I am a citizen of Bangladesh, a country often at odds with India over many issues such as border security, water-sharing treaties and trade deals. I am also a Muslim, the religion that, perhaps, the terrorists who attacked India "claimed" as their own. One of my fellow members of the South Asian Political Action Committee (SAPAC) is a Pakistani, a country that never had a friendly relationship with India. The other is a Nepali, a country that recently saw its people gleefully reject an autocratic monarchy, which the Indian government had backed for decades.
Over the weekend, we all heard about the terrorist attack in Mumbai, India and decided to organize a response to show solidarity for the victims. We contacted a few people who we thought would be willing to help us out. Slowly the responses started to trickle in. People stepped up. They forwarded our plea of help to the wider Tufts community and e-mails poured in, expressing the desire to help and stand up against violence.
We had a meeting Monday night and while we were expecting a few people, mostly South Asians, to show up, we were greeted with an avalanche of disparate groups of people who have little or no relationship to India, but all of whom were moved by and were prepared to stand up and denounce what had happened. Everyone realizes and understands that terrorists don't just attack one country — they don't attack a religion, a race or an ethnicity — they attack humanity. Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Jews, Asians, blacks and whites are all victims of terrorism. They realize, rightly that an attack on one group is an attack on everyone. These young men and women understand that if Sept. 11 taught us anything, it is that in a time of need we should stand united, not divided; we should come together as one, not point the fingers at each other and put politics and partisanship over solidarity.
It is due to this very idea that we are organizing a rally today on the Tisch Patio. The rally will start at noon and we will be handing out black and white peace ribbons to the participants. The rally will feature an open mic session where members of the Tufts community, including professors, heads of religious organizations and affected students, will be all reading statements to express condolences for the bereaved families. A notebook will be passed around in which the participants can sign a note for the victims of the incident. The notebook, along with pictures of the event and participants, will be sent to the Indian High Commission.
If you have some time today — even 10 or 15 minutes — show up and just stand with us for a few moments. Hear what others have to say and wear the ribbon and sign the notebook. Your simple statement will give hope to those who need it the most and be a powerful symbol of unity in a world that desperately needs one.
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G. Rezwan Khan is a junior majoring in electrical engineering and is the PR chair for the SAPAC.
