Today, I express my heartfelt condolences to all the kiths and kins of those who lost their lives in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and at the same time I also express my deepest gratitude to God for sending his knights in armours in the form of those valiant soldiers those who fought till the very end and till the last breath.Well, when terror struck in 1993, terrorists may have thought that they had succeeded in their intentions of polarizing the society; but that was not to be. Again, Mumbai stood the test of endurance when her lifeline – the local trains of Mumbai were attacked where commoners lost their lives.
And 26/11 was the final blow when her prestigious cultural heritage that overlooked the Arabian sea – The Taj Mahal Hotel, then the Oberoi- Trident towers and the Nariman house that came under siege; while in Leopold Café (the famous joint among tourists), the beautiful Victoria Terminus were the places where the indiscriminate firing took a toll on the commoners who had gone about their daily routine and the blasts at Dockyard Road and Santacruz on that fateful day where over 200 lost their loved ones and left 300 scarred for life…those who’d live to retell that bloody story of the massacre, brutality, that nightmarish and dastardly act of terror that lasted for more than 60 hours!
Who’d have imagined even in their wildest dreams that someone who’d have gone for a board room meeting or a business meet at the Taj or the Oberoi, someone who may have gone to have a meal at the Leopold restaurant, someone who’d be waiting to board the trains at the CST to return home……would never ever return home again..
Today….Mumbai’s crying, she’s bleeding, she’s wounded…she’s hurt. The cliché that “all this will not dampen the spirit of Mumbaikars” is a thing of the past. The law and order situation, the security concerns, communal disharmony brewing beneath the surface is all waiting to explode in the form of ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, with the ire of the public taking to the streets of Mumbai and over India and questioning the accountability of politicians and decision-makers.
Their questions are simple….
1)After the spate of recent blasts, how come Shivraj Patil was allowed to continue as the Home Minister?
2)How can we have a man who’s meek, inarticulate and has no mechanisms to fight terror be allowed to hold such a key portfolio as that of a Home Minister?
3)Did you observe that the Home Minister, the Prime Minister came freshly dressed after a good night sleep for a Cabinet Meeting at 11:00 am while the whole of Mumbai and India spent sleepless nights reeling under shock! And what more, the PM was waiting to address the nation after it all got over!! What made him so confident that it’d get over so quickly?
4) Why were the NSG commandos sent in 8 hours after the attacks begun?
5)If the terrorist were equipped with the map of Taj and Oberoi and were using google-earth for their fatalistic operations, then how is it our commandos were technologically far behind?
6) Why were the commandos not given night vision goggles? And why were they not provided with oxygen mask and cylinders? What would the commandos have done if there was a gas attack?
7)It’s a pity that while our hawaldars and police officers fought a war against terror the irony of the whole situation was that it was more of a war of lathis & pistols Vs. AK47 & grenades. Is this the kind of preparation we are talking about when we are talk of waging a war against terror when we as a sovereign nation are doing a Chandraayan but give our defence forces obsolete Second World War rifles???
8)Does anything called the Intelligence Agency exist?? Or is it just a remote term? Or are the officials just waiting to retire and take a pension??!!
9)20 police personnels including NSG Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan and 3 top notch officers Karkare, Kamte and Salaskar were killed against 10 determined terrorists. Is this our level of preparedness where one terrorist were equal to two policemen, besides of course the level of destruction and massacre?
10) What good is it for us that our economy is progressing at the rate of 8% when we cannot protect its people, our infrastructure etc (which is key to a growing economy)….then how can we say that our economy is booming?
11) Why do the politicians need Z-grade security, when they keep sitting in their holes and it is the NSG that springs into action to protect the lives of the innocent people?? The big question is …do we really need such cowards ruling our country?
12) Raj Thackeray has created hostile-situation with the Anti-North Indian sentiments looming at large in the city. Can someone remind him that NSG Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan belonged to the Bihar regiment and was a South Indian!!
Finally, if I had my way I’d tell Tata not to repair the Taj or the concerned authorities not to repair the Oberoi or Nariman House….why?? Simple, public memory is short. We have not learned from our past experiences. The 1993 blasts, the 7/11 and now the 26/11. There are no signs of the 7/11 to remind people that such a gory and bloody incident ever took place because everything was normalized within days. And today if the Taj or the Oberoi-Trident towers is repaired and restored, people will forget about it forever.
This should stand as a reminder to the people and authorities that each time they see the ruins of Taj, they be reminded of a bloody massacre that once took place….and this will act as a wake up call for our people and most importantly our politicians who take it for granted and make a mockery that “such small incidents take place” or make it a place of sight-seeing for film directors and actors.
The mood is somber and the people have had enough of it and are silently protesting ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Do not forget to pour in your heart out on the burning issue of terror and the vulnerability of the society who in turn is at the mercy of politicians, law makers and decision makers.
Vande Mataram
Jai Hind
Sonyaa
7)It’s a pity that while our hawaldars and police officers fought a war against terror the irony of the whole situation was that it was more of a war of lathis & pistols Vs. AK47 & grenades. Is this the kind of preparation we are talking about when we are talk of waging a war against terror when we as a sovereign nation are doing a Chandraayan but give our defence forces obsolete Second World War rifles???
8)Does anything called the Intelligence Agency exist?? Or is it just a remote term? Or are the officials just waiting to retire and take a pension??!!
9)20 police personnels including NSG Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan and 3 top notch officers Karkare, Kamte and Salaskar were killed against 10 determined terrorists. Is this our level of preparedness where one terrorist were equal to two policemen, besides of course the level of destruction and massacre?
10) What good is it for us that our economy is progressing at the rate of 8% when we cannot protect its people, our infrastructure etc (which is key to a growing economy)….then how can we say that our economy is booming?
11) Why do the politicians need Z-grade security, when they keep sitting in their holes and it is the NSG that springs into action to protect the lives of the innocent people?? The big question is …do we really need such cowards ruling our country?
12) Raj Thackeray has created hostile-situation with the Anti-North Indian sentiments looming at large in the city. Can someone remind him that NSG Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan belonged to the Bihar regiment and was a South Indian!!
Finally, if I had my way I’d tell Tata not to repair the Taj or the concerned authorities not to repair the Oberoi or Nariman House….why?? Simple, public memory is short. We have not learned from our past experiences. The 1993 blasts, the 7/11 and now the 26/11. There are no signs of the 7/11 to remind people that such a gory and bloody incident ever took place because everything was normalized within days. And today if the Taj or the Oberoi-Trident towers is repaired and restored, people will forget about it forever.
This should stand as a reminder to the people and authorities that each time they see the ruins of Taj, they be reminded of a bloody massacre that once took place….and this will act as a wake up call for our people and most importantly our politicians who take it for granted and make a mockery that “such small incidents take place” or make it a place of sight-seeing for film directors and actors.
The mood is somber and the people have had enough of it and are silently protesting ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Do not forget to pour in your heart out on the burning issue of terror and the vulnerability of the society who in turn is at the mercy of politicians, law makers and decision makers.
Vande Mataram
Jai Hind
Sonyaa
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