Perspective

Two powerful bombs exploded one evening killing a score of people and maimed several in the city. Investigations by the police pointed to the handiwork of a terrorist group. For days after that the townsfolk felt shell-shocked and avoided popular haunts such as eateries and parks like the plague. One day I was traveling with a grand old man of some repute, who had held an important post in public relations. Naturally, the conversation turned to the recent man-made tragedy. The venerable granddad brooded for a while and asserted that one community had from the beginning a tendency to violence and that its effects were felt worldwide. “But terror has no religion,” I protested. Are we discussing the violent human mind, I wondered, or a particular form of violence, which inevitably leads to a biased perspective?