For The First Time

The incidents and its consequences of the Mumbai carnage on 26/11 is a distinctly different posture than all the other shambles that had happened in India in the past. There are some similarities one can equate the latest bellicosity with the terror attack of Indian Parliament in 2001. In both the cases, the assailants came out to challenge the security system of India head on. They took out weapons and kept on firing incessantly. The only difference between the two cases were that in Mumbai, the number of people went down dead were lot more than in the Parliament case. The consequences of the incidents had far reaching effects in both the cases, though what would turn out finally in case of Mumbai is difficult to say at the present juncture.

This is the for the first time when the assaulters took a modus operandi to intrude the land of India in a different way. They crossed the Arabian sea, shuffling the boats, putting the Indian navigators on the wrong foot, and entered the city fully equipped. This time, they decided to play with the lives of affluents and chose to hunt the people at the heritage hotels and kindle it. Here in two places and in Nariman House they gushed forth the venom at the foreign nationals. The pitched battle between the fugitives and the commandoes took a significant period of over sixty hours, that was viewed by millions of people across the globe. The commandoes sloping down the helicopters, the firemen ascending to a great height to flush the blaze, the inimitable officers of elite security laying down their lives, stretching out flat by the eminent mediamen on the surface in front of the field of battle, were the pieces of bravery we are not in the habit of watching.

Notwithstanding the unmatchable incidents of bravery by our own people, the events that turned out after the armed conflicts caused intense excitement amongst all sections of people, including Pakistan, the one who were supporting and abetting the terror from across the border for a considerable period of time. These events were totally unusual in Indian context. One of the armed terrorists was caught alive. Ignoring the directions of his mentors, the surviving terrorist has confessed his real identity and named all his accomplices. The crocodile tears of the Govt. of Pakistan got exposed the moment the terrorist started coughing up all he knew. Whatever little honour left of Pakistan, was in tatters. Most governments across the globe were belittling the acts of the government of Pakistan, and repeatedly asking them to mend their ways. What a shame for a government elected by its people, what a shame for the President of Pakistan whose wife was ambushed by the same flock who targetted the financial capital of India.

Till now, the last but not the least events that have mesmerised the nation was when the people all over the country, immediately after the incidents, felt sickened and disgusted with the white-clad politicians for their inaction, who are using the vote-bank policy in handling the terror. The compensations given to the widow of police chief were turned down, the father of a deceased commando chased away the Chief Minister of his state who went to sympathasise with him, the people spoke in defiance against the politicians in front of the cameras, were some of the acts which were hardly seen even after such events that happened before. Never before the present head of the ruling party and the PM have been seen exchanging words with the leader of the opposition party which truly has happened a few days ago in the Lok Sabha. Above all, the BJP, the main opposition party in Parliament voted in favour of NIA and UAPA Bill brought by UPA Cabinet for tackling the terror. UPA and NDA have never before worked shoulder to shoulder, though they are identical in their thoughts in governing the country.

It seems that the blood spilt this time by the hundreds of people, would not go waste. We might be heading towards the right direction.

Killer in the Neighbourhood

Prabhu, aged 32 years was the tobacco-seller who had been sitting in a kiosk at the T-point of Sector 15-II during the year 1997-2001, is no more now. He died, leaving his wife and three children behind. Then there was Balli aged 40 who used to sell fresh fruits beside Jharsa Road in Amar Colony. He was seen there in the year 2002-03, but is no more now. He also died only two years back. While Rajan was a salesman in a chemist shop opposite Jyoti Hospital, who was in his twenties only a few years from now. It is known that he is suffering from disease in a Mehrauli Hospital.

These three young fellows were in good state of health. The jobs they were involved in, required to stay long hours and they had little time to spare for the amusement. How come they were infected with lung disease at such a tender age? Serious fellows as they were, they had only their families at the back of their minds. They had two common idiosyncrasies in them. One, they were non-smokers and two, all three of them were diagnosed black lung diseases.

It's shocking to know that these unfortunate creatures died or are dying due to the dust clot surrounding their lungs called black lung disease. The disease had caused to them because of their accessibility to the huge dust piles lying on the streets of Jharsa Road. More or less, the whole of Gurgaon roads are filled up with the dust. People working on the roadside, walking on them, all are inhaling these killer dusts unknowingly and they are moving slowly towards death. Previously, this disease was only common to the workers of coal mines, but it is not unusual now in this rich city.

People migrated to Gurgaon during the1990s hoping to live a pollution-free life. That time, Delhi had earned a bad name to its credit for being the worst polluted city. The then visiting Cricket Australia team had commented that Delhi was at its worst level of pollution. Truly, many people in Delhi suffered from diseases like burning sensation in the chest and eyes, throat constriction, acute asthma and pneumonia caused due to the high contents of sulphur present in the air. Many people started looking for new destinations, and finally they moved and settled in Gurgaon.

May be Gurgaon had much less harmful elements in its air, but the migrated people did realise sooner that it's not a place where they could stroll happily. Piles of dust lied beside the roads. They put their hankies on their nose, believing that those dusts could be due to the construction of a new city. Fifteen years have passed. The killer dusts still occupy the most of the roads. To add to the injury, the running of ugly looking autos of Gurgaon on every road has made uninterrupted flow of these dust. The pedestrians curse and foulmouth the rowdy drivers and their filthy autos. No city in the world is as dusty as our beloved Millenium City. Scores of malls, few green parks do not make a city. It is the roads, its alleys, passages, highways, people, their behaviour, cleanliness, markets make a city liveable.

If the authorities, the NGOs and the residents keep their eyes away from this scattered clouds of dust, the day is not ahead when people would call this cyber city, the Gurgaon, a Dhoolgaon. Till any remedy is found in removing the killer dust from our neibourhood, people like Prabhu, Balli and Rajan would keep dying.

Be Practical

Again terror was struck on the black 26^th in Mumbai. This time the power and dimension of the threat was much bigger and horrific than what we had seen in the past. Previously, the terrorists had planted the bombs secretly in crowded places, and they could manage to kill 15 to 20 innocent common men, in most of the times. But this time, they had aimed at the very opulent class who stay in five star hotels of Mumbai and many bigwigs became the victims of this bloodbath.. Apart from this, the masterminds had decided to challenge openly to the people and security of India, by facing them head on. They killed whoever came in their way. Unlike in previous occasions, they have pointed their guns this time cleanly on the number of Supercops. This is in fact a desperado act for which India was not truly ready.

Though this kind of terrorism is a henious crime, but one cannot claim that India has won because their security personnel could manage to kill a dozen of terrorists. We have more than 200 casualties and 350 injuries which itself speak of the losses that we have conceded. After all these terrorists acts, it was boldly claimed that we would not bow down to the terror. The media, after every mayhem, maintained that the terrorists could not suppress the spirit of life, the life has illuminated on the very next day. Some of the popular catch phrase we often find on the newspapers and TV channels by the politicians and media men the very next day of the mishaps:

1. The aspirations of the terrorists will never be fulfilled.

2. We will teach them lessons.

3. Life is back to normal.

4. The people of this country are brave enough to face such dastardly act.

5. We must keep peace and not allow them to disrupt it.

6. We must not fall into the trap of communal disharmony.

7. We salute our brave soldiers who lost their lives, and promise to look after their families.

8. Finally, the nation won and the evildoers lost.

9. The govt. will not tolerate this lawlessness.

10. We will see to it that this kind of act never repeats.

11. Terrorism has no religion.

12. We must stand united.

What is the point in saying all these rhetorics at the time of crisis each time we face bloodshed? Do we really mean it? How many times do we visit those unfortunate families who lost their dearest ones? Do we care for those who engage themselves against the terrorists, save lives of people, but didn't die? Not a single politician comes out without their security to the spot of the event and boost the morale of the security personnel. Have they ever roared against the govt. of Pakistan for involving in the act? Never, never. Forget about Pakistan, we do not have the guts to strike even the suspected places of Bangladesh and teach a lesson to the minnows. Shame on us.

After the Mumbai act of 26/11, the nation asks its politicians and the media men not to use these rhetorics again. We can tolerate the incompetence of our leaders because we are used to it. But please do not rub salt on our injury. We cannot endure it, we simply abhor it.