Who A Terrorist Really Is
The one who spreads fear
And doles out terror like poisoned cakes.
The one who wants to live
But others must die in the process.
The one who feels that his opinion is superior to others'
The one who hides his relatives away from the calamity he engenders.
Who is a terrorist?
The friend who maligns you at your absence and comes to sup with your family.
The friend whose heart is closed to you when you hold him in a warm embrace.
The friend that will readily join others to murder your reputation.
The friend who is always in an unnecessary self-imposed competition with you.
Who is a terrorist?
The ruler that sacrifices his subjects in order to perpetuate himself in power.
The ruler who feels that he knows what his people want best.
The ruler who will not sacrifice his personal comfort for the general good.
The ruler who will not succumb to popular uprising until thousands of
innocent lives have been wasted.
The leader who knows the truth but prefers to sell the lie.
Who is a terrorist?
The politician that uses youths as thugs to stir up protests while his
wards are studying abroad.
The freedom fighter that uses other people's children to fight his wars.
The religious zealot who leads gullible followers to the slaughter
without sacrificing anything bigger than his saliva.
The rabble rouser who creates suicide bombers from clans other than
his and warns his people to stay away from booby-trapped spaces.
Who is a terrorist?
It is you and I when we feel that people other than we deserve not to live.
Yes, you and I, when we determine people's character by the dress they
wear, where they come from, how they worship, the depth of their
pockets and the colour of their skin.
You and I because we criminalise the "faults" of others and excuse the
"mistakes" of our kind.
You and I because terror has no specific gender, colour, creed or location.
So beware! Because the next time you call a terrorist, it could be you!
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