Toll’s 18 today (as of now) and approximately 130 people are injured. Considering the blasts occurred during the peak hours, the perpetrators estimated a much bigger number of casualties, and intended the roads to be decorated with deeper shades of crimson. In a way, they failed: (with due respect to the families of the victims) the impact could have been much bigger. And in a way, they succeeded: People once again were reminded of how fragile and insignificant their lives are.
Our government's formal reaction:
P. Chidambaram, Home Minister: “This is not the failure of intelligence.”
R.R. Patil, State Home Minsiter: “Avoiding such attacks is a challenge for the Government.”
People stood by each other, helping, reaching out to everyone who needed help.
Couple of months ago, I was reading a book on Naxalite violence in India. The book offered to explain who these people are exactly, and by far, why they did what they did. It said that Naxalites often used violence as a means or a part of their “tactics” in making themselves heard.
I wondered what could motivate a person or a group of persons to resort to violence to make them heard. Just how feasible is violence as a tactic? Logically, it is. People always stand up and notice casualties. But morally, and humanly speaking, it is not.
On our planet, every single day, children, men and women are evaporated, disabled for the rest of their lives. What for? Is there any kind of socialism, democratic premise or capitalism that should be presented on a pyre of innocent victims? Is it worth it? For oil? Diamonds? Gold?
When I heard that one of the bombs in Mumbai was planted near a school, a feeling of chill swept over me. Causing harm to children who don’t even choose the kind of government to rule, is saddening, to say the least. What could make a group of religious fanatics or self-proclaimed “soldiers of god” do that?
Even when Kasab was sentenced to death, I failed to see how this was a victory for the Indian government, much less for the Indian people or even the Judiciary. Kids like Kasab would do anything for a square meal or even the welfare of their own families. We need to go after the people, the outfits who target children and minds like Kasab and justify killing in the name of religion or a deity. The extent of brainwash is so great that these kids might even come to enjoy killing.
Punishing one single Kasab is not the solution: we just can't stop there and wash our hands off the bigger problem. (To come to think of it, I wonder what kind of rendezvous the government is having with him still.) He’s just a means towards a chilling end. We need to cure the root cause of the problem. There has to be a systematic combat of people who think killing innocent people in any name is justified. To solve the macro, one has to go micro.
When the judgment was passed, people, for some reason, rejoiced. Worse, they were relieved. I voiced my opinion and I was accused of sympathizing with Kasab. A part of the accusation was right; I was sympathizing, but not with Kasab, but with my own people. Kasab was still in jail, wasn’t he, when the Triple Blasts happened in Mumbai, 72 hours back?
When the train blasts occurred on 11 July, 2006, about 209 people were killed and more than 700 were injured. What did we learn from this incident? That the perpetrators knew the pulse of the city; where to attack to gain our attention. And they did.
After 5 years, we are still vulnerable in the local trains. There are no security checks, there is no sufficient number of police men to guard compartments or conduct proper vigilance. What has the State Government done since that day to ensure that train traveling is safe?
Yes, there are CCTV units installed all around CST station. But personally, I have trouble believing that someone is watching over them, interpreting “intelligence” and that I am safe in a train. It’s a risk I take for my bread and butter, like everyone else.
People lost their lives, for nothing. People who survived these blasts, luckily, are hit by the trauma. Aren’t we all? Time has showed that people will stand by people, but what about the government? Home Minister P. Chidambaram concluded the formal Press Conference barely three hours after the fateful incident by saying, “Okay now… I have to get back to Delhi…”
Our State Home Minister is publicly saying what a challenge it is for the State Government to prevent terror. So I am to understand that these attacks will be a part of my daily life? Or will you start by installing CCTVs and being more intelligent with security checks? Will you accept the challenge?
We’ll accommodate people, we’ll tweet, we’ll write articles and blogs, we’ll donate blood. And we’ll suffer and stand up again. Whether the world salutes us or not for whatever spirit, we’ll take our chances. We've got to survive. Till such time mine or my neighbour's luck runs out.
Earlier I used to discuss with my father and friends about the quality infrastructure, lack of roads and bridges in the city, the country. I feel I was naïve to think of such luxurious thoughts, because today I talk to them with a thought looming in the background, can we make it back home in one piece?
In November 2010, Outlook carried a cover story about the Niira Radia controversy. I know, we have all read about it and frankly we are all tired of hearing and reading about scams. It’s amazing to know how easily we can get used to stuff that is so unacceptable. This fears me; because we cannot get used to bomb-blasts – anywhere on the planet. Romanticists would argue that death is anyway a part of our lives. So, is that it?
Anyway, about the article, the opening sentences were remarkable: India, the republic, is for sale. You could buy anything, any one, all you need is money. Everything can be sold – from berths in the cabinet ministry to natural resources, anywhere in the country – at the right price.
If this was not shocking enough, our favourite idols like Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi were also heard trading democracy. Now Barkha Dutt needs no introduction. I used to consider her in the same league as Kalpana Chawla, women, and most importantly, human beings who made us proud, and reminded us to be better than ourselves. When I read Dutt’s statements where she said that her interactions with Radia were a part of journalists’ duties, I hurried to read the actual transcripts – hoping, that she was correct. And I was disappointed. Couple of days back, a lawyer on Twitter stated that she wanted to become like Dutt. That is such a big compliment. I always thought that being a hero entailed an awful lot of responsibility.
Closer home, we’re not getting any better. Right from the economic downfall, to corruption, we are facing all of it. I know I have written a pretty lengthy blog post about all this, but am afraid that’s just too many words and too little meaning.
