Heinous Heinous Crime!

The terrorist attack in Bangalore today is a clear case of the kind of intransigent evil which is unpardonable. The Indian Institute of Sciences or IISc as it is fondly know in Bangalore, in India and around the world is beyond doubt the best centre for learning in the country and perhaps in Asia. It is situated in a large campus in the vicinity Malleswaram, the heart of Bangalore city, with its beautiful English style buildings, large wooded area and a reputation of erudition. The incident of indiscriminate firing using automatic weapons like the AK47 and the use of grenades in a centre of education, which has been the alma mater of eminent Indians like Sir C V Raman, Dr. Homi Bhaba and others is unimaginable and heinous.

As the events of this incident and other similar incidents unfold, it becomes increasingly clear that these kinds of acts are motivated not by any kind of ideology but by nothing but a want of titillation for a few evil men. Bangalore is the fastest growing city in Asia. It has been in the limelight for all the good things that have been happening in India, in terms of technology, economy, information, knowledge and intellectual capital. Thomas Friedman’s book The World is Flat which is one of the top selling books around the world in 2005 is based on and mostly inspired by the success story that is Bangalore. With the focus on Bangalore as one of the cities in the world with not just beautiful gardens but the highest per capita intellectual capital it is clear beyond doubt that Bangalore is and will be the driving force behind a healthy and successful India. The IISc is as representative of Bangalore and its success story, as brightness is to the sun. It is the pedigree from which the greatest minds, the most successful people and the most capable individuals are bred. Instituted by no lesser an individual than the late Jamshedji Tata the IISc is a paradigm of success. And it is against this very capability of the Indian intellect that the attack today has taken place.

It should be very clear that the perpetrators of this heinous crime cannot hide behind any ideology since such attacks do not warrant any. It is weak cry by a few pathetic human beings whose only response to any form of competence is a blaring and violent display of their impotence. An impotence characterized by a lack of constructive capability, satiated by such pre-meditated acts of indiscriminate violence.