At what point does a significant event stop needing revenge and become a history, that we aren't proud of, but something we let go off, to build a stronger, more just tomorrow.
Well, there clearly isn't a universally accepted timeline that is an acceptable duration for something to move from reparations to history - and so the range of these transitions are extremely wide. The Judeo-Christian “Israel” one - has been on for 2000 years, the Hindu-Muslim “Ram Mandir” one - has been running for 500 years. But there have also been much shorter ones like South Africa’s “Apartheid” one that seems to have made the transition almost overnight.
Let's just delve a little into the longest running battle for revenge - and see if there is something that we as Indians can learn from it.
Well - today, Israel is the aggressor - They are the one throwing the bombs on civilians. So, if we stop at today - Israel are the “BAD” guys.
But let's look a little further back, and we see that Hamas and the Palestinians have been conducting terror attacks, killing innocent civilians within Israel, ever since its formation and so they kinda had it coming right - and so - Palestine “BAD”.
But wait - let's look a little further into history and explore the formation of Israel. Israel was never a country till after World War 2. The Allies, after World War 2, decided to take some land from Palestine and create a new country for the Jews. So, well - Allies - BAD.
But wait - let's look a little further back. Well, Nazi Germany believed that Jews were responsible for all of Germany’s problems - and so tortured and killed them by the thousands. Took away all their land, their factories, anything they owned and destroyed their lives. After World War 2 - it was believed that the Jews needed a place to call home. And that home was given to them by the Allies, and it was called Israel. So, well Germany - BAD
So far, we’ve covered just 75 years of history, and the blame has already shifted 4 times. If we continue to look back, we will uncover the debilitating “Treaty of Versailles”, which created an atmosphere conducive for the rise of a Nazi Germany. And as we keep going into the past, we will keep uncovering new people to hate, and new villains of their time. Probably all the way to 2000 years ago - when Jesus was killed by Jews. And who knows, maybe there’s a lot of history before that as well, that we are unaware of.
Today as we sit in our homes watching a temple inauguration, that is bound to be a turning point in our history, I believe that it is important that we learn from the history of Israel to understand that in the larger scheme of things - this is unlikely the end. Yes - best case is that we have right-ed Babar’s 500-year-old wrong, but we have also created a new - 30-year-old wrong in the process. We have legitimized the desecration and destruction of a place of worship in an independent, secular India (much like Babar purportedly did in his kingdom 500 years ago). To make things worse though, Babar never claimed to be secular, Babar’s kingdom, was not a democracy. Babar wasn’t tied by a constitution that tried to do the “right thing”. But we were.
People living today, weren't alive to support the actions of Babar - who did “the wrong thing”. But people living today and governments that serve today are responsible for the wrongs of today. And if we couldn’t let bygones be bygones, can we really hope for a less revengeful tomorrow?
Here’s to hope though, that today’s victims are better than we ever were and that they can forgive this transgression.
As a dying Man once said, as he probably tried to prevent a 2000-year-old battle for revenge that ensued, “Forgive them father, for they KNOW NOT that they have sinned”.
