறில் அலெக்ஸ் said...

I just read this after seeing your comment.

It is really hard for us outsiders to really understand this. Most often we have not gone through such kind of oppressin or a strongly made up cause.

People start associating themselves with beliefs, they eventually become the belife itself. So full of it.

When I have been wrongly accused I take it very seriously and go through great lengths to prove my side. The emotions I go through during this period is (I think)a miniscule comparison to the emotions of a person motivated by a Cause.

இயற்கை நேசி|Oruni said...

Sam,

You have placed a very important question here to ponder over. In fact, sometime before I was going through this post, but I didnt have enough time to sit and write a feedback on it.

Anyway, let me try how I see in an individual level how this could be possible. Imagine this, that we happened to be coming directly from one of those families, where a mom or sister get raped in front of her own family severely beaten and some of them got killed and few left behind half dead.

When there is such a broken family member still alive and around, living through the nightmare everyday. He/she developes a sort of distaste toward his/her own existence. When that kind of mind-set occurs in ones mind, then the rest of the emotional upheavels, whatever is going on around her/him are immaterial to that person.

Around the same time, there comes a group of people with similar kind of exposure trying to find an answer to it. They all come together, start brooding over and over with the cause who has brought the misery to their existence. That is when, this belief of taking care of the individual who has done the harm to her personally, in an individual sense - he/she is taking a revenge who has hurt his/her family. If the mind is set that way, I believe it is easier to be a human bomb - numbed to their core.

Possibly?

Unknown said...

அன்பின் தருமி,

மிக முக்கியமான கருத்தைப் பேசும் தமிழனின் இந்த இடுகை தமிழில் இருந்தால் நான் மேலும் மகிழ்வேன். இணையத்தை தமிழால் நிறப்ப தமிழனே முன்வரவேண்டும்.

உங்களைப்போல் சமுதாய எண்ணம் மிகக்கொண்டோர் தமிழில் எழுதும்படி மிக்க அன்புடன் கேட்டுக்கொள்கிறேன்.

அன்புடன் புகாரி