Saturday, December 6, 2008
Enough is not Enough
November 26 2008....
This was the day which sent shockwaves throughout our country. As usual I wake up in the morning and talked with my parents over phone and was watching CNN-IBN in the morning at 10:00 PM IST. When I first saw the news which reported about sporadic incidents of firing in Mumbai. Immediately I called home again to find out about the news but they were unaware of it. After 15 minutes as they have shown footages of the incidents I suspected something wrong in going on there. When I saw the video of the terrorists moving in a police vehicle firing at the public near Metro cinema, I shook my head in disbelief and was holding my nerves to see what’s going to happen next. Then after sometime it was told that Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar were shot by the terrorists, I suspected some foul play in the incident. I knew ATS Chief and ACP Ashok Kamte for being in the news recently in Malegaon blast enquiry and Raj Thackeray arrest incidents respectively. Later on when they reported that Hemant Karkare is dead, I was completely shocked. By that time there was no news about the number of terrorists and the motive of the killings. Since then I was glued to TV for the entire 3 days. As all of us know the episode lasted for close to 60 hours. I am completely worried about the people who were facing it directly. The footages of Taj Hotel burning, Trident-Oberoi blasts and Nariman house commando operation were revolving in my mind all these days even though the whole episode is over one week ago. I had never been to Mumbai before. But still I can feel the pain by just watching the TV.
I think it was the most horrific terror attack we ever had since I have grown up. The 10 terrorists who put all of us on tenterhooks are worth a mention here. I really wondered at their courage and attitude in carrying the attacks which is praiseworthy. During the night when the terror broke, our policemen were just guarding the places where the terrorists took shelter rather than storming into them. It was when the commandos arrived the next day afternoon the real action has started. I personally feel that the delay in the operation for 60 hours is due to the hostages inside the places. Our forces started the attack after long wait during odd hours thinking that the terrorists might be tired by that time. But let’s not dive into the strategy of our security forces during that time. But it was a well applauded effort by all our forces this includes Firemen, Rapid Action Force, Police, Anti Terror Squad and finally the brave National Security Guard commandos. There were many more heroes who helped in many ways throughout the operation. I saw people jumping out of their windows for rescue and when fire broke out in Taj; our firemen saved many lives by risking their own. I pay tribute to all those brave hearts that lost their lives in the Mumbai mayhem.
During the incident I was baffled to see the role of media. The reporters were covering the event all through the day and night for those 3 days. I appreciate their effort. I would like to quote the firing which took place near Metro Cinema. When the terrorists fled away with a police vehicle and were firing indiscriminately at the crowd, there was a bullet wound on the arm of one of the onlookers. Immediately a camera man who is beside him hold his hand and the guy was really interested in putting the injured arm in front of the camera rather than offering any assistance to the injured person. And the criticism media faced was during the live coverage when the NSG commandos operation in Nariman House. After a debate for the past one week there is a speculation that media will be banned to cover any live commando operation.
The aftermath of the attacks saw selfish approach by political parties and the corporate houses on the failure of the government and intelligence agencies. Everybody knows that it’s an intelligence failure. Even though we knew about the attacks well in advance we could have minimized the impact of any attack. There might not be a chance to avoid it. A country of such diverse population and a long coastal line and different geographic regions is prone to intrusion. As a saying goes, Prevention is better than cure, I strongly feel that the terror attacks are planned in a different manner every time. Any country would have a proper plan to combat that without prior knowledge. And after the incident, the country is united and blaming the politicians for their inability. The outrage is inevitable because the whole country was felt bleeding during the cruel and the most barbarous attack.
My View on Terror roots
I want to explore the possibilities and the reasons behind those kinds of attacks. The terrorists want a liberated Kashmir and better treatment for the Muslim society in India. The Muslim population in our country is under severe criticism after several attacks on our core society by some Muslims who are running after the much controversial jihad. One thing is clear that all of us Indians are treating the Muslims in our country as aliens. We forgot the basic fact that they are in the fabric of our society and they had built India all these years along with everyone. The Muslim youth who are targeted by the so called jihadi groups are from poor families and they don’t have proper education. The restlessness in any society is attributed to its socio economic conditions. So we should try to mend our ways and work towards that. The elite society of Mumbai finally came on to the streets after these attacks as they were the ones who were targeted this time. Have you seen this kind of exposure and outrage earlier? There is a lot of coverage in the media and there are protest rallies everywhere. I am not opposing any of them. But please understand that the fire should be burning inside till we reach our goal in combating the terrorism or in making the country a better place in all aspects. We have lot of patience since our freedom movement days. Gandhi followed the path of wait and watch for the freedom till the British gives that to us. Still we are treating everything in the same manner. The story at that time was entirely different. Now we can’t follow the same old age methods for our problems.
The main problem in our country is our diversity. Though we boast ourselves as a country in Unity with Diversity, the truth suggests something entirely different. We have divided our country and society by language, religion, regions, caste etc. It is there in our blood not to accept anything other than what we believe. Muslims blame that after Babri Masjid demolition the era of terror strikes hit India. But the so called Hindu groups claim that, it was the Muslim rulers who invaded our country and looted Mother India. But let’s think with our brains that when something that has happened hundreds of years ago is being made an issue now for uttermost selfish reasons, why we aren't able to resist it? Is it because that we too are selfish? The Muslim groups also do the same thing by stating that they want to bring back Muslim rule in India as it was there during centuries ago. So why these groups have sustained and could be able to induce their ideologies in many of the Indian minds? The one and only answer for this is INDIANs. We the citizens of India are responsible for this. Since the beginning, we allow every bugger to rape our country and keep quiet because they might be of the same religion or group.
Lessons from the mayhem
There are hell lots of lessons that we should learn from the Mumbai attack. Only 10 terrorists attacked a city which boasts a population of 16 Million with 42,000 policemen for its security and a support from central forces was pants down for 60 hours. It is the courage and commitment of the terrorists which kept the city bleed for 3 days. When someone can have such courage for destroying a country, then why can’t we have a greater commitment in building the fabric of our country and prevent it from any intrusions? Now the corporate houses are crying for the security. When they can earn crores of rupees from the country, why cant they help the country in fight against any kind of problems? May be they are more interested in profit earning with cost effective methods and tax invasions. Even the parties are whether it is ruling or opposition, are in a blame game about this. Recently when the Malegaon blasts investigation is under going, some bitter truths were revealed that some army officers were involved in carrying those blasts with influence from Hindu Terror groups. Lets imagine a situation where a Muslim army top official is involved in such a shameless act, the country would have hunt for his head. Why this discrimination among ourselves? I read a forwarded mail today from one of my friends, in which Australian PM John Howard says all the Muslims to learn English and follow their customs because they sought Australian residence willingly. He reiterated them to leave the country if they don’t follow any of the laws. One of my dear friends says that India also needs a leader like this. Today when we are against Muslims we want them to be sent out. But tomorrow some other religion some other group. But let us remind that India is the country of everyone. Though I have not given any concrete idea about how to stop this to happen, let me put a stop for this debate here.
This is out of my outrage against the Terror attacks and the reasons behind it. I held myself responsible for what’s happening in our country now. Every time when someone rapes our country then only we remind ourselves that we are Indians. The Indianness should not be confined to a movie, a TV show or a protest. It should be inside us. We are Indians first and then later on might be Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs etc. So let us first unite among ourselves and then fight against anyone who comes our way.
Long Live India….
My hearty tribute to all those Brave Hearts who laid their lives for Mother India.
I salute them on behalf of every true Indian.
Krishna Prasad
Disclaimer
The views and opinions are made at author's own discretion. The expression is not intended to hurt any group or individual.Any remarks that are derogatory are regretted.
This was the day which sent shockwaves throughout our country. As usual I wake up in the morning and talked with my parents over phone and was watching CNN-IBN in the morning at 10:00 PM IST. When I first saw the news which reported about sporadic incidents of firing in Mumbai. Immediately I called home again to find out about the news but they were unaware of it. After 15 minutes as they have shown footages of the incidents I suspected something wrong in going on there. When I saw the video of the terrorists moving in a police vehicle firing at the public near Metro cinema, I shook my head in disbelief and was holding my nerves to see what’s going to happen next. Then after sometime it was told that Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar were shot by the terrorists, I suspected some foul play in the incident. I knew ATS Chief and ACP Ashok Kamte for being in the news recently in Malegaon blast enquiry and Raj Thackeray arrest incidents respectively. Later on when they reported that Hemant Karkare is dead, I was completely shocked. By that time there was no news about the number of terrorists and the motive of the killings. Since then I was glued to TV for the entire 3 days. As all of us know the episode lasted for close to 60 hours. I am completely worried about the people who were facing it directly. The footages of Taj Hotel burning, Trident-Oberoi blasts and Nariman house commando operation were revolving in my mind all these days even though the whole episode is over one week ago. I had never been to Mumbai before. But still I can feel the pain by just watching the TV.
I think it was the most horrific terror attack we ever had since I have grown up. The 10 terrorists who put all of us on tenterhooks are worth a mention here. I really wondered at their courage and attitude in carrying the attacks which is praiseworthy. During the night when the terror broke, our policemen were just guarding the places where the terrorists took shelter rather than storming into them. It was when the commandos arrived the next day afternoon the real action has started. I personally feel that the delay in the operation for 60 hours is due to the hostages inside the places. Our forces started the attack after long wait during odd hours thinking that the terrorists might be tired by that time. But let’s not dive into the strategy of our security forces during that time. But it was a well applauded effort by all our forces this includes Firemen, Rapid Action Force, Police, Anti Terror Squad and finally the brave National Security Guard commandos. There were many more heroes who helped in many ways throughout the operation. I saw people jumping out of their windows for rescue and when fire broke out in Taj; our firemen saved many lives by risking their own. I pay tribute to all those brave hearts that lost their lives in the Mumbai mayhem.
During the incident I was baffled to see the role of media. The reporters were covering the event all through the day and night for those 3 days. I appreciate their effort. I would like to quote the firing which took place near Metro Cinema. When the terrorists fled away with a police vehicle and were firing indiscriminately at the crowd, there was a bullet wound on the arm of one of the onlookers. Immediately a camera man who is beside him hold his hand and the guy was really interested in putting the injured arm in front of the camera rather than offering any assistance to the injured person. And the criticism media faced was during the live coverage when the NSG commandos operation in Nariman House. After a debate for the past one week there is a speculation that media will be banned to cover any live commando operation.
The aftermath of the attacks saw selfish approach by political parties and the corporate houses on the failure of the government and intelligence agencies. Everybody knows that it’s an intelligence failure. Even though we knew about the attacks well in advance we could have minimized the impact of any attack. There might not be a chance to avoid it. A country of such diverse population and a long coastal line and different geographic regions is prone to intrusion. As a saying goes, Prevention is better than cure, I strongly feel that the terror attacks are planned in a different manner every time. Any country would have a proper plan to combat that without prior knowledge. And after the incident, the country is united and blaming the politicians for their inability. The outrage is inevitable because the whole country was felt bleeding during the cruel and the most barbarous attack.
My View on Terror roots
I want to explore the possibilities and the reasons behind those kinds of attacks. The terrorists want a liberated Kashmir and better treatment for the Muslim society in India. The Muslim population in our country is under severe criticism after several attacks on our core society by some Muslims who are running after the much controversial jihad. One thing is clear that all of us Indians are treating the Muslims in our country as aliens. We forgot the basic fact that they are in the fabric of our society and they had built India all these years along with everyone. The Muslim youth who are targeted by the so called jihadi groups are from poor families and they don’t have proper education. The restlessness in any society is attributed to its socio economic conditions. So we should try to mend our ways and work towards that. The elite society of Mumbai finally came on to the streets after these attacks as they were the ones who were targeted this time. Have you seen this kind of exposure and outrage earlier? There is a lot of coverage in the media and there are protest rallies everywhere. I am not opposing any of them. But please understand that the fire should be burning inside till we reach our goal in combating the terrorism or in making the country a better place in all aspects. We have lot of patience since our freedom movement days. Gandhi followed the path of wait and watch for the freedom till the British gives that to us. Still we are treating everything in the same manner. The story at that time was entirely different. Now we can’t follow the same old age methods for our problems.
The main problem in our country is our diversity. Though we boast ourselves as a country in Unity with Diversity, the truth suggests something entirely different. We have divided our country and society by language, religion, regions, caste etc. It is there in our blood not to accept anything other than what we believe. Muslims blame that after Babri Masjid demolition the era of terror strikes hit India. But the so called Hindu groups claim that, it was the Muslim rulers who invaded our country and looted Mother India. But let’s think with our brains that when something that has happened hundreds of years ago is being made an issue now for uttermost selfish reasons, why we aren't able to resist it? Is it because that we too are selfish? The Muslim groups also do the same thing by stating that they want to bring back Muslim rule in India as it was there during centuries ago. So why these groups have sustained and could be able to induce their ideologies in many of the Indian minds? The one and only answer for this is INDIANs. We the citizens of India are responsible for this. Since the beginning, we allow every bugger to rape our country and keep quiet because they might be of the same religion or group.
Lessons from the mayhem
There are hell lots of lessons that we should learn from the Mumbai attack. Only 10 terrorists attacked a city which boasts a population of 16 Million with 42,000 policemen for its security and a support from central forces was pants down for 60 hours. It is the courage and commitment of the terrorists which kept the city bleed for 3 days. When someone can have such courage for destroying a country, then why can’t we have a greater commitment in building the fabric of our country and prevent it from any intrusions? Now the corporate houses are crying for the security. When they can earn crores of rupees from the country, why cant they help the country in fight against any kind of problems? May be they are more interested in profit earning with cost effective methods and tax invasions. Even the parties are whether it is ruling or opposition, are in a blame game about this. Recently when the Malegaon blasts investigation is under going, some bitter truths were revealed that some army officers were involved in carrying those blasts with influence from Hindu Terror groups. Lets imagine a situation where a Muslim army top official is involved in such a shameless act, the country would have hunt for his head. Why this discrimination among ourselves? I read a forwarded mail today from one of my friends, in which Australian PM John Howard says all the Muslims to learn English and follow their customs because they sought Australian residence willingly. He reiterated them to leave the country if they don’t follow any of the laws. One of my dear friends says that India also needs a leader like this. Today when we are against Muslims we want them to be sent out. But tomorrow some other religion some other group. But let us remind that India is the country of everyone. Though I have not given any concrete idea about how to stop this to happen, let me put a stop for this debate here.
This is out of my outrage against the Terror attacks and the reasons behind it. I held myself responsible for what’s happening in our country now. Every time when someone rapes our country then only we remind ourselves that we are Indians. The Indianness should not be confined to a movie, a TV show or a protest. It should be inside us. We are Indians first and then later on might be Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs etc. So let us first unite among ourselves and then fight against anyone who comes our way.
Long Live India….
My hearty tribute to all those Brave Hearts who laid their lives for Mother India.
I salute them on behalf of every true Indian.
Krishna Prasad
Disclaimer
The views and opinions are made at author's own discretion. The expression is not intended to hurt any group or individual.Any remarks that are derogatory are regretted.
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