Did we learn a lesson? – Ney

9/11 happened in the US in 2001. We are yet to hear any major terrorist attack after that in the US. There happened 7/7 underground blasts in London in 2001. We didn’t hear any major terrorist attack after that in the UK. Even If attempted, they were made to fall short emphatically.

7/11 train blasts in Mumbai in 2006, we lost almost 225 lives, 9/8 in 2006 in Malegaon town of Maharashtra, lives we lost almost 40 lives, 2/19 Samjhauta express bombings in 2007,we lost 70 this time, and now the terrifying Tuesday in Jaipur which snatched 80 innocent lives and we are still counting. I have not taken into account here what happened in dozens of other barbaric acts which has rocked this nation so many times in last six-seven years including Parliament, Varanasi and Hyderabad. Forget about Kashmir because as a nation, it seems that we have taken now it for guaranteed that It is bound to be hit by terrorism.

We are reacting once again in the most raucous way; “ Whichever organization and the country has hands in the blasts is trying to destabilize India because of its growth and development,” said Jaiswal, Minister of State for Home Affairs. “Didn’t you know this before, Sir?”, that is my question.

If you knew it, Please tell us one single stringent measure taken by you to bring these attacks to an end.

We haven’t not been able to bring a single case of all of these attacks to a logical end till date, sketches are released, the culprit would be identified as HUJI from Bangladesh or Lashkar-e-Taiba, some very aggressive press conferences would be on disposal on our television sets by government, opposition and police alike, some individuals would be arrested as the suspects. After six-eight months, We will come to know in one of least important news section that trials have started for these suspects. By the time that trial comes to an end, Here comes the breaking news of another big blast and all the focus is shifted to the new bomb blast. You will never come to know about the exact individual or organization who was the perpetrator behind the last attack and whether they were given the punishment they ought to have by Indian Jurisdiction or not.

Until we react in the strongest possible way to such brutal acts, we will always be the victim and those evils will keep on making mockery of us. I am not a supporter of POTA but that was one of the weapons with us to give these barbarians their due in a faster way and that is one of the examples of strong reaction. Mohammad Afzal is still waiting in some prison of india, whether he is accused or not, I am not sure because even the government is not sure about that even after seven years of attack on Indian parliament.

I have cited these examples to show that people in the power react to these incidents in the most animated way but when it comes to react by strong deeds, I am still waiting for a single national level stringent measure to be taken by this government.

So, we are not reactive. Are we pro-active, The answer is big NO.

The best example to talk about is our own city Mumbai. Other day, I was in Hypercity to do my weekly shopping, There is a lady who does all the security checks at the entrance. She tells me to open the bag. I open one of the zips of the bag; she looks at it from outside and tells me to go ahead. There were two others parts of the bag which were not even unzipped by her.

Lets take example of security measures taken on on one of the most soft targets, the railway stations. You go to any metro station in London, NY or Chicago, They do random baggage checks. In our city, it used to happen for a couple of months after bomb blast in 2006. We don’t have it any more because it seems that the terrorists have sent a letter to mumbai police that they won’t attack mumbai any more. Their targets have changed because Mumbai is alert now.

Forget about the system and people in power, Are we as a society pro-active. I will say no. When I enter my office, The security guard ask us to show the security badge, If you see the reaction of majority of employees, it is like the poor chap is asking him for some favor as some beggars on traffic signals. You won’t believe some of them even escape the check because either they are big guys or they are smart drivers.

These are the incidents which reflects that either politicians, administrators or we the common people of India as a society is still not pro-active against this threat which is hell-bent on taking the lives of hundreds of innocent individuals every six month. And, off course, the frequency is all bound to go up because they know neither we react with all our capacity and nor we are proactive.

Though I know that there won’t be any reaction to this appeal, but still, nothing wrong in trying, the government of India must put in place the most redundant security policy to protect our internal security. The innocent people are at the disposable of these barbarians in all parts of country – Kashmir, Mumbai, Rajasthan, Bihar, U.P, Hyderabad, New Delhi, in the temples and on the trains. Can we now please react as a stronger nation and stronger society?