Religious conflicts need not necessarily arise between different religions. Sectarian differences within religions also contribute significantly to the death toll. Catholics and Protestants have turned against each other; as have the Shias and the Sunnis; the upper class Hindus and the Dalits go for each other's throats. And, without exception, each one of them feels that it is his Divine Calling and that he is not being barbarous in his behaviour. This animosity and thinly veiled hatred towards fellow-beings professing a different faith is not new to Man. Tribal rivalries have been decimating populations since Early Man.

When this savagery is unleashed on Society by a few unscrupulous people using God's name it becomes all the more despicable. The role played by myopic politicians whose vision starts and ends with the ballot box in instigating such violence is as significant as it is disgusting. They have absolutely no compunction about setting man against his fellowman just to improve their own standing amongst their misguided followers. Neighbours who have all along been cordial and helpful to one another suddenly become hostile to each other. For no reason other than the provocation provided by the politician. The fact that the politician disappears as soon as his job is done is lost upon the pitiable people. What remains, however, is the undercurrent of Hate and Suspicion. Forever. Perhaps, increasing. But certainly forever. It is high time that the people realize that these self-serving politicians, who have become leaders only because of the faith that these very people have in them, are never around when they, the people need them, and that it has always been their own fellowmen who have rallied to their rescue.

As someone rightly said, "You can make a man out of a savage but you can never take the savage out of a man". How else could you define the inexplicable and sudden transformation of a seemingly docile, civilized and otherwise socially acceptable individual into the football hooligan, or the bloodthirsty spectator of a boxing or a wrestling match, or, for that matter, a constituent of an incited mob? History is replete with such instances of mob fury - the Godhra massacre, the carnage against the Sikhs in the wake of Indira Gandhi's assassination, against the Muslims after the Bombay blasts, etc.

Osama bin Laden, the self-proclaimed 'protector' of the Islamic faith, unleashed a flurry of terrorist strikes against the United States of America on September 11th and the world can never be the same again. Thousands of innocent lives have been lost in this thoughtless carnage as well as in its aftermath - all because of a difference in faiths.

You ask these miscreants 'Why?', and they reply 'For God's sake!' But, to them, my reply will always be "For God's sake, why??"

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