Form original thoughts to counter extremism

Bandra resident Sayed Neda Akhtar was deeply troubled after reading news about the attacks in Paris and Peshawar. The 16-year-old school student feels that individual opinion is something that everyone must imbibe.

"Terrorists listen to their leader and blindly follow them. If they listened to their own opinion, I don't think they would have done what they did in the name of religion. I am a Muslim, but I do what I think is right," she said.

Neda thinks that people must develop original ideas to progress in life. "I see students copying essays meant to develop our own thought process. We use second hand thinking as a norm, which is detrimental to our country's progress," said Neda, who reads newspapers and mystery novels, and tries to keep herself updated.

She also participates in school debates and wants people to know that there will always be someone who will agree and disagree with your opinion. "Your opinions shouldn't come from the agreement of others," she said.

Parveen Akhtar, Neda's mother, said that people have a tendency to believe in rumours without checking facts. A tutor by profession, Akhtar said that the average people in society don't wish to get affected by blind followers. "We are fair people, who live with fair neighbours in a fair society. In a country like India, we are dependant on all sections of society for our daily needs. People who don't think their own thoughts indulge in activities such as terrorism," said Akhtar, who deemed it important to be non-judgemental, like a teacher who doesn't compare between students on the basis of their religion.

Sayed Neda Akhtar, 16 yrs, school student