Thursday, November 27, 2008

Mumbai bleeds

Will last night's terrorist attack on Mumbai finally serve as a wake-up call for the government? How much more blood of innocent citizens needs to be shed on the streets of India? Phrases that have become standard lingo for politicians after such an incident - 'we condemn this dastardly attack', 'perpetrators of violence will not be spared', 'people should maintain communal harmony' - all these have started sounding increasingly meaningless. Hypocritical, in fact.
Terrorists can travel in trains, on roads and now even boats to land on our streets and cause irreparable damage. What is the government waiting for? For the next batch of terrorists to come in helicopters and land on the Rajpath, or on the pitch of a cricket stadium?
As for the terrorists who have been arrested, what of them? Going by the past history, I am sure they will spend the next 15 or so years in our jail while our judiciary (which is further shackled by narrow-minded politicians) decides how to deal with them. Court cases will drag on, and these criminals will travel in police security, all the while consuming taxpayers' money.
Such an attack could not have been carried out without weeks, even months, of planning. Which means that while they were planning how to disrupt India, our country was busy dealing with silly matters like the number of Biharis in Maharashtra, blaming Aussies for being poor losers, fashion shows and Mamata Banerjee's tantrums.
Hotels and buildings will be reconstructed over time; what about the dreams, aspirations and hopes of people?

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