The Forgotten Essence of Religion: A Tragic Reminder from Reasi

In this human civilization, religion is supposed to be a guiding light, a beacon of hope, and a pathway to personal and communal peace. Yet, as the recent tragic events in Reasi have starkly reminded us, religion, when twisted and contorted, ceases to be a spiritual guide and devolves into a mere tradition — one that some people are willing to kill for. A bus filled with innocent pilgrims returning from the Shiv Khori temple in Reasi district, Jammu and Kashmir, became the latest canvas for this age-old saga of misguided zeal. Ten lives were snuffed out, thirty-three others marred by injury, all because some cowards with guns decided that their version of religious expression involved bullets and bloodshed. What profound message did these terrorists hope to convey by causing a bus to plunge into a gorge? That their faith, whatever it may be, commands the killing of innocents? The answer is simple yet profoundly disturbing: religion, as they practice it, has become an excuse for violence. It's no longer about personal guidance or moral upliftment; it is about imposing their will and instilling fear. When religion starts to impose itself, it ceases to be a religion and becomes merely a tradition — a hollow shell of its former self, devoid of compassion and empathy. 

Consider the lives lost in this attack. What was the fault of the child who died? Did their faith make them deserving of such fate? Or was it simply that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, victims of a perverse interpretation of divine will? These terrorists didn't just kill individuals; they attacked the very idea of humanity and compassion that lies at the heart of all true religious teachings. The tragedy is compounded by the irony that if religion didn't exist, we humans would undoubtedly find another pretext to fight and kill each other. It's a sobering thought: we are creatures seemingly hardwired for conflict, always finding some reason — land, power, or belief — to turn against one another. The secular thinkers might say "Stop behaving like Israel on terrorist sympathizers," but the truth is, this isn't about secularism or religious extremism. It's about our collective failure to uphold the core values that religion in its purest form, stands for love, peace, and understanding. Yet, here we are, in a world where religion is often wielded as a weapon rather than embraced as a path to enlightenment. Where cowardly acts of terror are committed in its name, and innocent lives are lost for nothing more than a twisted message. It's not just the terrorists who are to blame but all of us who have allowed religion to be hijacked by those who preach hatred instead of love. 

Om Shanti to the Victims.