Time Flies fast… Terror Strikes Fast too… It’s been a week since South Mumbai was audaciously assaulted by Ten Terrorists who held the City as hostage for Sixty Long Hours
We’ve just finished a round of Funerals and Prayers Meetings… My thirteen year old daughter lost a classmate… a budding twelve year old boy…. Another of her classmate lost both her parents and a third classmate lost his father…. My Nineteen year Old Son lost a Teacher who taught him at school and two of his friends lost their fathers… all to this senseless Terror that struck us on Wednesday night, last week
A Child is the Father of Man… Look at what some of these ‘fathers’ are saying… others are speaking through their distraught eyes and face
“I don’t want to live Now… I want to live in the Future”
“Daddy, you will take care of me, No ?
” Dad, How did these terrorists get in ? Was there no security?
“I want to live in a Safe World”
“Mom and Dad,I want to sleep with you”
“Mom,Can you come with me to the Bathroom ?”
“Daddy, promise you won’t fight with Mummy from now”
“Why do we have so many holidays?”
While Tears Flowed, and we died too with those who really did, so did the Tenacity flow to fight back Terror and not let the Terrorists have the Final Word
Hotel Leopold, where the terrorists struck first, opened within days to a full house…. Citizens across the nation have organised mass protests raising demands on the Establishment to take action now especially against Pakistan…. “Enough is Enough”…. It’s not just a War on Mumbai, but a War on India… Schools and Colleges and Offices have all reopened…. Stock and commodity markets opened within a day of the first strike…. Communities have rallied behind each other and against politicians who wield power and influence in Mumbai and misuse it… Citizen outrage has quickly and rightly taken victims in the resignation of both the Home Ministers at State and Country levels…our CM however yet is trying to cling on to his post !… Coalition Partner,the NCP,instead of behaving like patriots are simply creating more political mayhem by opposing alternative candidates for the CM to protect their vested interests
It was on Tuesday, just a day before the strike, that we had graced the Awards Function of the Inter school Mahatma Gandhi Elocution Competition to applaud our daughter who had won the second prize… She had chosen for this elocution, Gandhiji’s passionate and powerful address just a day before he was assassinated in which he had said that in the event he was assassinated, he would forgive his assassins… The Father of our Nation who preached and practised Non-Violence and Peace and Forgiveness and warned that “An Eye for an Eye would only make the whole world go Blind”
As Terrorism reveals how Humans can turn Inhuman,our young generation is torn between these two idealogies of Peace and Brotherhood and Humanity and fighting Wars without Weapons on one side and Fighting Wars with Weapons to Defend Sovereignty and Hardline Fanatiscm that resorts to Senseless and Mindless Terrorism on the Other
Bottomline is Can we Fight Terrorism with Gandhism ? Gandhiji advised us to offer our other Cheek if we were slapped on one… The danger and the bald and blunt reality is that the Terrorists know neither God nor Gandhi
My daughter was well aware of the terrorist strike… who would not be ! what with the Media Channels covering it 24/7….. she preferred, and very wisely too, not to be glued to the News Channels,but instead sought diversion by watching the Disney Channel…. yet she quietly queried me on how this happened and how people lost their lives… Reassuringly and without overwhelming her with too much detail I outlined frankly what had happened…. I told her that Tough Times don’t last but Tough people do……. she has gone and composed a rock song on this….. Her Network of Friends quickly connected and lit virtual and real candles to pay homage to those who lost their lives.
Recently My wife and I have been viewing a series of Steven Seagal Action Movies..so when the Terrorists struck, we both wished Steven Seagal jump out from ‘Reel’ to ‘Real’ Life and single handedly wipe out these terrorists… we all need to feel and act like James Bond… fearless, calm and collected in pressure positions, quick thinking in any situation, and adept with all weapons… Bond Likes his Martinis ‘Shaken but not Stirred’… but we all need to be both, Shaken and Stirred by what we have been subject too this last week
I swore to my Wife that I would learn not only to distinguish one weapon from another but also learn how to use them if legally permitted to do so…atleast this way I would not feel so helpless and naive as I do now…I was so aggrieved,outraged and angry that I wanted to go below Taj and yell out to the Terrorists ” You Bloody Cowards,Come out and face me”…It would have been courageous but foolish to do so if I was not armed and skilled and trained to defend
I believe Israel allows each household to arm itself…A situation like this may just arise in India…especially when strong and justified questions are being raised on the the State’s ineffectiveness in ensuring our Safety
25 Years ago, when representing my college in Mumbai in an Inter College Elocution Competition, I had chosen to speak about Nuclear Deterrent and I remember I had concluded my address strongly with the Conviction “They Cannot because they Dare Not !” in context of Countries using Nuclear Capabilities to strike…. My Conviction has long since been shaken
A lot has changed since then… yet nothing has changed…. We continue to create our Own Hell by creating Weapons of Mass Destruction… we continue to fight the Poison of Corruption,Religious Bigotry and Fundamentalism, Inequalities of Income, Monopolisation of World’s Resources, Pollution and Global Warming and a Habitually Lying Neighbour… most are breeding grounds for Terrorism… what has changed is the Scale !
To counter and squeeze out Terrorism it is imperative to locate and suffocate it’s Funding
Have you ever wondered how these Terrorists get an unending supply of such High Tech Weapons and Communications Equipment !? How do they Fund these Expensive Purchases? What is the currency for such purchases ?
It’s an Evil Network out there on this Planet…. There is a lot of State Sponsored terrorism too…. The Currency is Drugs and Petro Dollars.. Suppliers of Weapons are Rogue and Split Nations and their Powerful Middlemen Brokers… Believe me we have Traitors in our own Midst whose only Cause and God is Money… From Politicians to Bureaucrats… From Mafia to Powerful Middlemen…. From Businessmen to Industralists… Even within our Security and Defence Forces… there is a rot that stems from the highest level and it stinks…Is there any wonder then that none get convicted in Defence Deal Scams and other Huge Scams despite expose by the Media that ironically sources information from a vindictive opposition who want to topple the incumbents only to initiate scams themselves
While I blog this,Citizens have all gathered in thousands across major cities in India to show solidarity
In Mumbai, Thousands have gathered this evening at the Gateway of India outside Taj… I had planned to be there too till I learned who initiated this call
I’m just not comfortable with some of these people… They may own famous restaurants in Mumbai and have Bollywood connections and may be Page 3 celebrities…. but they have a family history of Underworld Mafia Connections (already being linked to this Terror Strike), of Drugs and Anti-India related issues and cases In India and Dubai and have sought refuge in political parties to protect them from prosecution and persecution…. They therefore could have vested interests in displaying their patriotism
I refuse to dilute mine standing alongside them.
In an earlier Blog titled ‘Mission Mumbai’ I have suggested some Immediate Action Required to tackle terrorism
Tough times don’t last but Tough People do
And one last thought…. War should never be an Option…otherwise you are tempting ‘Doomsday’ to occur before it is destined… It’s a sombre thought