Corruption, Mumbai Terror Attacks, & Terrorism As It Is

On November 26, 2008 a team of 10 terrorists attacked Mumbai the financial capital of India. Terrorism is not something new to India. Terrorism has consumed millions of lives in the past two decades and every other day an Indian becomes a victim of terrorism, please do not forget Jammu & Kashmir!

After consuming so many innocent lives and people in uniform, why this time after the Mumbai attack there is so much of anger and protest. The former Home Minister Shivaraj Patil, saved his post in spite of so many urban attacks and that too in the recent past like places in Bangalore, Jaipur, Ahemdabad, and also in Mumbai. But why was he replaced when Mumbai was attacked this time? Why was the Deputy Chief Minister and Chief Minister of Mumbai were replaced, does it mean all these days and years they were so efficient and only this time they failed? Why our Prime Minister and the new Home Minister P. Chidambaram apologized to the people of India. So why they did not so in the past when other attacks took place in other places. The role of electronic media should also be looked with suspicion! Why there is such coverage and till today it is been assured that the news is kept alive and ticking? Why?

You must have read in the media that Public Interest Litigation (PIL) is filed in the Honorable Mumbai High Court to modernize and equip the Mumbai police force and also a citizen charter be formed to oversee the modernization and reforms of the Mumbai police force. It has also been widely publicized in the media that several large corporate have come forward and India’s brightest legal heads are representing the case. Why?

There has been news that the ace actor Amithab Bachan has written in his blog that for the first time in his life he slept with a revolver under his pillow and that he felt very insecure! Why?

So many other top actors have come out in the media to express their grief and shock over what has happened and an unprecedented coverage has been given! Why?

Media exposed that Mumbai Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemat Karkare used a faulty bullet proof jacket and in case the bullet proof jacket met the quality standards then there is a chance that he might not have fallen pray to the bullets fired from the AK47 assault rifles used by the terrorists! So does it mean that our corruption consumed the ATS chief and not the bullets fired by the terrorists! Was the media not aware of corruption all along, I don’t mean just in the Mumbai police force, all of us know India ranks very high in the corruption list and why was the media turning a blind eye for so long? Why?

So why?

No doubt in terms of sophistication and planning these attacks were very different and the magnitude was overwhelming. But at the same time the lives consumed around 180 and odd is in par or little higher, in terms of lives already lost due to terrorism. We as Indians are used to lives being lost by terrorist attacks more frequently. But why this time it gained so much of momentum? Politicians, actors, media, corporate, professionals, and the innocent public have shown and expressed so much anger like never before?

Dear fellow countrymen please think, please take some time and see what happened? It is not a conspiracy theory! So what made the difference this time?

If you keenly watch and observe all these years the victims of terrorism were ordinary citizens like you and me. Never before a terrorist act has consumed and hit people of the highest order. See for yourself the targets of terror this time, other than the CST and the hospital it was all targets of high value, I just don’t mean the buildings and locations, but the lives lost. Never before in India a private bank’s Chairmen was consumed by terror! People of the highest order and people who call the shots from behind the scene whether in politics or business frequent places like Taj and Oberai. These people drive the political parties and the likes. Sure Amithab Bachan should feel insecure for all this time he was of the opinion that people like him will not fall as a victim of terror. This fundamental belief was shaken with these attacks. Ordinary lives were consumed all these years and he did not feel the urge to take out his revolver and keep it under his pillow.

I am sure that the people who filed the PIL were totally aware about the state of the Mumbai police all along, but what they were not aware was that it could also affect their lives and affect them in a very significant way. Why all these days and years they did not feel to lead the movement to reform and modernize the force? So it is obvious and the reasons are for you to see.

Please do not be carried away, it has been established without any doubt that the act of terrorism is not the issue but the target this time made all the difference. I salute the security forces, the Mumbai police force, the National Security Guards, and other brave men who laid their lives for a noble cause they died in the line of duty. But what democracy could not achieve a group of ten terrorists with heavy arms, determination, training, lots of help from our neighbors, and our corruption achieved.

Let us not forget at this juncture there are millions of families in India who have lost their loved ones due to terrorism and they lie low and depressed without any support or love they deserve. There are many more from the armed forces who have lost their lives in the line of duty, and their family is betrayed and they have no where to go. Let us continue to fight just not terrorism, but also hypocrisy and corruption. I am sure corruption is more dangerous than terrorism as it is the enemy within!

Salutations to our Motherland!

Jai Hind!