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Growing Up With

 

Terrorism

Contributed by Parnika Celly

For years, India struggled to gain independence from British control.   In 1947, the British finally did leave, but not before leaving their final mark. Their strategy had been to divide and conquer, and they exercised this one more time when they partitioned India and Pakistan shortly before independence for both countries was official. This is when the repulsive monstrosity of terrorism was born between the countries.  From then until now, terrorism thrives, especially in Punjab, Jammu, and Kashmir, which are all Indian states that border Pakistan.  My interviewee (my father) grew up in Punjab. Punjab had been in turmoil from the start since it had been split in half during the partition, so it was geographically an obvious target of expansionist efforts.  There was also a religious aspect to the terrorism there. Muslims and Hindus clashed both within the Indian border and across it.Several years later, another wave of religious-based terrorism hit Punjab, when a faction of Sikh people there wished to create their own state called Khalistan due to a feeling of neglect and various cultural and political differences. This was known as the Punjab insurgency. The government conflicted with rebellious forces on many occasions, which fueled terrorism further.  One such event was Operation Blue Star, in which Sikh people were attacked within the Golden Temple, their most pious religious place, in an effort to destroy the rebellions.  As a result, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards. Feelings of hatred and religious profiling made Punjab a flood of blood.

America has seen terrorism as well.  No American can forget the decimation of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.  At the time, September 11^th was just another Tuesday when parents went to work and kids went to school.  Everything changed at 8:46 AM.  High up, between the 94^th and 98^thfloors, American Airlines Flight 11 came crashing into the World Trade Center at almost 500 mph.Next, United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center between floors 78 and 84 at almost 600 mph.  This happened at 9:02AM.  Half an hour later, American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, and another half hour later, United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania.  About 3,000 people died in this terrorist attack.  The youngest person was age two, and the oldest was age 85.  Every newspaper, television, and radio set spread the news.  This was one of the worst events that America has had to face. 

But how does one monstrous terrorist event compare to having lived in daily danger?  Is it worse to come to the rude awakening that your safe little world may not be safe, or is it worse to live with the knowledge that you are never definitely safe? This is what I will explore in my interview.

Interview:

Here is an interview of my father about his experiences with terrorism:

Q1: So, what was the nature of terrorist action you encountered?

Let me first explain what kind of terrorism I encountered.  There was a part of Sikh community, which was angry at the government for various reasons.  Since the government at that time was mainly formed by Hindu leaders, this part of the community adopted a terroristic approach against all the Hindus.  Now, let me explain the nature of danger by giving you one example.  I used to go to college which was about 50 to 60 miles from our town.I used to come back home every weekend.  And then, on Monday morning, when my father used to drop me at the bus station, he used to always say one thing, “If you reach safely, inform us”.  The reason for this was that the terrorists would ask all Hindus to come out of the bus and then shoot them at a point blank range.  So, this was kind of uncertainty, which I faced during that time.

Q2: What protection was provided by the authorities to protect people?

Authorities seem to say that they are trying their best to protect us.  But I did not see any protective measures.  People were on their own.  People will take some protections such as reaching their destinations before the sunset because that was the time when terrorist would become active (in the night time).  But there was nothing from the government as if the government never existed at that time. Basically one was relying on God for safety.

Q3:What protections were taken by your parents to protect you?

I think I have answered part of this question in my previous answer.  Basically, my parents will tell me not to go anywhere in the evenings. As I have told you a number of times, that we got married at the peak of terrorism.  We finished all the wedding ceremony in a day and came home before 5:00 PM as there was a curfew after that.  This was quite opposite to a normal Indian wedding ceremony which lasts whole night and also spread over almost five days, we shortened all the ceremonies to be finished in one day, so that we could be safe.

Q4. Are there any specific events you remember to date from the terrorism you encountered?

Yes.I was coming back to my town from a nearby city via train. I came out of the train and the police told me that there had been a terrorist attack in the city and a curfew has been declared.  You have two options -- either to stay at the railway station or take some back streets to go home.  I decided to go home as I thought I might be safer at home rather than at the railway station.On my way to home, I saw something very unusual, very ugly aspect which usually happens during terrorism and that was to witness some people who were actually not terrorists but were taking advantage of the curfew by looting many shops. I was really disheartened as many of these shops belonged to my friends’ parents. Anyway, after that, I saw a firefighter (I recognized him from his uniform), who might have tried to save somebody from the terrorist but got himself shot instead.  There were close to sixteen gunshot wounds in his belly and blood was gushing out of all these wounds.  This is one of the many events which are still vivid in my memory and still wakes me up in the night now and then.  Another event is the bomb blast which happened at our shop.  Somebody left a bicycle outside of our shop. There was a bag hanging from it, and that bag had a bomb in it.  Luckily, my father had gone for a tea break up onto the roof, otherwise he would have been dead.  There was a lot of glass on our shop and naturally the glass shattered when the blast happened.  At the time, there were two women who had come to our shop, and because if the glass, one woman’s clothes were completely torn and the other went deaf in one ear immediately.  Many people were panicking and tried to run away from the shop, but the terrorists had predicted this and ten minutes after the first blast, a second blast occurred where everyone was running to.  Then they started running back and ten minutes later another bomb blast happened where they were running to.  At the time, I was in a different state and I couldn’t visit my family right away because my wife was eight months pregnant with our older daughter.

Q5. What aspects do you think personally still affect you?

All I can tell you is that when I came to Canada, I used to tell everybody that I wish that terrorism should not hit any country.  It is very difficult to live a life where there is a sword always hanging on your head that somebody is going to kill you. I still remember that even now, when I go to India and if I traveling in a bus and fall asleep and if the bus suddenly stops, I wake up with a feeling of almost getting a heart attack because I got so conditioned with this feeling that the bus has been stopped by the terrorists and they are going to shoot me.

Q6.You mentioned that you always wished that terrorism should not affect any country.  One of the biggest terrorist attacks in the US was 9/11.  What was your reaction on the day when attack happened or shortly after that?

That day, I was in a meeting. The meeting was stopped and we were told that our country had been attacked. You should go back to your labs and let people working in the labs go home, especially those who have relatives working or living in the city.  I wasn’t panicked but I felt very sad because all my earlier memories of terrorism came alive in my mind right away.  I had great regards for this country but I knew that life here is going to change drastically.  There are going to be two era: pre-9/11 and post-9/11.

Q7.How was your response impacted by your previous experience with terrorism?

It was affected by my previous priming with terrorism.  But there was a difference between the terrorism which I faced earlier in my life and 9/11. The terrorism which I faced was more at street level.  Let us say that there is a relaxation in the curfew to get out of your house and you go out to buy milk or medicines etc.and suddenly the terrorists will show up from nowhere and start shooting at innocent people. Whereas 9/11 was very different, it was well planned and was done with a motive to create terror in the whole country rather than what we had in one state of India.

Q8.What do you think the impact of 9/11 was on your individual life?

One impact which I notice is extra security at the airports.  You know as a foreigner I go back to India and due to nature of my job, I travel a lot within the US.  I see a lot of security and I am not against it.  Anything which can our lives while we are up in the air, I am for it. And that is what I feel.T  his was such a peaceful country and suddenly, now everybody, even the government feels so insecure that all airports and other ports of entry are so strictly regulated.

Q9.Do you think the racial profiling at the airport is infringement upon our rights? Do you think is it justified?

You know, when government imposes such measures, there is almost always overdoing of these measures and sometime also a misuse. I won’t call it racial profiling as random checking and even otherwise searching and questioning is needed but it should not be restricted only to people whose last name ends with “Khan” or some other Muslim last names. But at the same time, I am for the tight security checks at the airports.

Q10.In post 9/11 era, what is the long term impact on different aspects of your personal life?

I suddenly found this country becoming so security conscious and I think this is going to continue for a long time or may be forever.  I notice a sense of insecurity in day to day life especially at the airports.

For more information, see:

·Raman, B. "Terrorism: India's Unending War." Terrorism: India's Unending War. N.p., 4 Apr. 2003. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.

·"Pakistan Attempts at Revival of Terrorism in Punjab. 09 Dec 2011, 02:46 PM." Pakistan Attempts at Revival of Terrorism in Punjab. N.p., 9 Dec. 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.

·United States. Department of Defense. Remembering September 11, 2001. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.

·"September 11 Digital Archive." September 11 Digital Archive. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.

·"September 11: A Memorial." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.