The Indomitable Human Spirit
The Mumbai massacre of a year ago was a horrible human tragedy. The extent to which psychopathic minds will plot to create an atmosphere of terror by attacking innocent people whose sins in the minds of their attackers constitute their nationality or their religion or their social values merely points out the presence of evil in the world. Evil, of course, is attributed to the dark forces that seek to control human beings; Satan, the Devil. But those creatures who are perceived to control us are really ourselves, our own dark versions of humanity.
And there are no darker blights on humanity at the present time than what the Islamist-inspired salafist-derived martyrdom-seeking jihadists who prey on humanity represent. These are the deformed beings with avenging, disease-ridden minds who destroy the mosques of their co-religionists who just happen to practise an ideologically-unsanctioned version of Islam. And then go on to slaughter those adhering to 'false' Islam, be it Shia, or Sunni. They are also the mind-warped jihadis who target Hindus, Jews and Christians.
Who dedicated two-tenths of their death-delivering intentions to the humble, out-of-the-way location of a Jewish charity house of the Hasidic Chabad-Lubavitch movement, Nariman House, a nondescript building in a narrow lane. Pakistan-based terrorists, Lashkar-e-Tayiba targeted it just as carefully as they did the famous Mumbai Taj Mahal hotel, a popular restaurant, and a railway station crowded with passengers, to kill almost 200 people in a high-feature 40-hour standoff redolent with searing hatred.
The rescued child of the murdered rabbi and his murdered, pregnant wife, then two, now celebrates his third birthday in the loving care of his grandparents. And the general manager of the Taj Mahal mournfully recalls his dreadful loss. His wife and two children were burned to death in their sixth-floor suite of the stately, grand hotel. Karambir Singh Kang was unable to move from the ground floor lobby, remaining in contact with his wife by cellphone. Urging her to remain where she was with their boys, 14 and 5 years of age.
They would be safer, he explained to his wife, where they were. Not to panic, he would reach them shortly and lead them to safety. As events transpired, he was unable to fulfill that promise. And from the lobby he turned his attention to performing his best to evacuate the hotel's guests through the panicked atmosphere. The gunmen, attempting to enter as many of the hotel's rooms as they could, simply set fire to those where they were unable to gain entry, and this served their purpose very well.
Mr. Kang called his mother for a few supportive, reassuring words once he realized that it was likely he would never see his wife and children alive again. She advised him to "Go save the others". And he did. Along with his hotel staff, none of whom shirked their professionalism, dedicating themselves to protecting the lives of the people who had entrusted their well-being to the reputation of a trusted hotel, none of them ever dreaming it would be the locus of a terrorist attack.
Of the original hotel staff of 542 at the time of the November 27 attack in 2008, none has left. Taking inspiration from general manager Kang, they all remained to see the hotel renovated, and open for business again. All, that is, but those staff members who were killed in the assault, along with guests unfortunate enough to have come under the line of terrorist fire. As for Mr. Kang, he is philosophical: "Life is in your hands, how you want to cope with it, whether you spiral down or keep going."
He has decided, like so many others who suffered the dreadful trauma of the terror attack, to forge ahead: "what has been done cannot be undone", and he moves on with life.
And there are no darker blights on humanity at the present time than what the Islamist-inspired salafist-derived martyrdom-seeking jihadists who prey on humanity represent. These are the deformed beings with avenging, disease-ridden minds who destroy the mosques of their co-religionists who just happen to practise an ideologically-unsanctioned version of Islam. And then go on to slaughter those adhering to 'false' Islam, be it Shia, or Sunni. They are also the mind-warped jihadis who target Hindus, Jews and Christians.
Who dedicated two-tenths of their death-delivering intentions to the humble, out-of-the-way location of a Jewish charity house of the Hasidic Chabad-Lubavitch movement, Nariman House, a nondescript building in a narrow lane. Pakistan-based terrorists, Lashkar-e-Tayiba targeted it just as carefully as they did the famous Mumbai Taj Mahal hotel, a popular restaurant, and a railway station crowded with passengers, to kill almost 200 people in a high-feature 40-hour standoff redolent with searing hatred.
The rescued child of the murdered rabbi and his murdered, pregnant wife, then two, now celebrates his third birthday in the loving care of his grandparents. And the general manager of the Taj Mahal mournfully recalls his dreadful loss. His wife and two children were burned to death in their sixth-floor suite of the stately, grand hotel. Karambir Singh Kang was unable to move from the ground floor lobby, remaining in contact with his wife by cellphone. Urging her to remain where she was with their boys, 14 and 5 years of age.
They would be safer, he explained to his wife, where they were. Not to panic, he would reach them shortly and lead them to safety. As events transpired, he was unable to fulfill that promise. And from the lobby he turned his attention to performing his best to evacuate the hotel's guests through the panicked atmosphere. The gunmen, attempting to enter as many of the hotel's rooms as they could, simply set fire to those where they were unable to gain entry, and this served their purpose very well.
Mr. Kang called his mother for a few supportive, reassuring words once he realized that it was likely he would never see his wife and children alive again. She advised him to "Go save the others". And he did. Along with his hotel staff, none of whom shirked their professionalism, dedicating themselves to protecting the lives of the people who had entrusted their well-being to the reputation of a trusted hotel, none of them ever dreaming it would be the locus of a terrorist attack.
Of the original hotel staff of 542 at the time of the November 27 attack in 2008, none has left. Taking inspiration from general manager Kang, they all remained to see the hotel renovated, and open for business again. All, that is, but those staff members who were killed in the assault, along with guests unfortunate enough to have come under the line of terrorist fire. As for Mr. Kang, he is philosophical: "Life is in your hands, how you want to cope with it, whether you spiral down or keep going."
He has decided, like so many others who suffered the dreadful trauma of the terror attack, to forge ahead: "what has been done cannot be undone", and he moves on with life.
Labels: Human Relations, Realities, religion
posted by Pieface @ 6:20 PM
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