The terrorists are finished with, but the terror and aftermath are far from over. The anguish and pain for the families who have lost their loved ones will never be over. What happened was needless, mindless and ruthless. For the last two days I have been glued to the TV with myriad emotions passing through me, the main being anger, expressing which I wasn't alone.
We have often talked about the resilient spirit of India in her various cities. It was Hyderabad, Jaipur,Bangalore, Delhi, Assam and now its Mumbai all over again. Its only now that Im starting to see the seething anger that the citizens of Mumbai are feeling, questioning how many times more have we to show resilience; why is it that we have to show resilience; why cant we feel safe in our own country? I am hearing people talking about bringing in the Army rule to declaring Emergency but what remains to be seen is that how far we, as Indians, can carry forward this anger. Only time will tell if this horrific incident becomes one of the many which have been forgotten or will we be able to live up to our promise to Mumbaikars in saying that we will not forget this and not let it pass into forgotten history.
While I try to write this I cant help but mull over the ironic fate of Mumbai. From the title of Sreenivasan Jain's ongoing program which says 'Heroes & Villains' to the very fact that it was the Bihar Regiment which saved Mumbai, just weeks after Biharis were unceremoniously walloped out of Mumbai. There are people questioning the whereabouts of Raj Thackeray. There were reports that he had the audacity to try and attend Karkare's funeral where he was categorically asked to leave, though many say that he should have been booted out there are others who say that he should have been lynched. I have received numerous smses all day asking, "where is Raj Thackeray and his 'brave' Sena? It was the NSG comprising of North & South Indians, not a single Maharashtrian which saved Mumbai" and requesting the receiver to forward this sms to as many people possible so that finally it reaches the 'coward bully'. This was one chain sms which I certainly didn't mind forwarding but personally I feel that much more is needed than a few smses to tell him what a nuisance and shame he is to our country.
It is heart-rending to see relatives arrive full of hope at the information centres and subsequently leaving shattered, hearing the inevitable which was brought about so cruelly. Amongst all this angst we had not one word of support from our politicians, oh yes, our Honorable PM looked like a wax doll and his words which were meant to soothe were irritating. The head of the defence forces, our President is blissfully mum and more conveniently out of the picture.
These are the few issues which have come to the forefront due to this incident and the more I dwell on them the angrier I get. I just hope that as we are now saying that India stands with Mumbai, we should not forget and forgive to ensure that these incidents never repeat.
2 comments:
First, I thank you for registering yourself as a follower of my blog. I will be happy if you jot down your comments on my pieces. But if you can't, it would be fine.
Your article on the violence in Mumbai is sensitive and cogently argued. Most people around us think about nothing but themselves. That some young people like you think differently is a source of hope. If people like you don't fall into the rut that your older generation has fallen into -- and I am one of them -- we can still hope for better things to happen.
I have almost lost my capacity for anger, but I share your anger and frustration towards our government in particular and politicians in general. Let us hope our concern and anger will help make our country a better place, however insignificant our individual contributions might be.
Thank you for leaving your comment on my blog. I shall certainly do the same on yours.
As for the Mumbai attacks, it is high time that we Indians, read politicians go beyond words. What we need is brute force and action to fight this menace of terrorism.
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