I couldn't bear to read the papers this morning. Nor watch television. Gulping tea became a major effort. It was the picture on the front page of the Times of India that completely destroyed me.Two fruitsellers lay dead near their cart in Ahemedabad. Innocent victims of yet another senseless terrorist attack on civilians.Bangalore was reeling. Now it was Ahemedabad. I fear it may be Pune next - only because it is yet another city that is rapidly growing and attracting world professionals to its IT hub. Theories in retrospect are all very well - that it is the BJP states being targeted etc. But where were our intelligence agencies all this while? Such attacks require meticulous planning. They don't happen spontaneously. It is an amazing failure on the part of the counter terrorist cells that massive strikes in two big cities , took place with such ease. It is always the poor who pay the price - as those defenceless fruitsellers did. Nothing ever happens to the powerful and wealthy. And one wonders at the perversity\cruelty of those devils who strike against harmless, ordinary folk, who have nothing to do with jihads. God rest their souls in peace.
Ironically enough, the same paper carried stories on pole dancing as the latest ftness routine.And the juxta positioning of the reports made the absurdity of our existence that much more ludicrous. The gloomy weather added to the overall depression.I cannot get the image of the dead fruitsellers out of my mind. I feel helpless. I feel enraged. I feel sad. Even more scarily, I feel like hitting back - this is an alien, entirely new response to terror in our midst. And it disturbs me. I am a non-violent person. I can't deal with these stirrings within my heart. They make me feel no better than 'them' - the faceless cowards doing this to 'us'.God help me. And others like me - peace loving individuals pushed to the brink and saying, ''We've had enough." Tell me - are my current emotions understandable? Are you also similarly driven by a sense of revulsion, rage and revenge? How do you cope? I am entirely thrown.... disoriented.... miserable
10 comments:
I had the same reaction on Friday.It really sucks how the innocent have to pay the price.
Keeping my fingers crossed there won't be anymore,though they saying on the news that Mathura is next...
Right bk at ya.
I totally understand your rage..I went through the same emotions on seeing the news last evening and the papers today morning..
It really really makes me wanna DO something..to hit back at the so called jehadi's.
But really, what do we do ? as a common citizen what power do i have against these terrorists ? why is it all forgotten in a matter of few days ,until the next bombing occurs ? when will it end ? whose gonna end it?
M'AM De',
At the risk of my opinion being an independent thought and unpopular to some.
I have been in touch with my closest friends and relatives in both the cities.
Before I get the newspapers stories from three different Media Houses each morning I get to read the internet and watch live TV.
The emotion I experience is that of what the media makes me to believe in repititive visuals or the opinions of a few on the road amidst shock grief and disbelief!! NO! No!
Too much media exploration leaves little for me to think and cope. They have hijacked my thinking to drive their point of view.
I blogged with shekhar kapur early morning and with rakesh jhunjhunwala too on the same thing.
For me the events like Blasts and the Uttar Bharati's in Maharashtra and the Sikh community fling at Mulund are the same thing.
When there's a big gathering of marriage ceremonies and comes a grief story in one of the guests family he is supposed to supress the news or leave the place quietly.
If at all its a bigger grief concerning the marriage parties themselves marriages take place with cut down on celebration.
What emotion I feel for Baraat returning back for want of Dowry - Dahej (read Jihad) I can't say.
What emotion I feel when Paedophiles get acquitted by Local courts I can't say.
What emotion I feel on so many such events each day I can't say.
Media has taken away my emotions. They are the ones who show us images and ask us to vote and form opinions. Few have political affiliations or biases too.
The one emotion I feel is keep kicking, kick hard, kick alive and tell myself I am not going to get influenced by the formed opinions. I will have the courage and faith to think and think positive, and hold my right of my opinion.
India wishes to be on global scene, wants to acquire Global Space, so Global problems can't be avoided. The time has come to test the immunity system of our Indian Ideology, technology and our national resources.
Better the immunity worst would be the attacks.!! Face them be a Scout . "ALWAYS BE PREPARED"
Vinod Agarwal - Oil doesn't easily mix with Water !!
the whole idea is to hold us to ransom in fear...
I know from stuff that my dad would tell me as I grew up (he was part of the network that worked against terror) that the very same politicians who 'rule' us inspire this terror!
It can be nipped in the bud if our agencies are not held back by these individuals and lobbies.
But we INDIANs (me included) - we have become insensitive to an extent. We have taken this pain and fear and compartmentalized it. So YES - I FEEL BAD , hurt and an EXTREMELY angry that my countrymen should suffer so.
It started with Punjab, then Kashmir, even the Kargil war after a month, moved out of the minds eye! Then the blasts... I remember I was finishing my ICSE exams in 93 in Mumbai, and I heard the AIR INDIA building blast in the examination hall -it was shocking!
Now.. after Delhi..Hyderabad... Bangalore.. Ahmedabad.... it remains in me like a dull ache... maybe this is the world we live in and many of us have accepted it so..!
Till we disagree....
Rage? Not too sure. Fear. Maybe a wee bit. But, to be frank, there's only so much our counter-terror folks can do when you can make bombs from garden fertilizer...
Though we all agree that “too much is much much ”...
How much is too much?
Finding answers to this question is difficult.
I mean, we should not try to quantify terror.
Blowing off the twin tower is no less than the recent blasts in Jaipur. Life of a bhaaji wala or a 1000+ people should be treated with the same emergency.
Then after a while, we tend to get either immune or table terror as an everyday affair.
What is the word… ohhhhhhh Resilience!
Some think that they are absolutely impregnable. "This will not happen to me" they think. But that’s way away from the fact. Terror could strike anyone, anytime. The fact is, that the bomb blast victim that one sees on TV could be you or me.
Is India well geared to combat terrorism?
The answer is NO.
loveI was alone in the train last night. No one checked me. I had a bag in my hand. It could have well been a bomb.
As in, how can we expect the cops to know when its “normal” unsuspicious characters doing the damage?
How can she be prepared, no country with a population like India could guarantee a shield against terrorism? The cops and the cop dogs are working overtime to ensure our safety. I believe that the 9-11 attack could have been averted, but some maniacal activity like this kind is unimaginable. Absolutely unimaginable. Though, we need to agree that in India Response to the Stimuli is a tradition.
Our government hasnt yet sent Afzal Guru to the gallows. Others have made him a part of their political agendas and vested interests. Remember, he was the guy who attacked nothing else, but the Parliament of all places. Yet we are soft on him. We neither have the junoon nor the whewithal to deal with terrorism. Soft target? Yes, we are one and will continue to remain one. Unless, unless, the india in us awakens, the indian in us awakens.
The other day at a very moderate Muslim friend's(who thought I was naive) insistence we, visited the Nizaamuddin mosque in South Delhi. It was a massive Friday gathering, about 5-10,000 Muslims had gathered to offer Namaaz.
Everyone seemed to know everyone and various discussions were going on in small groups, I could easily overhear/sense a sort of hysterical mass hatred towards Hindus and followers of other religions there, it was as if the people there belonged to another country or perhaps another time! The mob mentality was in full evidence as we stood there, no voice of reason came forward to correct or appease the haters, the more dastardly the comment, louder the applause. At that moment I could easily label each one of those people out there - A Terrorist.
The dreadful voices came from every direction, filthy comments about Hindu girls, the pro pakistan/musshrraf slogans, mutual promises to butcher the infidels; it was like being in terror Central!
Because the conversation was so animated and often bordered to idiotic, I could sense that once this gathering would break, these Muslims will go to their respective homes and continue their existence like normal citizens, however, when in a group and presumably not under scrutiny, they presented a horrific picture and forced me to believe any one of these guys will shelter or even participate with the various Islamic terrorist organizations.
Why blame the intelligence agencies? They report to the PMO and are governed/bound by the rules and laws formed by that office.
If a layman like me can figure out the cause/origination of hatred and the violence within our country as far as terrorism is concerned, I'm sure the intelligence guys must have too!!
But the question I ask myself is- Can anyone do anything about it?
The Congress is too busy kissing Muslim butt, The BJP's efforts to curb terrorism indicates shameless vote-bank politics, The left will oppose the nuclear deal but wont endorse the Chinese(commie)methodology to quash Islamic terrorism. The media wants to remain too politically correct; the social commentators do not want to offend the Muslims (who want another fatwa anyway?) The liberal Muslims are too few in number and equally chicken.
Nobody wants to be objective. I feel we will continue to be attacked like this until an enormous loss happens!! Till then, Ms. De will repeatedly mourn the fruit sellers.
Don't forget about the loss of the Indian army and foreign service personnel in the recent Afghanistan bombings too.
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