The lead story in the minds of citizens of every stripe over the past several days was the aggressive action taken by a villager in the face of wanton and brutal criminal activity in his small community. A newspaper picture of Sham-shad Ali, just released from police custody, showed him with tear-filled eyes, apparently responding to reporters' queries.
The eyes, the face, the countenance, the tears spoke eloquently of a person with deep convictions about his particular place in society. It is the face of a person at peace with himself and selfless in his determination to maintain a peaceful and well-ordered village community. And the fact that his immediate family was under considerable trauma and repeated violent attacks by heartless criminals!
What would you have done if you were so confronted and threatened?
Ali's initial response to the attack on his daughter and her husband was a decisive, determined one: don't let this atrocity go unchallenged. Coincidentally, such action on Ali's part is aligned with the man-tra espoused by the powers that be, ie, "Get involved! Take back your communities! Be vigilant and aware of your surroundings!" So what to do? It is a case of dammed if you do, damned if you don't. I believe that citizens of the calibre of Ali, though few, are a treasure to any community, large or small.
It is no wonder that he is now being hailed as a "hero" of the hour. Well done, Ali. You are even big enough to shed tears. May there be many more of you abiding as a bulwark against the evil and satanic forces prowling among us and wreaking havoc and mayhem for a few pieces of filthy lucre.
Michael Coryat
Cascade