Its Now or Never
What we have faced for 60 hours is not just another terror attack. It is something called WAR.
What is shocking is not that the attack has taken place, but in fact it was well known that we were going to face something of that sort, and we were sleeping.
Sleeping in our own dream world, and covering it up with cliches like “Spirit” and “Resilence”. Sure we have been let down by a totally inept political leadership, but its not just their failure, it is our collective failure. We are as much accountable as the politicians we blame.
There is no question of “We will do it” and ” We can do it”, it is now “We have to do it”, there is no other option. Because what is at stake is our survival, not just ours but our children, our future generations.
Now if your looking for a Rang De Basanti kinda action, where we have this wet fantasy of gunning down every one, well stick to those dreams. This is real world, real life and it demands real solutions, not some movie makers overblown fantasies.
Much as we hanker for a military dictatorship, we are not going to have it. Because we choose to be a democracy, and we are one. And we have to work within a democratic framework, good or bad. And yes if military dictatorship were the only solution, most of the African and Latin American nations should have been havens of peace and prosperity. So if are looking for a “Shoot em all” or “Lets have Military rule” message, sorry this article is not for you.
First of all, how many of us are actually aware of what is happening? When the crisis broke out, i had some of my colleagues and some of my friends asking “Why are they doing this to us?” and “What do they want?”. Ever since 1993, we have been facing terror regularly in one form or another, and even had to fight a mini war in between. So many soldiers, cops, civilians have died, and even after all this, you still don’t know why terrorists are attacking you, well that is downright disgraceful. I am not expecting you to be a scholar on terrorism and the terror groups, but at the very minimum please have some awareness. And if you have some awareness, spread it. Use your candlelight rallies or bike rallies or whatever else, to make people aware of the dangers of terrorism, and why we are facing it. And that means you just don’t put up placards saying “We are not Afraid”, ” We hate terrorism” . Drill it into the public that only the paranoid survive. That in itself is a very small but significant step.
Now whether you like it or not, we are a democracy, and we have to live with it. And as much as our political leaders suck, it is only they who have the power to push through any changes or measures. So how do we make them actually do it? Well whatever political leaders do, the paramount interest is in getting votes. And this is where we can make a difference. So lets say in every constituency, a sizable number of people get together and put it across straight to the political leaders, that unless you are showing serious intent to act on terror, you are not getting our vote, that could prove a starting point. Maybe as a pressure group, maybe as a lobby or even a votebank. There are many former security officials who have a good idea about how to improve the existing security framework, which is seriously an “Angrezo ka zamaane” one. But no political leader will act on it, unless they know that not doing so, could cost them their kursi. Putting up online petitions and blogging is not going to work, politicians don’t access the net much, and they certainly would not be reading blogs. It is Direct Action that counts, no i don’t mean, taking a gun and firing at every available MLA or MP in sight. We need to get out of our “all political leaders are same, what difference does it make” apathetic mindset, and involve with them. How exactly to do it, and what are the modalities involved, is something that needs to be worked out at the ground level. But unless and until our political leaders know that unless they at least promise to do something on combating terror, their kursi is not secure, they will just go on with their lives and we with our lives.
Political leaders are the same the world over, corrupt and crooked, it is the people who make the difference. If the US Govt stepped in to create the Homeland Security Act and take steps to strengthen the internal security after 9/11, or the UK Govt came up with surveillance after the London bomb blasts, its not because the political leaders in US or UK are much wiser than our politicians. They are equally dumb and maybe even stupider. But for all his stupidity George Bush knew that unless he does something for security, he would be given a pasting in the elections. And when politicians have that fear, they will act. And so what are the demands we need to make of our political leaders, some i do have in mind
1) A central anti terrorist agency, staffed by people who have experience in combating terrorism. And this must be apolitical, whether the NDA or UPA or XYZ is at power, it should have no bearing on its work.
2) NSG units need to be set up in all the urban centers in India. And that goes for every urban center, religious place, places of strategic importance.
3) Our police force is still stuck in an “Angrez zamane ke” time warp. It needs a drastic overhaul. You are giving a cop an ancient .303 rifle and expecting him to battle a terrorist armed with an Ak 47. Forget about catching a terrorist, you cant even catch a gang of bank robbers armed with country pistols.
4) You pay peanuts, you get monkeys. Most of our police force, is underpaid, overworked and under staffed. Lower level constables have to take bribes just to survive. And even if you capture a criminal, its just a matter of time, before some 2 bit political leader comes in demaning release. Right now the cops are just the personal lap dogs of the politicians, who use them to settle scores. For decades many ex police officers have been crying out loud for autonomy, but no political leader wants to let go of the golden goose.
These are just some ideas of mine, and mind you none of them are path breaking. All of them have been recommended at one stage or other by people who have been there. But the political leaders to date, have not bothered, because those experts dont make a vote bank. But if the political leader knows that the “Aam aadmi” is also seeking the same, that is a different story.
We live in cities , in apartments for years and we still, would not know our next door neighbor. Honestly if i want to do a bomb blast, i can just slip in anonymously, smuggle in whatever equipment i need, and plan it out right in my living room. Because i know that none of the people around will really care. I am not advocating snooping around or poking your nose in, but at least be aware of what the person next to you is doing. Because tomorrow if you choose to look the other way, saying “What does it matter”, either you or one of your family members could be the victim of his plot.
I have seen people getting angry, whenever security guards ask for identification, and begin to throw airs around, or getting impatient, because they are being frisked at a multiplex, and they cant rush inside the theater to catch the first shot of their beloved hero on screen, or cribbing whenever they have to wait for a long time in the queue at the airport. Get real folks, we are living in difficult times ,and we have to bear these inconveniences. You just cant expect that the Govt will do everything and you sit on your fat ass watching TV and cribbing. If the Government puts in a law saying that you have to undergo security checks , bear with it. If the Govt says that you have to pay extra taxes so that the Govt spends more on defense, well be prepared for it.
I am not going to say “The time has come” or “We can do it”. Because we have no other option, no other choice. We facing a battle for survival and we have to fight it, its as simple as that.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Do you really think we have no option but act…you are gravely mistaken.Call me a cynical but I know how short public memory is. Assembly elections are on and from only tomorrow you’ll see parties getting busy in horsetrading and power snatching…They have cancelled cricket matches otherwise you would have seen housefull grounds, just like we saw the very next day after the Jaipur blasts. Within a day or two you will see Amir promoting his Ghajjini with gusto…lesser said is better about SRK when he’ll start his promotion of RNBDJ. Then ther is Christmas and New Year…What are you saying???
Actually, Mumbai has apparently already started getting back to life. They were showing people trying to forget the horror and getting on with their lives by raising their spirits at Not Just Jazz By The Bay.
Never mind the pun or the sarcasm, its a by product of the little resilience thats rubbed off on me.
(Somehow, as sick as it sounds, if they had actually managed to blow up The Taj, then maybe, and thats a very tiny maybe, we as a nation would really have woken up.)
What has happened is a big thing for sure but we can’t hamper other things for the sake of just one thing.
The thing that we can do is if we worked for 10 hours earlier, now we work for 11 hours.
That extra 1 hour should be dedicated to community and the nation in general.
I believe thats the only true and long lasting solution
On a related note, where the hell is our president? Isn’t she the Supreme commander of Armed forces?
What is she doing in Indonesia when the country is in Crisis? (FYI, she just arrived in Indonesia http://tinyurl.com/5oa8db)
She doesn’t deserve to be the president.
I hope our media escalates this topic.
Shame on her.
@thinkfloyd: Exactly!!! This event is grave enough to warrant an emergency like situation but nobody in the government or our polity seems to think likewise.
@ratnakar
there are already talks about the first 2 steps that you have mentioned. hope it turns into something concrete.
the resignation of shivraj patil came as a relief, but he has been made the scapegoat by the government to lay all the blame on. i have my doubts regarding chidambaram. only time will tell if it was the right decision.
@arpit
very well said.
@ratnakar
Everyone has said what needs to be said in the two posts you have written and in the media. Hope everyone does something in their own special way as to what needs to be done. Appreciate your efort on everyone’s behalf.