Terrorists in our midst

THE EDITOR: Over the past month we have been reminded of one of our many human imperfections — man’s inhumanity to man. What we deem to be “random” acts of terrorism are indeed calculated attempts to derail  what little is left of human happiness and peace. Not surprisingly, in true Trinbagonian fashion, many now abuse the word “terrorist”. It is not uncommon for a person to refer to someone who is causing them some manner of emotional discomfort as a terrorist. I was most surprised when I overheard a man jokingly telling his wife she was a terrorist. Imagine that! Although our culture affords us this  gift of making the most uncomfortable of situations humorous, the issue of terrorism should never be one of them. Indeed, we can leave  our linguistic creativity to renaming the flu and political jokes.

Over the weeks we have been exposed to images of exploded buses, destroyed villages in Egypt and of course blurred video images of men with backpacks. The latter, our new revised stereotype of a terrorist. Who is a terrorist? A terrorist is often described as one who causes terror “using some from of organised violence.” We have created a stereotype of such a person not realising that there are so many terrorists in our midst, in our homes, in our lives. To a child of seven who sleeps lightly for fear of a hand lifting her blanket, who is a terrorist? To the abused wife who has to pretend that her husband is still her own, who wears the face of terror? To the grandmother  who is afraid to take a walk at 6 pm because her granddaughter  was raped, who is the terrorist?

How do we deal with this breed of home grown terrorists? Can they not be defined as such? Taking another life is one of the most heinous of transgressions. The victims of terrorists are innocent, but the child, the person, the family  whose sense of self is being constantly eroded day by day are victims too. We don’t have to look at the news to see acts of terrorism — acts against the individual, the society and where the definition seems most viable, acts against our democracy. Many may not agree with my portrait of a terrorist but one should reflect on our society, then decide, is this the way we always lived?

Did we hear the police sirens so often? Remember when it was a “big ting” to hear them? Now, the sound of the sirens is becoming a part of our rhythm, we don’t even seem too puzzled when the dogs respond and the sound grows closer. Sometimes we just wait to find out the next day. My heart will forever go out  to those affected by bombings and other open acts of terrorism, those thousands who have died and the families that  keep their  memory alive. Indeed, we do see blurred images but the portrait of a  terrorist is clearer than we think. They are closer to home than we imagine. May hearts go out to those who live in the clutches of terrorists. 

RHAYN E TAYLOR
Carnbee, Tobago