Friday, December 5, 2008

Mumbai !!!



I am sure, each one of us has been continuously watching news online and on TV about Mumbai blasts. Like everyone, I too have been watching NDTV and CNN-IBN, along with news on Times of India online.

I decided to pen down my opinion in short about Mumbai blasts, the aftermath and where India stands in middle of all this.

First of all, I would like to salute every soldier who sacrificed their lives to save others. This includes even those policemen who are not in publicity provided by media. I pray to God that leaders like Mr. Achhutanand and Mr. R R Patil respect the contribution of self-less soldiers of the country some day. I also am thankful to those who saved lives of hundreds of people, by use of their wisdom and promptness. The person who annouces trains' schedule at Mumbai CST station did a real great job after firing started at the station. He continously kept announcing , asking people not to get down from incoming trains. There are many more unnamed heroes who kept us safe and alive today.

This blast has made me sad and angry. There have been almost eight blasts in past six months, but did Govt do something for it? Perhaps because those killed in earlier blasts were common men, not high profile executives and businessmen like those in Mumbai blasts. We have become habitual of acceping terror attacks very normally, with a frequency one city facing blasts in a month on average. This time it took three days to bring situation under control at Mumbai, after killing of many people, including foreign nationals. Media covered whole sequence of events minute by minute.

Where India stands in all this. India lacks coordination among intelligence and action forces. Security Agencies has been asking Govt to provide adequate infrastructure for Naval, Air and Ground forces past many years, but our politicians are busy with their cheap politics, rather than concentrating on security of country's citizens. Today, despite of having clear evidence available with India, US and Israel, India finds itself helpless in taking any action against terror camps based in Pakistan. I remember one of my friend told me recently that one of the retired army personnel in US told him that if it would have been USA in place of India, it would not have taken even few days to attack the terror camps in Pakistan. It is evident, it is all about power.

I feel that each of us is equally responsible for this. Here is how:
(1) I have seen in US that every person is vigilant enough to report ANY suspicious activity to police immediately. Can't we do the same thing in India?
(2) Indian Govt at least is feeling the heat this time due to media and pressure from aam aadmi. We need to make sure that our elected leaders keep us safe in our own country.
(3) We need to report about irresponsible policemen, because of whom whole department gets defamed.
... List does not end here...

It would take hours for me to complete this writing, but I stop it here...
Mumbai !!!SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

7 comments:

Doli said...

Regarding your point about reporting dishonest policemen, to whom do we report to? I mean how to distinguish the good and the bad.

Raj Jain said...

Thanks for your comment, Doli.

There are various forums to report about irresponsible behavior of policemen. One such forum which I feel is good (though I have not tried personally so far), is http://www.saferindia.com. This appears to be an effective forum, initiated by Kiran Bedi, India’s first and highest ranking (retired in 2007) woman officer who joined the Indian Police Service in 1972. You can find more details at http://www.kiranbedi.com.

Visvanathan said...

General nature of Indians is innocence, chalta hai type. I dont think they will ever be as efficient in reporting "suspicious objects" like the Americans. I really liked the idea of Citizen journalists by CNN-IBN. Maybe we can invent "CITIZEN POLICEMEN" concept..

Raj Jain said...

I agree with your point, citizen-policemen will be the right way to put it, wherein we are as vigilant as a policeman and raise our voice (though in the right manner). This is evident from recent anger shown by people in Mumbai and throughout India, which forced Govt to at least prioritize matter of National Security.

Raj Jain said...

I came across this really good article about what India Inc. and Govt. should do against Pakistan.

http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/dec/10mumterror-8-things-india-inc-govt-must-do-against-pakistan.htm

Jyotsna said...

A little late in the day... still...

Perhaps it is also important that India makes it mandatory for everyone to enlist for a two year military training when they reach the age of eighteen. That goes a long way in instilling discipline, alertness and a real sense of responsibility towards the country and community at large.

Raj Jain said...

Thanks for dropping by, Jyotsna. Great thought, it would be great to have mandatory training for everyone and will certainly help in self-defense of citizen. I agree that it is the need of the hour, given the increase in terrorism activities and recent actions by irresponsible activists of Shri Ram Sena in Karnataka state.

Thanks again for your comments.