Silver lining in terror attack is chance to reflect on unity

The dark cloud of terror must pass. The blasted night of shock, havoc and fear must go. And we must begin to see the silver lining, in the edges of disaster. For, every cloud has a silver lining. In the silvery edges of terror attacks, we must see the hopeful outlines of fresh lessons for national renewal. Though the merchants of death will accost us, yet – to paraphrase George Gordon, the poet – Our sword of hope must outwear the sheath of despair. And we must pause, to learn and learn to pause.

The lessons are not about who dropped the ball of security checks. Nor are they about surveillance systems. They are rather about who we are – about our multiple identities. For, the enemy accosts us because of who we are – or in any event – whom he thinks we are. All mass violent attacks are identity driven. The attacker perceives the victims as members of an identity group. He considers himself justified to harm the group. He gives them a collective bad name to justify himself.