07-23-2006, 07:26 AM
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=71452
Some uncomfortable questions post 7/11'
One reader boasted rightly: âWithin 3 hours of the blasts, long queues of blood donating volunteers were seen outside various hospitals, where most of the injured were admitted. By 12 midnight, the hospital had to issue a notification that blood banks were full and they didn't require any more blood. The next day, attendance at schools and office was close to 100 per cent, trains and buses were packed to the brim, and the crowds were back.â
An editorial chimed in: History has shown more than once that terror or adversity will not stop India's financial capital in its tracks. Bruised by blasts, rocked by riots and submerged by floods, a weary and battle-scarred Mumbai has shown the resilience to get back to business several times over.
The cliché, âbusiness as usualâ, however has an eerie connotation in this setting. Prompt recovery is commendable and an essential component of crises management but a trifle disturbing when one observes how mundane the whole process has become. Repeated terrorist attacks have reduced the recovery phase to nothing more than a routine Monday morning drill. The abnormal has become normal. And this immunity engendered by banality seems to encourage a dangerous inertia that can only be fatal in the long run.
A mere week later Mumbai and India is already retreating into its comfortable cocoon of placid lassitude to wait nonchalantly for the next attack to occur; and when that happens it will only transiently interrupt this state of blissful complacence. The vicious cycle will go on and on.
Resilience is a much-bandied term that needs further scrutiny and exploration. Resilience cannot and must not be mistaken as the end point. Nor should it be a subterfuge for apathetic resignation or a camouflage for pusillanimity. Only when genuine resilience is coupled with decisive action to abort further attacks can this be an admirable quality.
To the Mumbaikars in particular and all Indians in general I have a few words. Since this ghastly bombing, people have been showering praises on you, extolling your moral virtues for not letting this attack degenerate into a Hindu-Muslim conflict, acclaiming your practical efficiency in getting things back on track and eulogizing your empathetic traits.
Well-deserved appreciation, no doubt and sweet music to your ears. But let me confront you with the harsh reality by asking you some uncomfortable questions.
Have you taken any proactive measures to stem this rash of senseless violence?
<b>
After each instance, you have proclaimed your moral superiority as though it were a lethal weapon, totally oblivious of the fact that these humane concepts mean nothing to the terrorists. Your naiveté is frightening. Offence not defense is the panacea.</b>
Have you conveyed a firm, effective message of deterrence to these evildoers?
Have you maintained a hawk-like vigilance on the subversive activities of those who wish to harm us?
Obviously not, for the attacks continue to reoccur at regular intervals.
By maintaining communal amity during these trying times you have thwarted an important agenda of these criminals. However in blindly harking after harmony you appear to have forsaken your power of discrimination and your ability to discern the good from the bad. You have proved to be too gullible and naïve, so much so that you have allowed a committed fifth column with a distinct profile to flourish under your very nose; a fifth column that is the final and vital link in these acts of terrorism, a fifth column that is at the crux of this matter.
This fifth column is not only anti-national in character but is bent on destroying the pluralistic nature of our society.
By turning a blind eye to the shenanigans of these antagonists we become willing accomplices in the murder of future victims.
While the common man maybe culpable by default, our politicians stand accused by deliberate design. Political correctness takes on another dimension in the political arena. Under the guise of minority privileges but more so for political gains and pecuniary advantage, certain sections have been accorded undue laxity; a laxity that has been fully exploited by extremist groups for nefarious purposes.
A typical example of this is the clean chit (though denied later) given to an outlawed organization by the Chief Minister of a prestigious state.
Acts like this embolden the traitors in our midst to maim and kill with impunity certain that the unscrupulous politicians will provide them with the much-needed cover for their misdeeds.
Another catalyst for this terrorism is the so called intelligentsia that has created an atmosphere that seeks to rationalize these brazen acts of violence by repeatedly and inappropriately raising the non-existent bogey of Hindu fanaticism.
By suggesting that terrorism is a by-product of our misdeeds, our morale is undermined and our response blunted.
Last but not least is the role of the government. <b>Incapable of decisive action or pursuing a consistent anti-terrorist policy vis-Ã -vis Pakistan, successive governments have failed to sunder the unholy nexus between our hostile neighbour and local inimical forces. The present regime consisting of disparate elements tugging in different directions with a puppet Prime Minister at the helm is an apology for a government. The different voices that emanate from this Tower of Babel do not project an image of coherence let alone a sense of security.</b>
The politically-motivated decision to revoke POTA has definitely increased our vulnerability. In a short span of 2 years there have been at least 5 high profile terrorist attacks, a direct consequence of the repeal of POTA.
<b>In summary, a gullible public, an intellectually dishonest intelligentsia and an indecisive government populated by unscrupulous politicians have inadvertently conspired to create a soft state incapable of demarcating its borders, protecting the lives of its upright citizens or ensuring their way of life. This has to change. </b>
Some uncomfortable questions post 7/11'
One reader boasted rightly: âWithin 3 hours of the blasts, long queues of blood donating volunteers were seen outside various hospitals, where most of the injured were admitted. By 12 midnight, the hospital had to issue a notification that blood banks were full and they didn't require any more blood. The next day, attendance at schools and office was close to 100 per cent, trains and buses were packed to the brim, and the crowds were back.â
An editorial chimed in: History has shown more than once that terror or adversity will not stop India's financial capital in its tracks. Bruised by blasts, rocked by riots and submerged by floods, a weary and battle-scarred Mumbai has shown the resilience to get back to business several times over.
The cliché, âbusiness as usualâ, however has an eerie connotation in this setting. Prompt recovery is commendable and an essential component of crises management but a trifle disturbing when one observes how mundane the whole process has become. Repeated terrorist attacks have reduced the recovery phase to nothing more than a routine Monday morning drill. The abnormal has become normal. And this immunity engendered by banality seems to encourage a dangerous inertia that can only be fatal in the long run.
A mere week later Mumbai and India is already retreating into its comfortable cocoon of placid lassitude to wait nonchalantly for the next attack to occur; and when that happens it will only transiently interrupt this state of blissful complacence. The vicious cycle will go on and on.
Resilience is a much-bandied term that needs further scrutiny and exploration. Resilience cannot and must not be mistaken as the end point. Nor should it be a subterfuge for apathetic resignation or a camouflage for pusillanimity. Only when genuine resilience is coupled with decisive action to abort further attacks can this be an admirable quality.
To the Mumbaikars in particular and all Indians in general I have a few words. Since this ghastly bombing, people have been showering praises on you, extolling your moral virtues for not letting this attack degenerate into a Hindu-Muslim conflict, acclaiming your practical efficiency in getting things back on track and eulogizing your empathetic traits.
Well-deserved appreciation, no doubt and sweet music to your ears. But let me confront you with the harsh reality by asking you some uncomfortable questions.
Have you taken any proactive measures to stem this rash of senseless violence?
<b>
After each instance, you have proclaimed your moral superiority as though it were a lethal weapon, totally oblivious of the fact that these humane concepts mean nothing to the terrorists. Your naiveté is frightening. Offence not defense is the panacea.</b>
Have you conveyed a firm, effective message of deterrence to these evildoers?
Have you maintained a hawk-like vigilance on the subversive activities of those who wish to harm us?
Obviously not, for the attacks continue to reoccur at regular intervals.
By maintaining communal amity during these trying times you have thwarted an important agenda of these criminals. However in blindly harking after harmony you appear to have forsaken your power of discrimination and your ability to discern the good from the bad. You have proved to be too gullible and naïve, so much so that you have allowed a committed fifth column with a distinct profile to flourish under your very nose; a fifth column that is the final and vital link in these acts of terrorism, a fifth column that is at the crux of this matter.
This fifth column is not only anti-national in character but is bent on destroying the pluralistic nature of our society.
By turning a blind eye to the shenanigans of these antagonists we become willing accomplices in the murder of future victims.
While the common man maybe culpable by default, our politicians stand accused by deliberate design. Political correctness takes on another dimension in the political arena. Under the guise of minority privileges but more so for political gains and pecuniary advantage, certain sections have been accorded undue laxity; a laxity that has been fully exploited by extremist groups for nefarious purposes.
A typical example of this is the clean chit (though denied later) given to an outlawed organization by the Chief Minister of a prestigious state.
Acts like this embolden the traitors in our midst to maim and kill with impunity certain that the unscrupulous politicians will provide them with the much-needed cover for their misdeeds.
Another catalyst for this terrorism is the so called intelligentsia that has created an atmosphere that seeks to rationalize these brazen acts of violence by repeatedly and inappropriately raising the non-existent bogey of Hindu fanaticism.
By suggesting that terrorism is a by-product of our misdeeds, our morale is undermined and our response blunted.
Last but not least is the role of the government. <b>Incapable of decisive action or pursuing a consistent anti-terrorist policy vis-Ã -vis Pakistan, successive governments have failed to sunder the unholy nexus between our hostile neighbour and local inimical forces. The present regime consisting of disparate elements tugging in different directions with a puppet Prime Minister at the helm is an apology for a government. The different voices that emanate from this Tower of Babel do not project an image of coherence let alone a sense of security.</b>
The politically-motivated decision to revoke POTA has definitely increased our vulnerability. In a short span of 2 years there have been at least 5 high profile terrorist attacks, a direct consequence of the repeal of POTA.
<b>In summary, a gullible public, an intellectually dishonest intelligentsia and an indecisive government populated by unscrupulous politicians have inadvertently conspired to create a soft state incapable of demarcating its borders, protecting the lives of its upright citizens or ensuring their way of life. This has to change. </b>