Sunday Reading

New Delhi, 27 March 2010

Dangerous Games

TERRORISM BUSINESS GROWS

By Syed Ali Mujtaba

There is no stopping the business of terrorism, brandishing Muslims as terrorists.  Worse this idea has caught the imagination of those who conceptualize games for children. The latest news comes from GVK-1 Shopping Mall in Hyderabad, Deccan where a franchise of an US company named "Fun Zone" has put up a shooting game stall for children called "Killing a Terrorist."

The inquisitive kids are given a gun and asked to shoot two mannequins  put up in the stall resembling Muslim characters. The dress naturally identifies them as Muslims. One of the mannequins  wore a turban and a long beard and other had a skull cap, with clean mustaches and long beard.

This inflamed the sentiments of some Muslims in Hyderabad and Majlish (read Muslim!) Bachao Tahreek  (MBT) took up the matter with the owner of the games stall. The  MBT leader  Amjed Ullah Khan, Corporater Azampura Ward, asked the games owner of the franchise, why he has chosen only Muslim characters for the shooting game "Killing a Terrorist."

The  owner of the games stall defended himself saying the concept of these characters were designed in the US and he had no role in dressing them to look like Muslim characters.  The agitating the MBT workers, however, were not convinced and launched a complaint against the owner of the games franchise at Panjagutta police station in the heart of the city of pearls.

Following this, the police to swung into action and removed the mannequins  from the stall and arrested Balasubramanyam on charges of breaching communal harmony. While  this may be an isolated event in a small town in the country, the episode poses a larger question: How does one cope up with a situation when the world continues to brand Muslims as terrorists?

Does not it provide ammunition to those muddle-headed folks who may jump up to exclaim--Didn’t I say, there is no place for logic and rationality in the lexicon of the self- appointed rulers of the world! They are almighty lords of the universe and can demonize anyone whom they choose to do so. The choices are limited-- either to bow before the lord or to hit back and teach a lesson.

This debate is endless. Where to begin-- from the provocateurs or the provoked?  Such canard is entrenched in an action and reaction syndrome. Can’t there be any sanity into this madness? Obviously, there are numerous such instances when such provocative stuff is dished out in the market and there is an uproar about such products.  One wonders why this has happened in this case of  "Fun Zone" and this product has been allowed to be sold as franchise worldwide.

In a multi-cultural society like India, such provocation are detected and some remedy is being thought of. But imagine in homogeneous societies, where a dominant colour and creed exists, what kind of havoc such a game could create among the young minds.  

It seems that the global agenda to fight terrorism is drifting apart and the business of terrorism is busy making hay while the sun shines. The buzz word is to create a terrorist first and then launch a campaign to lead a fight against terrorism! It seems this business is turning out to be a billion dollar  industry, and there are could be many stake holders in building it.  

Indeed, it is a vicious circle, where people have lost the beginning of the plot of terrorism and there is no end to it in sight. Each looking at the symptoms and none interested in curing the disease. This makes one ponder whether "Killing a Terrorist" may solve the issue of terrorism from the face of the earth?

Clearly, there seems to be no ready answer to this scourge facing the humanity. The irony is that  no one is trying to find out answers and trying to create a space where peace and harmony can gain precedence over conflict and barbarism.

In such a vacuum, what is happening is that there is no stopping the peddlers of the idea of hate. The propaganda mill is busy leading the campaign that “all Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims!” No matter how much the voices of sanity delivers the punch line: ‘My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist’! 

Some children grow up in an atmosphere in which they learn about guns, arms and ammunition long before they acquire the basic knowledge of what is right and wrong. Incidents of children possessing arms and ammunition are not new and some even being involved in some attacks as their minds are being poisoned. There was a case in Delhi, where a student had taken his father’s gun to the school and shot a school mate with whom he was angry.

Tragically, terrorists are methodically and intentionally targeting young people and children in this country and rest of the world. They are radicalizing, indoctrinating and grooming the young, vulnerable people to carry out acts of terrorism.  Children are considered susceptible to fanatic propaganda because they are not exposed to the civilized world.

However, this is one side of the story, the other being the civilized world, which is exposing the children through creating certain stereotypes that have dangerous portents. There is a huge market for video games, board games, cyber games, and its recipients are children. The young minds are exposed to terrorism and certain stereotypes fit into their mind about a certain community and people that is hard to erase.

This is a dangerous game that is going on unnoticed. Something should be seriously done to address this issue. Policies should be made to addressing the needs of children towards fun and games but at the same those games which have negative image on their minds should be strictly banned.

In the wake of 9/11, 2001 the National Advisory Committee on Children and Terrorism of the US Department of Health and Human Services was called upon to undertake an extensive exercise. Its goal was to ensure the safety of the children and to meet their physical, psychological and social needs in the face of the threat of terrorism. However, no such attempt has ever been made in India, where we had a similar event on 26/11, 2008, the Mumbai attack. The event was beamed live for almost three days, and it had created a huge impact on the mind of the people, especially the young.

Thus, it is essential to realize that children are the future of not only the country to which they belong but of the entire world. Significant psycho-social initiatives are needed to address the needs of the nation’s children vis-à-vis negotiating the word terrorism. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)