Mumbai Terror Attacks

For once, let’s not get up on our feet; for once, let’s get our head down and a look at ourselves. Have a look at ourselves in a mirror if still not shattered, in a pool if it’s still not bloodied or in an eye which still doesn’t blink. With each passing terror attack, these are becoming increasingly scarce but the need to do so is increasing.

Make no mistake about it; this is an intelligence failure of catastrophic proportion. Cities’ spirit to get back on its feet is being used attack after attack as a euphemism for the insensitivity that has come to pervade the administration, the politics and may be the people as well. Its just not about a particular city anymore, it’s about the country as a whole. The issue of handling terrorism can’t be held ransom to political correctness. It’s no use getting back on the feet with doing something about the rot in the system.

For the last 5 months or so, the terrorists have been striking at will, and since the first of those that took place in Bangalore, there has been a complacent attitude towards terror attacks, as if they would keep occurring periodically, and since the people have accepted the reality that they live in a terrorized world, there is no need to take any serious action (administration almost believes that terror attacks won’t follow in quick succession). It’s like imagining that a batsman won’t hit 6 sixes in an over no matter how bad you bowl. We have seen evidence contrary to both beliefs. Let’s get one thing straight, that this attack was no WTC like, there a plane had been captured and before anybody could have a clue about the motives of the highjackers, it was rammed into the twin towers. Here, the terrorists land on the shores of the city, roam around practically the whole of the southern part, position themselves and then attack, and even as I write this gun battle is raging on 36 hours after it started. There is definitely something lacking and one thing responsible for this more than anything else is our slack attitude. This encompasses everybody; we let up in our intensity to fight when the perpetrators are not. The media just can’t look the other way when some stupid politicians (not to mention people outside politics as well) are talking stupidity. e.g the likes of Mulyam Singh Yadav and Mahesh Bhatt who would go to any extent to ‘apparently’ appease the muslim community. Unfortunately, such statements tend to further the idea that muslims have a reason to terrorize when actually the majority of people (including muslims) would like to believe otherwise.

Unfortunately, public memory is short and the government is least worried about anything else. People forget the attacks in course of their daily lives and the government forgets to govern in course of its daily life as well which doesn’t seem to include governing that much. It’s high time that people realize that they had enough or if they don’t than they should be ready to have more of the same. We just can’t let this country be run the way it is being run. Leadership is about doing things that are right and not only about doing things that are popular or which supports their vote bank. Clearly, there is something grossly lacking.