Paris Attack: What more can you do beside a hash tag

Another tragedy is ascribed to the date Friday the 13th, maybe refueling the idea just a little bit more. Last I read, there are more than 150 casualties, and many more wounded. Shots were fired, bombs were detonated, and there was suicide bombing also. After this attack, what I saw most people are doing is they are just writing a hashtag with "prayforparis". Those of you who are doing this, please ask yourself, what are you getting out of your prayer? What you should have really done? What can you really do? 

There is a stand-up comedian who does really dark comedy, his name is Anthony Jeselnik. He does jokes all the time. Even on the day of any tragedy, he doesn't let the opportunity go. But by doing this, I think, he really makes us understand how dangerous the tragedy really was! And when he ridicules someone, who is he really mocking? According to him, only those who writes "my thoughts and prayers to the victims", and feel content.

I like this part of his video. I like to think that you want to solve it too. You probably want to do more than a hashtag. And when I oppose the "hashtag-and-doing-nothing-else", I am sort of begging the question, "then what the hell are you doing? Are you on your way to Paris right now?" Surely, I can fly to Paris, tend the wounded in the hospitals, but that will not solve the problem for good. Then what is the solution? 

From here, I want you to read very carefully. First, accept the reality, accept that religion is indeed the reason. Then, throw that perverted hegemony out of the window. A way of life where so much misinterpretation is possible, so many discrepancies, so much violence, so much lack off empathy and compassion, is not worthy to exist in our world. Try to understand terrorists and terrorism both. Try to understand the reason beneath the problem. This is not done by any aliens, we are responsible. Someone among us, a group of so called human beings, has done it. And the reason that they are enabled of doing something like that, has everything to do with the hidden support they get from us, you and I. I'm not talking about those who murder other people or support terrorism financially. Obviously, they are responsible. But, I am talking about the so-called moderates. We see the reason, but we choose to say nothing, and that's what is enabling them to cause these kind of crimes all over the world. There are many ideologies in this world, and a large portion of the followers of these ideologies are silently supporting these acts. 

We do not have the luxury to be hesitant about this. We have to take a decisive stand. We need to create a social environment where no one can garner sympathy by committing this kind of heinous act.

ISIS has claimed credit for this attack according to IBN, I don't know how much truth there is in it. ISIS do fit the profile. But more importantly, 200 million Muslims are likely to be happy because of this attack. They think that this kind of "action" is necessary. In my home country Bangladesh, secular bloggers, authors, and very recently, a publisher was killed by the religious fundamentalists. And many people were happy. They thought that atheists deserve this kind of death. Government has still done nothing tangible about these murders, but I am more astonished by the excitement of those aggressive who thought "awesome, kill some more of those bloody atheists!" and those moderates who said, "religion is not the issue here, the terrorists are not true followers of religion." 

Those who do not support religious violence, are not taking their religion seriously. They are not Muslims by the book. If they say, "I am Muslim, and my religion is very tolerant", then they are simply ignorant. Their religion/primary scripture tells them to kill, make a massacre. If you don't know which ayah's I am talking about, search 89th verse of Sura Nisa (4:89) in Qur'an, and there are more like that. So, If they don't get violent, that part comes from ethics, and it's not because they are Muslims.

Whoever the culprit is, may it be the deaths in Paris or in my country, it is more important to change the mentality of these 200 million people. The terrorists know, that they will gain your respect if they do it. And obviously, the promise of 72 virgins. If your mentality is like this, your children can very well turn out to be a terrorist.

Create a world for these terrorists where they can get no support at all for this kind of activities. Create a social voice where they can have no respect by killing people with guns or machetes. If you are discussing this in your family, then do not say anything in front of your children that can create sympathy for the terrorists in your children's mind. If almost all people can practice this, then we will get a better future in the next generation. This is not something that can be solved in a matter of days. The state can probably bring the other terrorists to justice (I hear, that the French government has said that they are at war now), and people outside the justice and administration has almost nothing to contribute. Obviously, merciless punishment is necessary, example has to be made, and that is part of the justice or the solution. But this is not the complete solution, this is not the permanent solution. The real solution will take time, and the responsibility lies with us. That is what we have to do.

If our ancestors were vocal about these problems, if they hadn't said “I'm not harming anybody, I am content with my ideology”, then my prediction is that the attacks, like in Paris today, would be much less frequent. Their silence is responsible for today's event. If something happens tomorrow, the culprit will be the silence we are content with today.

When environmental science chose me

In a lovely morning of spring 2005, physical fitness test and viva was being conducted for 48 seats in IFESCU (Institute of Forestry and Environmental Science, Chittagong University). That year, environmental science was being offered for the first time. When the interview board asked me why I wanted environmental science, I told them a story.

There is a novel written by Shirshendu Mukhopaddhay, named Parthib. Krishnajiban, a character in that novel was telling his son that trees are the beard on earth’s face and explaining why we shouldn’t shave it. The author made me feel that I was that little child who promised to his dad that he will never shave earth’s face and will do everything in his capacity to protect the earth. Krishnajiban, is one of my favorite characters in Bangla literature. I was 16 when I read that book for the first time, and I couldn’t help but notice that he and I share several characteristics. He too, is the eldest son of the family, somewhat philosophical; we both are famous (!) for our disinclination for social interaction. But at that time, I never thought that I would end up in the same profession. When I came to know that IFESCU is offering environmental science, when I realized that I could be an environmental scientist, I never applied for anything else. I never even took the admission test in Dhaka University, "The Oxford of The East".

Most of the students in my batch (actually, in all of the batches) joined IFESCU only for an Honors Certificate. I’m quite sure that things haven’t changed yet. Even today, most of the students are studying Forestry or Environmental Science- not out of the love of forest or environment, but mostly to get a job in commercial banks. So, the knowledge may enter the brain, but doesn’t get the rights to enter the heart. Of course, IFESCU makes us smarter, which helps us achieve or adapt in a diverse range of jobs. But the knowledge about forest or environment is irrelevant in those jobs. I should tell you, undergraduate study in IFESCU is not an easy one. You have to attend theory and practical classes all day long, have to submit a well-cooked project paper or thesis (which is not that hard work in many other courses). Why do you need these 4-years full of hard work if you want to end up working in a bank? I used to say these things since 2005. In 2009, an excellent Bollywood movie “3 Idiots” showed something very similar.

Now you may think what else we can do; given the context of Bangladesh, how many forestry or environmental jobs are there in Bangladesh? The reality is, if you are true to your heart, there are many options available. You will find something that you like if you are devoted to your academic study. We can make our move not only in environmental counseling in the industries, environmental research based NGOs, but everywhere the timber and other non-timber forest product goes (like saw mills, paper mills, tea or rubber gardens etc). And we all know about the scope of higher study in these subjects and what we can do after that worldwide; but the pathetic truth is not much people are inclined to do anything in this regard.

If you don’t see any field, make one. You could form an organization based on your skills, arrange research funds if you have a good idea, and not only get a job, but also offer others. If you love something, you have to show it and do something for it.

When a student makes an achievement, it sure makes the teachers proud. So, they should share a bit of responsibility about what their students do after they go out in the world. Their job doesn’t end right after the students get the certificate; same goes for the alumni students who found the right way. Current students should prove their worth as well. If the teachers and alumni show them the way, current students have to make sure that they follow the shown path. Before getting the torch, they should show that they are determined to carry the torch.

There is a famous story named Gooseberries, by Anton Chekhov. He said, “It is a common saying that a man needs only six feet of land. But surely a corpse wants that, not a man. And I hear that our intellectuals have a longing for the land and want to acquire farms. But it all comes down to the six feet of land. To leave town, and the struggle and the swim of life, and go and hide yourself in a farmhouse is not life -- it is egoism, laziness; it is a kind of monasticism, but monasticism without action. A man needs, not six feet of land, not a farm, but the whole earth, all Nature, where in full liberty he can display all the properties and qualities of the free spirit”.

If you are determined to keep yourself in the track, then you must shred off the idea of having just any job. You must explore all nature, you must travel the whole earth to fulfill your dream and display all the properties of your free spirit.