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Thoughts After the Mumbai Terror Attacks: 26 November 2008
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Circa 1947, a nation is born. As the last British viceroy’s ship departs from the Gateway of India, a new hope engulfs the strife-torn nation, India. With hopes and dreams in their eyes, Indians welcomed their new-found freedom. It was the dawn of a new era. Or so, they said. Cut to 2008. The world witnesses the very same nation besieged by terror, and its utter incompetence and ineptness in dealing with it. A proud nation is brought to its knees by less than a dozen gun-toting miscreants. They entered our country through the same Gateway, while our security forces and intelligence agencies were blissfully unaware of anything. For over 60 hours, they held the world’s largest democracy to ransom. A nation was glued to its television sets as the events unfolded in our living rooms. And uncomfortable questions raced through the minds of billions of free, independent Indians. When did we become so relaxed in our security that a dinghy boat can land us into trouble? Why weren’t our forces better equipped to deal with such a catastrophe? Why didn’t our politicians put up a stronger united face at the time of a national crisis? A lot many questions remain unanswered but the biggest question of all is – why did we stop asking questions? Why did it take a tragedy of this magnitude to awaken us? In the aftermath of all that we have undergone, I would like to ponder over Rabindranath Tagore’s verses from Gitanjali and whether their meaning is lost in the midst of what our country has become. Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Fear has permeated through all strata of society and lurks everywhere. It stares at you right in the face with a leering smile, a smile that conveys its sheer power and control over your life. It’s in the back of your mind when you’re aboard an over-crowded Mumbai local. It’s stalking you when you’re haggling with hawkers in the busy Connaught Place. And now, it’s sitting beside you when you’re partaking of a three-course meal in the luxurious confines of a stately hotel. Fear reigns supreme as our leaders have let us down. Heads hang low in muted shame and grief. Our leaders must be brought to justice, for the unforgivable crime of having brought such a tragedy upon us. It is a travesty of justice that these leaders are allowed to attend the funerals of the brave soldiers, who had no choice but to pay for these leaders’ mistakes with their lives. Where knowledge is free; There was knowledge present this time around too. Knowledge, which could have saved two hundred families from being destroyed forever. Forewarned is fore-armed. Clearly, this does not apply to Indian intelligence agencies. It puts the sacrifice of those soldiers into a horrible perspective. Their deaths could have been averted if somebody had chosen to act upon the information earlier. Lives were lost because someone chose to ignore his duty. Somebody was too busy climbing up the bureaucratic ladder to realize that they are being paid to discharge certain responsibilities. Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; Today, the country is in tatters and communal harmony is a thing of the past. Our myopic society cannot look beyond religion, caste, creed, et al. A man sporting a skull-cap is looked upon with suspicion and minorities continue to be treated as if they have committed the cardinal sin of usurping faith. We were a nation that was remarkable on account of the numerous languages spoken across the length and breadth of the country. Today, those same languages pose a barrier and impugn the right to free movement of Indian citizens. When will we realize that the only thing being usurped is our democracy, at the hands of these hate-mongers? Our forefathers created a nation bound by religion and faith. We did a pretty quick job of dividing it on the same lines of religion and faith. Where words come out from the depth of truth; Here, words come out from the dark and deep recesses of lies. Here, false promises are made without the slightest prick of conscience. Here, honey-dipped words are just veils for politicians, to hide their true colours behind. Our leaders have perfected the fine art of lip service. The vast majority of the nation is easily swayed by the emotional outbursts of political leaders and fails to see the true intent behind the masked words. Is it our simplicity or our naiveté that we keep falling prey to their beguiling assurances? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. There’s more to learn from this age-old adage than any politician ever taught us. Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; It’s deeply disturbing that the only people tirelessly striving to achieve perfection were the fidayeen. Their intent to kill was stronger than our intent to survive. When it comes to our security forces, we expect perfection. However, we shall tolerate excellence. Sadly, neither was on display on that fateful night of 26th November 2008. The bravado exhibited by the NSG commandos, ATS personnel and Mumbai police constables saved us from a meek surrender. Let’s not forget those ‘brave’ ministers too who strived to reach out to their vote banks and did not let go of a golden opportunity to improve their image. The nation salutes you for finally putting a price on the ultimate sacrifice made by our soldiers. The value stands at Rs.1 crore apiece. Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; The cynical lot may remark that India gained its freedom, when there was nothing more left to lose. But we have proved them wrong. Back then, we had only lost our sovereignty. Today, we have lost our voice of reason and our souls in the face of terror. The stream of reason has long dried up and all that remains in the desert are untold stories of the dead. Reason got lost somewhere in the midst of political ambitions and power-hungry leaders, who suppressed its voice with their own harmful ideological propaganda. Where the mind is led forward by Thee to ever-widening thought and action - Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake. Positive thought, backed by action is the need of the hour. Tagore’s words never seemed truer. We all need to think about what has taken place and act upon where we went wrong. The mind is a strong force to reckon with and can be an impregnable fortress. If we let the fear of terrorists invade our mind, they’ve achieved their goal. The politicians need to understand the public outrage and the reason behind it. The public needs to be reassured that we are not sitting ducks for any fundamentalist terror-spewing outfit. The nation has to be re-built and the public support has to won all over again. I must confess I have no idea what needs to be done in order for harmony to be restored again. But I’m hoping someone out there has an idea. My greatest fear is that public memory is short-lived and I fervently hope that this wave of public sentiment does not subside any time soon. I don’t know if my rambling sentences are making any sense but these are words coming from my heart. My hands tremble as I sit and type all this, in the fear that tomorrow my loved ones might be the victims of such atrocious attacks. I wonder if I’ll be so eloquent then. My mind is numb with the images of grieving families and the bullet shots are still ringing in my ears. In the end, we must remember that we have lived to fight another day. And fight, we must! Let’s slay the demons within our home before chasing the demons that reside outside. Let the sacrifices made by 200 families not be in vain. Let’s restore Tagore’s faith in us, the nation that was born against the odds; the nation that was born to overcome the odds.
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