“These Boys are Innocent”
Among the plethora of information reaching us from London concerning the eight alleged terrorists, all medical doctors or technicians, we learn that those closest to these young men had no inkling that their children, family members, or just childhood friends, were preparing terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow.
Ii may be that their ignorance of what the men were planning was the result of the special circumstances of their lives in the turbulent and violent Middle East where they lived and where these young men for the most part (three of the group were from Bangalore) grew up. The external pressures on the families living in the Middle East, and perhaps in India also, were and are so great that there is probably little time for friends and families to be together in normal circumstances and get to know one another.
Or it may be that most parents including these parents don’t know their children, let alone their more distant family members and neighbors. It may be that the human heart is so well hidden that even our closest loved ones will on occasion startle us, in this instance overwhelm us, by a totally unexpected action.
In any case, how does one understand such statements from family and friends as the following, all witness to an apparent ignorance of what was really happening?
“Mrs Zakia Ahmed of Bangalore, the mother of Sabeel Ahmed (the brother of Khalid Ahmed, the driver of the SUV, who was critically burned in the fire at Heathrow Airport), said yesterday: ‘These boys are innocent.’”
And this:
“The father of the suspected terror cell mastermind, Mohammed Jamil Abdelkader Asha, said yesterday that his son’s arrest was, ‘beyond belief…. my son is incapable of such acts. It’s a mistake. The British are going to find it is an error. Mohammed is innocent.’ And Dr. Asha’s brother, Ahmed, 31, said his brother was in love with Britain, ‘My brother kept forever singing its praises. He is not a Muslim extremist.’”
And finally,
“Sheikh Rehmatullah, a childhood friend of Sabeel Ahmed, insisted in Bangalore: ‘He is not like that. He can’t be a terrorist. We have played together since we were young, we used to play cricket together. I have known him for the last 20 years. They are very good people, the whole family, they are very educated.”
“These boys are innocent.” “It’s a mistake.” “He is not like that.” These words ring true. I believe them. That is I don’t think they’re lying. I think they believe what they say. Furthermore I see no reason to suppose that we’re not like the speakers, and that we probably don’t know our own children any better.
Is that the way it has to be? That we don’t really know one another, even those closest to us? The great writers who write about these things would probably say yes.
If even the closest family members are without suspicion of the true motivations of their children what chance do our counter terrorist agents have of recognizing the terrorist among the millions out there? Especially when he or she holds a respected position in society, as did these eight Moslem doctors and medical technicians?
We need to go after the terrorists, but even more so we need to confront whatever it is that motivates them to hate and destroy themselves along with us. If we don’t go after what motivates them what chance do we have of defusing in time the probably endless series of suicide bombers as they come at us fully intent on ending their own lives and ours along with them? We will not always be so lucky as we were at the London and Glasgow airports.
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