The three blasts shattering parts of Bali, Indonesia, put a tarnish image yet again on the bloody face of Islam in general and the moslems in the country in particular. Jemaah Islamiyah was already branded the alleged culprits. Rohan Gunaratna, head of a terrorism research center in Singapore said, "The only the group with motives and capabilities to attact western interests in Indonesia in a coordinated fashion is Jemaah Islamiyah." A fatal labelling, if you asked me. These days some local tv stations are running amateurish videos from a tourist (with identity protected) who happened to be videoing the site before one of the blasts. They were all three suicidal bombs, concluded the police, rather too quickly. Were they? if anything, all this news has eclipsed reports on the first "bomb" when the government hiked the fuel prices--a decision feared to kill many poor.
Moreover, before the blasts foreign governments had issued several warnings of the possible acts of terrorism. But who blew them off? what was the motive? How on earth could agencies predict terrors? Endless questions continue being asked and as many answers are being made available. Conspiracy theories eventually work to provide the thinking paths one wants to believe in the attempt to design "truths." Conspiracy theories work best when they are impossible to prove.
Thus Donne's question "For whom the bell tolls?" is as vague a pertinent one to ask as mine: "Who was tolling the bell?" The truth either doesn't exist, or it has fled the country. The hoi polloi cannot any more expect or afford a "one-size-for-all."
