It is hard to keep up with death sometimes

I just wrote about the suicide of 38-year old Kuldeep Kumar in Jammu (see post Kuldeep Dies... Amarnath Controversy Lives) and now it seems life is having a hard time going on.  A day after Kuldeep died and reignited Jammu, a grenade blast killed 5 members of a family in Batamaloo (Kashmir) and serial bomb blasts have hit the cities of Bangalore and Ahmedabad, claiming numerous innocent lives.  

Thirty-two year old Rubina and her four children--12-year old Khushboo and her three brothers Ajoob (8), Qayoom (5), and Adil (4)--died in Batamaloo.  Mohammad Afroze, the husband and father is now left behind to bear the anguish of his calamitous loss.  The news cycle is fast and it is relentless.  Mohammad Afroze and his devastation will soon be forgotten and those who perished in Bangalore and Ahmedabad will become statistics.  Politicians are already blaming each other--Syed Ali Shah Geelani of the Huriyat Conference has blamed the Batamaloo blast on "Indian agencies" trying to bring disrepute to the "movement" in Kashmir, referring to the separatist movement that, as we know, has had a violent history.  On the other hand, the BJP has criticized the Indian government for essentially not dealing effectively with terrorists.  With news that a little known organization called Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the serial blasts that have now claimed almost 40 lives, there is bound to be increased tension between the Hindu and Muslim communities.  As usual, cynical politics will find a way to sustain itself with terror acting as a feeding tube.

In all of this what I wonder about is the character of the person who actually ended up lobbing a grenade or detonating explosives.  Who is this person who leaves shattered lives in his wake?  What is he made of?  What does he want?  What ideology does he serve?  Who does he serve?  Can he hear Mohammed Afroze wailing or is he numb to the daze that Afroze is in?  What about those who were obliterated by the white light and the deafening roar of the bombs of Bangalore or Ahmedabad or Jaipur or Delhi?  Does the bomber feel any of it?  Is there a life behind the mask of death?

More innocent lives will be lost.  More statistics will pile up.  Death will flow.  It is just life that seems to be in short supply.

Until next time...