Haresh Daswani | Upcoming Middle East crisis: Handle with care

The new attack of Israel in Gaza and India’s and U.S.’s strong case against Pakistan will stir some very strong emotions amongst people radical extremists in the Middle East are trying to recruit. The whole ploy of these nations is to cause a negative propaganda, a one-sided story that pretends on the idea that they are the victims of crimes they did not commit. This is a negative chain reaction to which the demands do not even make proper sense; it seems that for the pure love of war do these extremists push their agenda.

Many terrorist acts involve finding uninformed citizens and getting their blood to the level that it makes them want to take violent action. Propaganda has a powerful effect in driving people into irrational actions.

Religion should not be blamed, but fanaticism and leaders with questionable intentions misdirect their followers into radicals.

Hate brings more hate, and this is a vital step that has to be prevented.

While it is also important to quell these camps, a stronger internal campaign is just as important, promoting peace and brotherhood in these countries.

The push for religious tolerance is needed, not only in the Middle East, but everywhere. We cannot merely point our fingers in their direction and blame them as radicals; almost everyone else has some negative impression against others, blaming religion and reacting negatively towards others in doing so. Everyone else is becoming an extremist without realizing it, and media did play a large role in doing so.

If people start to see that there is no bias against other belief everywhere else, they will soften up, if people start seeing that we go to their place to help them in all sincerity, they will be there for us, giving their life, realizing that we actually do care, with nothing hidden behind our backs.

Everyone has the strongest sincerity and potential to be good people, for everyone is good, but we have to give them a chance, and patience, to better understand them, and where they stand, their story, their rationale.

The first step to peace is dialog, not only with the heads, but with the grassroots, the very core and majority of the nation, its citizens.

Media has to play a stronger role depicting citizens as good people with situational problems.

Until we find a proper and unbiased media, war will never end.

– Column by Haresh Daswani