The entire nation and the world watches the turn of events in Mumbai. Hotels burning, people taken hostage and open firing spoils the spirit of the city that breaths freedom or atleast claims that it does. I love the city and hate anything that ruins its balance. The city dreads from terrorism, internal communal differences and even the weather. The most it should dread is the date 26th. August 26th saw the bloody blasts in the local trains, July 26th saw the wet cloud burst that strangled the city to a stand still and yesterday, November 26th saw the worst ever fear of the city; terrorist opening fire freely at the most congested railway station and more.
I am very emotional about the city. And I do not want to write about the events as most of the news channels and bloggers might have covered them in details.
The last I heard, there were 125 calamities and several hundreds injured. We lost the best of police officials and several innocent lives were taken. We might have the entire police force engaged in the action along with army and several specialized/ trained personnel at the scenes. People are scared to go out and now they don’t trust even the best of the public places. A blast in the midst of a busy street is one thing and a blast in several well known hotels is another thing. It really makes me wonder about the security.
Talking about the security, here are few points that I fail to understand.
1. Who is responsible for the multiple failures of the borders (land and sea)? The blasts of 1993 were carried by explosives arriving at Shreevardhan (few hundred km from Mumbai) and yesterday, the terrorists had the nerve to land the explosives in the heart of the city. Is it that simple? Why are we pretending about the high security at the airport when the biggest channel of influx for terrorism is from the sea? Whom are we trying to fool? Answers…
2. The infrastructure doesn’t help us a bit. The city is the financial capital of the country. Oops!!! One of the most developing countries in the world. We boast about the great financial stability and the capital flow. Who protects it? A slap on the wrist of this city can mean billions of dollars. The stock exchange and most offices were closed today and that means money. The terrorists will target this city and several other metro cities because they want to make a statement. Who stops that? People who should stop that are fighting over language and regional issues. A bullet doesn’t see either; it will kill you, me and everyone who stands in its way. Grow up…
3. The biggest factor of all this is politics. Politics is sewage and most politicians are roaches who will not stop at anything; ironically, even radioactivity will not kill both. Stop publicizing about the parties and stand once for the real purpose that all are appointed for. I hate corruption but I would expect them to have their act straight after hogging money like a P.I.G. (Politicians in India are Greedy.) Take today for example. Why should the party leader and PM of the country travel to Mumbai when we know that security is busy fighting terrorism? What help are they to the issue at hand? They will involve cops and security for their own protection as they give hollow promises to the affected. The people of this city are educated and are not going to fall for this trap and show. My advice would be to hand each one of these politicians a gun and ask them to help fight the terrorist. “Roaches!! If you cannot help, then don’t add to the problem. Please come to the city after everything is clear or fight yourself.” I admire the top ATS official and several others who died fighting.
4. Does the government have the spine to take action? How many attacks and how many deaths are going to make the government take action? Actually, I don’t expect anything from them. Any other country would have revolted and pulled the terrorism from its roots if terrorists would have attacked their Parliament. But Indian politics will go in the route that is beyond my understanding. Attack on Parliament is a slap in the face of any country and we still believe in giving the other cheek for another slap. Gandhigiri will not help you here. Terrorists and parties will claim responsibility and everyone know the root region from where it all begins. Action speaks louder than words; However, the government is turning a blind eye, deaf ear to all this and more.
5. What do the cops have? How can 303 rifle stand against AK-47 or better? Rifles are also carried by few. The rest carry sticks. Will the people feel secured? Sticks and rifles might be fine for local gundas but for the organized criminals and terrorists who deal with much sophisticated weapons we have no answer. No wonder we lose our best during combats. My heart goes out to these braves who are killed relentlessly due to insufficient preparation and politics. What is the big achievement of sending a shuttle to the moon when security of the country is still in danger? There is nothing that shines about India Shining. It is India Burning and not India Shining.
The attacks we saw today are something we haven’t seen before. Internationals are held hostage and the attacks were targeted towards the rich and upper class. If that helps politicians to take action, then so be it. Mumbai and several other metros, hundreds of towns, thousands of villages and millions of Indians are watching every action. The act is live and everything is black and white. We are seeing what cops are doing, army is doing, media is doing and even what politicians are doing. Rahul Bose rightly said on CNN IBN about the city. People of the city are angry and they need action (something beyond answers).
How long will the people hold their emotions and anger? Do we want to see something like movie “Wednesday”? Will the common man rise? Or will the common man only hope for the best, watch the television, discuss among friends, curse the government and eventually forget until it happens again?
Time will decide. Till then, the only expression I have is, “WTF!!”
