My first reaction to the senseless attack in Manchester was to check up on my great folks in what some Brits call, the Rainchester. This was even before I could convince myself that they certainly weren’t at the Arena because they simply won’t attend any such show. But I would have.
Manchester is beautiful and a sharp contrast with London, where the tons of tourists and business people as well as the ‘any workers’ swarm train and tram stations, bus stops and tourist sites. One minute it’s sunny and the next, the rains take over. The Piccadilly tram station near the Arndale is one of the few places that sees huge crowds during rush hours aside from the train station. For this obviously insane killer therefore, striking when he did was most opportune.
The mode of this attack only shows the terrible state of mind of Salman Abedi and his allies. It’s their second strike in the U.K. in two months. Why do you target innocent kids? You must be a savage to target the most vulnerable and strike them when it hurts the most. But when the thought of the expected benefit of a certain number of virgins comes up, it exposes the harsh emotional and mental poverty and emptiness of the perpetrators.
On their own, no virgin will ever look their way, not based on their physical make up, achievements or mental state of being. That they need to die cowardly just to have virgins is not just stupid but a demonstration of their poor mental state. This may not be the last. But what kind of person delights in taking innocent lives in pursuit of whatever concerns?
Don’t we all feel hard done by one thing or the other? Should anyone who feels unfairly offended in the name of whatever fundamentalist mindset and an insatiable desire for unbroken hymens, subject others to cruelty of such abnormal proportions? Listening to parents whose kids who were at the event but survived the attack share their feelings on May 22 killings by a 22 year old, I can’t help but join the many in condemning not just the villain. He killed the 22 and maimed close to 59 people at an opportunity for many to experience arts, a respite to the hustles of this world. We must condemn all who support any form of terror.
The time has come for the world to secure its people. The terrorists seem to have nothing to lose, not even their humanity, which, they clearly do not have to lose. Whoever thought that if you blow yourself up, you secure your manhood for the anticipated virgins must be a moron, but that’s their credo: the love for virgins.
It must be possible to raise the threat levels of potential terrorist attacks to critical at all such gatherings including games. We cannot ignore how many were saved during the Easter Sunday bombing in Egypt. That country protects its inhabitants to the highest degree possible. Malls, Hotels and major public gatherings, including exhibitions have scanners and metal detectors.
I have heard Nick Ferrari of London’s LBC’s suggestion that metal detectors may not be useful once the event is over and folks are leaving the premises. The time has come for security experts to deploy new methods.
Innocent lives cannot be truncated by people, whose only priority is in having virgins in their beds. People who kill themselves and others with the promise of a hereafter of joy are obviously retarded. Neither the Bible nor Quran makes any such promises, so where do they derive their strength from?
The source is what must be dismantled. Religious, particularly Muslim ones, must do a lot more to confront the hideous perversions of their teachings that give cover and motivation to young men and women seeking martyrdom. All religions teach peace. Let’s make sure that they indeed lead to peace.
