But brave London shrugged off the terror and once again got on with life. We all know that the bombers and their masters are evil, perverted and subhuman. And once again the Great British Public kept its cool -- meaning -- "They will not beat us".
Hundreds of people like myself got up that fateful morning to make the grey commuter journey into the city However 56 people did not make it home again.The devastation of their loved one is something that we can call only dwell upon, however, it serves as a powerful reminder about what is at the heart of "the war on terror" and G-8, whichever perspective you look at it from.
This is all I can remember about 7/7, frenzied text messages and phone calls from family and friends who knew I worked in Aldgate East, White Chapel area where the first bomb exploded. Many of our Assamese friends and families received phone calls from home non-stop -- wondering if they are OK. When you can't contact people you dearly care about in circumstances like these the panic and fear is universally translatable.Instead how we felt on Thursday 21st should give us some empathy about how people who live under siege and fear of attacks across the world (like Palestine or Kashmir) have to cope every single day.
The value of human life is priceless from London to Iraq to Africa. At times like this there should be no distinction between the "developing world" and "the westerners" or those oppressed people" and "us the liberated ones".A hush fell across the world at noon on July 14th exactly a week as million were united in a silent tribute to the London suicide bomb victims. The nation was lead in mourning by the Queen who stunned thousands of tourists by walking into the forecourt near the main gateway at Buckingham Palace shortly before noon. It seems that what unites humanity is stronger than what divides it. During that brief silence, we mourned our dead, healed our wounds a little and expressed our great rage at the killers who inflicted mass murders on us.
In every corner of Britain, every corner of Europe and in America and Africa too, millions stood united and defiant. At the sites of each 7/7 attack, Kings Cross, Edgware Road, Tavistock Square and Aldgate. The scenes of silence were echoed cities, towns and villages across Britain -- and in the rest of the world.For the relatives of the many confirmed fatalities that is the gruesome truth. And those of us whose family is safe should thank God it is not us who grieving such a loss. I feel so sad for those who will be living with this, in whichever way for a very long time.
On 21st July Thursday in the courtyard of the British Medical Association headquaters in Tavistock Square doctors stood. The contrast could not have been more stark. Two weeks ago it was an improvised field hospital, filled with the screams of the dying and injured. But this very Thursday prayer replaced pain as the doctors who treated the victims, gathered to pay their respect to those unfortunate victims. Their bowed heads were turned towards the spot where hell engulfed the No 30 bus on that fatal morning.Where as sametime the other side of London those fanatics (rejoiced probably 7/7) by striking second time at the heart of London.
Life in London is getting back to normal with a determination afoot not to let the murderers win by making us scared. The clean up operation will have finished and London will return to normal, determined not to bow to the cowardly terrorists who seek to destroy us.We are not afraid -- The defiant message has spread far and wide across the country in the last two weeks. It barely took one day through before determined people resumed their normal everyday behaviour shows no fear or concerns. Smartly -- dressed fresh faced people emerged from Tube station -- meaning business as usual -- "Life goes on -- you have to get on with it".
Above and all the ancient capital of one of the oldest nation it has grown into a microcosm of humanity. For the persecuted London has been a refuge, for the ambitious, its streets have indeed been paved with gold. It will welcome strangers in a manner that is foreign to you. It will reach out a hand of friendship to anybody who wants to share the spirit and energy of the wonderful people of this island.In here we find a free, open multicultural society in which people worship the God of their own choice and decide, by and large on their own way of life. Every Mosques, Temples, Church and Gurudwara across the country -- there is a prayer for the victims.
Being British is an honour and a privilege -- whatever the colour your skin or the God you worship. A girl Shahi Islam was a Bangladeshi -- and a Briton and a true follower of her faith -- unlike the fanatics who killed her.London now rivals New York as one of the greatest cities of the modern world and that makes it the target of those who hate that world.
London can not isolate itself from the existential conflict between the free world and the global terrorism, which aims to destroy it. In this struggle for survival London represents the best of the west, and for that reason alone it is a target for terrorism.Rini Kakati
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