Terror

One of the most reassuring sights in London, I have to admit, are the London "bobbies" at work. They are normally careful and prompt to respond, at least in my experience. A while ago, in the middle of the night, I was woken up by some running footsteps and shouting on our street — which is usually extremely quiet. From my window I spotted a man assaulting a woman who was trying to get away from him — I called the police, and sure enough the patrol car was there in 15 minutes, perhaps less. Unfortunately, even by the time I put the lights on to go downstairs, the man and the woman had disappeared. Though I was very disturbed by this violence on our street, friends shrugged it off saying random violence is part of our London life. Julie, our au pair, informed me quite casually that across the road from her home a woman had been shot by an armed intruder. And then, of course, there is the rising number of knife-crime victims. Yet I find, by and large, that the police is allowed by the media to go about their work, especially at the time of forensic investigation. There is respect, though sometimes grudging, that the cops are doing their best.

Unlike the shrill drama on Indian TV screens, there is no haranguing of the police, nor constant denigration of their work. When investigations into the 7/7 bombings were going on, the media followed the story without impugning the police’s motives. It was understood that it was a matter of national security and all of us, including the Muslim community, had to cooperate. Contrast this with the media reaction over the recent admission of the Gujarat police that it may have nabbed the culprits of the recent bomb blasts: long before the investigation is complete, some Indian TV channels were, shockingly, airing discussions which appeared to imply that the police had a bias against a particular community. How can the police even attempt a free and fair investigation (as one would hope is happening) if there is constant pressure from one lobby or the other to play to the gallery? Should we not leave the initial stages of a sensitive case like this to the police and the courts? Why is our level of scepticism so high that we are able to read only the worst into a speedy investigation? After all, victims of the bombings and their families deserve an answer on why the Indian State was and remains unable to protect them. It may well be that mistakes will be made before the smoke clears up; but the Indian police, like its British counterpart, should be allowed to focus on cracking the case, and not succumb to political pressures.

Perhaps the reason could be that for the first time we have been told about the rise of the Indian Mujahideen. That, of course, is difficult to accept — as indeed, even in London, we found the prospect of "homegrown" terrorists a painful concept. Why this should be such a strange idea when you have had Irish terrorists for so long is by itself bewildering. It is, of course, much easier to think that there is an Osama bin Laden-run factory where terrorists are mass produced. The argument is that since we are such a well-adjusted community, why should anyone amongst us want to blow us up?

Yet, despite multi-cultural UK’s best attempts the Muslim community does feel alienated, and some may even have been radicalised. In a recent YouGov survey conducted among Muslim and non-Muslim youth, it was found that almost one-third of British Muslim students believe that killing is justified in the name of Islam or religion. Of course, while a majority of students do not support that view, it only takes a few individuals to kill thousands of innocent people. A survey like this conducted in India would be unthinkable — because we simply do not want to know. We would rather pretend that the problem does not exist, instead of locating it and solving it as no doubt university and campus authorities should try to do.

Recently in London, a sombre memorial for the victims of 7/7 was unveiled. Obviously, we can never remember those helpless people who died in India because, first, life is cheap; and second, political parties would misuse it as propaganda.

But the police in London has new problems to face every day, not just about terrorist attacks. Violence has been growing among the youth in general and women in particular. Giving another indication of a rapidly changing set of stereotypes, it appears that around 240 women are arrested every day in the UK for violent behaviour. The figure has jumped from 42,200 in 2002-03 to 87,200 in 2006-07. Most cases are attributed to binge drinking, and the 24/7 pub culture. The corresponding rise last year in the daily arrest of around 230 youngsters — aged between 10 and 17 — for mugging or violent attack is another indicator of the collapse in inter-personal relations. Whether it is individual attacks or a suicide bomber, each co-mmunity is expressing its own angst with its own peculiar signature. The real issue is that the line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour is constantly getting blurred. When your parents are drunks or your heroes are drug addicts or violence impersonates as a lifestyle or a career choice, many vulnerable British kids, of any religion or colour, could take wrong decisions.

And, of course, Hollywood does not help either. Despite its fantastic run at the box office, I have so far avoided seeing The Dark Knight, the latest Batman film.

Reportedly even hardened critics have paled at the extreme violence of bombs being stitched into stomachs and faces from which skin is burnt off. Isn’t it true that repeated viewing of this "comic book" violence inures us from the pain which must accompany these cruel acts? Therefore, was it any surprise that Heath Ledger, who plays the sadistic Joker, died before the film was released, suspected to be as a result of depression? Or that Christian Bale, the hero of the film, was supposedly called to a police station over claims that he had assaulted his mother and sister, on the eve of his film’s London premiere? "Kapow! Cops Nab Batman!" screamed the tabloids... it was life imitating comic books. How tragic is that?