Why Mumbai burns... again and again....

Watch Times Now at 10pm..... I hope we get a few answers....

This is written for Bombay Times.....

Why Mumbai burns… over and over again….

Let’s not beat about the bush for once and call a spade a bloody shovel. The arson and rampant acts of violence that rocked Mumbai last Saturday evening, had very little to do with Assam or Myanmar, and everything with dangerous games ruthless politicians play. This was no ‘spontaneous’ show of anger by Muslims demonstrating their hurt sentiments , this was an orchestrated, well co-ordinated and deftly executed political ploy that went out of hand at some point. Or else, 800 cops would most certainly have managed to stop the attacks on innocent people,the systematic burning of buses, vans, cars and two wheelers which went on for a good hour before it was finally brought under control. Had the cops swung into action earlier and asked for reinforcements, two lives wouldn’t have been lost, nor would we have had to deal with over 60 injured people, cops included. This cannot be passed off as ‘mob mentality’, when protestors had come well prepared for violence. Through all this rampaging and rioting, the shadowy figures instigating all of this remained safe and sound in Delhi and Mumbai, remote controlling wanton destruction in order to gain the all important political advantage in 2014. I’m pretty certain, half the youth rounded up near Azad Maidan would not know how to pronounce Myanmar, leave aside be able to pin point its location on an atlas. Misguided, mislead and possibly paid to take to the streets, they did what they were ordered to… and Mumbai suffered yet another blow.

There is something decidedly perverse about Mumbaikars accepting someone like an R.R.Patil as Maharashtra’s Home Minister, given his track record. Who can forget his infamous comment after the 26/11 Terror Attacks when he glibly said “such small-small incidents do take place in big-big cities!” On Saturday, he was once again on television channels talking about the horrific incident and rationalizing why Mumbai was caught on the wrong foot yet again. Let’s get ready to listen to the same old homilies about intelligence failure and why the state government is forever napping while Mumbai heedlessly burns… again and again. What has really changed after 26/11 ? The answer is depressing and brutal : nothing. The cast of characters handling such a crisis remains virtually unchanged. The cops take their orders from one lot of politicians. There is zero unity in the State cabinet and evidently no real attempt at crisis management. The State administration gets into the act hours after the damage is done. Lame excuses and alibis are trotted out with a straight face. We have no choice but to listen to hollow justifications and wonder what went wrong. It is really pretty disingenuous to claim “ much more damage could have taken place.” Really? How much more? Can someone quantify it, please? There was a great deal of self -congratulation over the ‘timely action and the restraint showed.” By whom? This time, the mediawallas were not spared either. What did protestors gain by torching OB vans? Beating up photographers? Where were the cops when that was happening? Who gave the orders to open fire on rioters?The average Mumbaikar has the right to ask which individual was in charge during those crucial hours?Or are we supposed to remain mum, dumb and clueless as usual? Unfortunately, we are as vulnerable to attacks from within and without as we were three years ago. When a city turns on itself, that is far more dangerous than an assault that comes from other shores. The message this time is pretty clear : We need to be saved from despotic, power hungry politicians and preachers before we save ourselves from protestors. But who is brave enough to bell the Big Cat ?