We would like to think that if the Mahatma were still alive, today all of this would not be happening… if we could look at the world through his round glasses, we would immediately see how crazy all this is, and our energy would focus on proper solutions instead of empty anger… Why is this happening? Why does a Brazilian electrician have to be an innocent victim of police error? Why do 52 innocent people have to die on their way to work? Why have countless Iraqis, and more than a thousand young soldiers, already died in a meaningless war? Violence only breeds violence, Gandhi would say. And the victims are always the innocent.

We don’t want to be scared, not every time we step on a bus, not when we are approached by a police officer. We don’t want to hear Muslims apologise all the time, forced to justify every utterance with an assurance that they have no sympathy with terrorism, when it is so glaringly obvious that all people in this world, could they choose, would want to lead a peaceful, decent and happy life.

From governments come only the simplest of messages. ‘They want to attack our freedom, our way of life’… ‘This is not linked to our presence in Iraq’… ‘We will fight back, and we will win the war against terror’… Do they think we are blind? Stupid enough to believe such lies? Who do they need to reassure? Most likely, themselves…

Still, it works. When people react to what is happening, nobody stops to think. They either keep their heads down, numbly going about their business as if nothing happened, or they become aggressive. There is no sensible debate. In fact, barely any debate at all. Why are people either numb or angry? Because of the senseless deaths, both in London and in Iraq. Because of the government, who is afraid to ask the really important questions. Confusion, anger and frustration, but nothing to stand for, and nothing to unite under.

So, people like us, we stand sad and alone. We are not with the bombers. Not with trigger-happy police. Not with a government that doesn’t want discussion.

We could blame the Government. The Government would blame the terrorists. The terrorists would blame western civilisation. Western civilisation is too busy making money to realise the suffering and frustration it is inflicting on the rest of the world. Does that justify acts of killing? No, but that evil, as all others, can only be challenged with a radically different approach.

Let’s stop the blame game, let’s stop and think for a moment. There is one thing we all want and need: peace. It is the most obvious uniting force, staring us right in the face. It takes a while to grasp it, because not since Ghandi has someone screamed it so loud and clear. Peace. It is a force abundant with solutions, if only we had the courage to try them.