Poonam Sharma
Festivals of light across civilizations—Diwali, Hanukkah, Christmas, Eid’s spiritual culmination—symbolize hope, renewal, and the triumph of conscience over fear. Yet in recent years, these moments of collective faith have increasingly been scarred by bullets, bombings, and ideological violence. This draws attention to a troubling paradox: while world leaders, including the American President, publicly call for unity against violent Islamist ideology, the ground reality continues to witness unchecked bloodshed, often justified or diluted in the language of geopolitics.
The Rhetoric vs the Reality
Global capitals resonate with speeches condemning “extremism” in abstract terms. However, the refusal to name the ideological roots of violence has hollowed these declarations. When attacks occur during festivals—times meant for communal harmony—the violence is not random. It is symbolic, psychological warfare aimed at terrorizing societies into silence. The reluctance of global institutions to confront radical Islamist ideology head-on has allowed this menace to mutate and survive.
Selective Outrage and Strategic Silence
This sharply exposes the West’s selective outrage. Terror attacks in certain regions trigger immediate international response, while similar or worse atrocities elsewhere are brushed aside as “regional instability.” This moral inconsistency weakens the global fight against terror. When ideology-driven violence is excused as political resistance or contextualized endlessly, victims are denied justice and perpetrators gain legitimacy.
India’s Constitutional Lens: Secularism with Clarity
India’s Constitution offers a different approach. Secularism in the Indian context does not mean denial of religious identity but equal respect and accountability. Violence committed in the name of any faith is a crime against the Republic. The refusal to appease radical ideology—regardless of electoral or diplomatic cost—is essential to protecting civilizational pluralism.
Terrorism as an Ideological Ecosystem
Violent Islamist terror is sustained not only by weapons but by narrative ecosystems—sympathizers, legal loopholes, funding channels, and intellectual whitewashing. Festivals become targets because they represent civilizational continuity. Attacking them is an attempt to fracture cultural confidence.
The Burden on Democratic Leadership
True leadership demands courage beyond slogans. If global powers genuinely seek peace, they must abandon euphemisms and confront ideology with honesty. Silence is no longer neutrality—it is complicity.
Choosing Light Without Illusion
Festivals of light remind humanity that darkness is real—but not undefeatable. The world stands at a crossroads: either continue the theatre of condemnations or embrace moral clarity. History will remember not speeches, but choices.
