Imagine a king hiding in a drainage pipe getting dragged by his own people and mercilessly killed.  A wounded Gaddafi raising his hands in utter desperation and begging for mercy from the revolutionary fighters was a heart-numbing sight. His rebels vented their fury by pulling his hair and parading his bloodied body on the hood of a truck. That was their way of showing to the world - pride hath a fall. At last after experiencing hell for forty two long years, they had their day.
The sight, on the face of it, was bone-chilling; the act, by all means, barbaric. But it must have relieved thousands of those bereaved whose nears and dears were mowed down by the savage who met his fate this week. The souls of those  he publicly hanged would have felt relieved as the man was being hauled through the roads of Sirte. It happened two months after he was thrown out of power. Now the man is finally dead. Decisively dead. Disgracefully dead. The country erupted in delight and jubilation. The way Gaddafi's killing was celebrated in Libya sends across a message. The message of retributive justice.
One is reminded of a hysterical Gaddafi in the UN General Assembly  advocating the cause of independence for Kashmiris. How ironical is that he sounded vociferous about something he had denied his own people. More ironical is the response from a certain section of our society which lost no time in showering praise on this `crusader of freedom'. It was true of many such power hungry brutes like Saddam Hussain who, like Gaddafi, was captured like a sitting duck and hanged. Such people want to project a freedom-loving image of theirs to the world outside but unleash hell around them. They don't let even a leaf rustle without their permission. Saddam's killing too evoked an emotion of sympathy. But seeing blood at their hands, one wonders on how impulsively we react the moment somebody throws a word of concern for us. No matter that concern is rooted in dubiousness and perfidy, our heart goes out to anyone who talks Kashmir. Sure, Kashmir needs supporters at global level. But hailing mass killers for presumedly pleading our case to the world forum, is the ultimate insult to the very spirit of freedom. The same way a mere Obama statement makes us go mad with joy. Is the whole story of Kashmir dependent on the fits of some powerful people in the world?  Let politics not drown the universal values of justice and fellow-feeling. It must be human life first, statements come next.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 22 Oct 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 22 Oct 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 23 Oct 2011 00:00:00 IST