Destruction of credibility

Terrorism destroys. It destroys human lives, property, flora and fauna. These are the tangible things, but what about the intangible things that are destroyed?

Terrorism destabilises a society in several ways. But according to me, the worst fate is to lose one's credibility of being innocent and still be punished for a crime not committed.

On the fateful Wednesday in Mumbai, many passers-by who parked their vehicles at the blast site, invariably came under the police radar screen. After the attacks, investigating agencies started controlling communication lines, tapped each and every phone call to dig out possible leads. Nakabandis were set up at every nook and corner of the city, and all public places came under the scanner. Such attacks become a double victory for terror groups, as every person becomes a suspect in the watchful eyes of the police until proven innocent.

Such attacks become a double victory for terror groups, as every person becomes a suspect I know how nightmarish it can be for innocent people, at the receiving end. Narrating from my personal experience.
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During the Babri Masjid riots, I remember how the police started rounding up all the men in my family to contain the law and order situation. We were 10 people including eight siblings in a 2-bedroom rented house in a thickly populated Muslim area in Mysore -- an area, which the police considered as conflict-ridden. I remember how I had holed up under a cot, behind some old trunks to escape the police round up, early in the morning. My eldest brother too joined me under the cot. But another brother, who was slower, was still searching for a hiding place when the police broke open the front door and came in. They just took him away - no questions asked, no chance to prove innocence.

I still hear my father's voice -- pleading with the police to free my innocent brother. Fortunately, my father was not taken away as the police learnt that he was a lecturer at a government college. But he did not escape the lathi lashes for begging for his son's release. We did not know what happened to my brother, people in the neighbourhood were taken away, as a curfew was imposed and no one dared to venture out. After a week we found out that my brother was in the Bellary prison in a riot case and he came out clean only after six months.

He had to discontinue his engineering course. And my father had to don an ugly looking lathi scar on his back, till he died.

Iu00a0 have moved on... and in my profession, I interact with the police everyday. But that nightmarish experience will stay with me forever.