Perceptions....

TERROR....

Terror strikes Mumbai, yet again. 10 people (lets hope they were no more) enter the city of Mumbai with guns and weapons and killed ordinary people in Mumbai. The rest of the ordinary people watched it live on television as our senior police officials died. We waited for the NSG to be airlifted from Delhi and brought to site where they were needed.

We watched as our politicians played the blame game and tried to gain political mileage from the incident. We watched as top business officials were being killed, as Leopold was attacked and The Taj and Oberoi went up in flames. The streets of Mumbai were deserted and one could sense fear on the road.people exchanged suspicious glances at each other as rumours poured in that some terrorists could be at large.

Ordinary people looked at other ordinary people with suspicion because the profile of terrorist has changed. They are well educated, tech savvy and young like you and me.

We have always watched when the 1993 serial blasts happened in Mumbai, when the train blasts happened and yet again we will watch.

We will return to work to Mumbai, engage in some discussions about how poorly the security is managed, how the sea coast is difficult to safeguard,how helpless a ordinary citizen is and can do nothing but return to normal lives to show the resilience to the terrorists.

We do little to show politicians how angry we are, how unsafe we feel because by bringing our lives to normalcy we let them return to there’s.

What are the ways in which in an ordinary man can put pressure on the politicians, because more than operational difficulties, it’s the political will that is lacking.

Gaurding a coastline might be difficult, but we do have a long coastline and steps need to be taken to protect the same.

How dare few terrorists enter the city and shoot civilians! The city looked no different from a Kenya with army trucks carrying soldiers and encounters happening in highly residential places! How can we ever walk the Colaba causeway in the same manner!!

The lives of ordinary people are unsafe and it is for us ordinary people to take actions because politics is business and it does not make business sense to nurture a cost center if things can continue with normalcy!

I can sense anger and insecurity among people as they have come to office today. Everybody wants to do something but does not know what and how. Everybody seems to be fed up of the security situation in India but does not know how to get the message across to government in power.

I understand that India is a poor country and the defense budgets aren’t high. We need to deal with terror all over the country and the resources don’t suffice. There are many more lives which are lost in Kashmir and the Northeast.

But defending the entire country isn’t something that can be compromised with. Terrorists are making a statement when they attack a Taj, the Parliament. The importance of protecting these areas is equally important as protecting a Kashmir. I am sure people living in Mumbai can pay for the security of the city. A deduction of say Rs 50,000 each year from the salaries upwards of say Rs 700000 can be made. How many of us refuse to pay from our salaries, when a Tsunami strikes?

It is time “ordinary” people did something…..

Labels: Terror

posted by shikha @ 12:10 PM