Are we learning?

Each time the nightmare gets worse...a perfectly normal weekday is turned into one of mayhem and massacre.And we the people of India end up paying a higher price. And every time our political representatives get away by promising to set up either an investigative agency or some hurried measures thrown in to appease the public sentiment..We have USA and Australian Federal agencies sending their representatives to study the modus operandi of the terror attack so that they can take necessary measures back home. Has it occurred to any of our political representatives to undertake something similar? Could we not learn from the Marriott Hotel attack in Pakistan?Are we learning from our repeated mistakes? Or are we too gullible to repeatedly falling into traps? Why are intelligence warnings not dealt with seriously? In a country teeming with millions, probably the value of individual lives has lost its meaning.Our political representatives could not care less. Quotably coming from the home minister of the affected state “ bada bade shehro mein aisi choti baatein hoti hain.”And now coming to the reactionary measures adopted by the government in the face of what is now being popularly termed Mumbai’s 9/11.1.The first step sounded promising—an all party meeting to come up with counter terror measures and a joint visit by the PM and Leader of the Opposition to Mumbai.. Not something truly out of the box….but voila neither could be carried out.Even in this greatest hour of crisis we could not put behind our partisan interests and stand together in grief.Our political representatives could not even get to agree on the basic safeguards for the very people who have put them in the corridors of power! Well does it require reminding that the primary responsibility of every government is to provide the basic amenities of Security/Life, Liberty and Food and Shelter? We the world’s largest democracy have failed to provide Security to our citizens in the face of repeated external attacks and conspiracies. What justification do we have to govern?( And this is not just about a Congress/UPA government…any political party would have proved as incompetent)2. Asking the ISI chief to come to India to provide explanation—not a sufficient measure but by far the strongest .And here too Pakistan does a U turn and agrees to send a representative instead and we agree. We do not exchange even strong diplomatic rhetoric but only express our ‘disappointment’ (as though someone cares). I am not calling for extreme measures of war because that will only add to the list of sufferings. But why is our government not seizing the opportunity and demanding that all terrorist establishments operating in and out of Pakistan and POK be mercilessly dealt with, just like they are being done in the Afghan border under pressure from USA post 9/11.Or are we waiting for a even greater tragedy to happen?How long shall we continue with the 3P politics of prayer, petition and protests? We are the strongest power in our subcontinent—a power that is envied by one and all. In the face of such an outrageous and brazen attack on our territory, why are we still taking a soft stand? Evidences pointing to compliance of other foreign elements are ample….it is their turn to prove their innocence. Give them a time line and a list of reasonable demands to help root out terrorist outfits and underworld groups that so openly operate from their land.3. Intelligence failure or over confidence?—Following the Mumbai attacks information is flowing in by the minutest detail as to how the operation has been so meticulously planned for months beforehand. We seemed to have been warned of the possible attacks and the targets well beforehand (possibly in September as reports suggest) from several different sources.What were we waiting for?The ATS Chief before his sad demise had commented that 90% of the ATS was busy with the Malegaon blast case, gathering evidences. Why are we always so proactive after such tragedies occur?Granted that not often all intelligence intercepts turn out to be true and often they are vague but still given that we are a soft target ,why can’t we be prepared for the worst at all times?4.Infrastructure—We spend crores on defence accounts.But have we ever done an assessment of emergency preparedness? We have a nation of brave heroes in every corner…but do we have the necessary infrastructure to support them?It takes 11 hours to arrange for air transport of our commandoes including fuelling of the craft.We do not have precise layout of the interiors of the places under attack ( which the terrorists from foreign shores do have).We have firefighting squad that possesses only 2 bulletproof jackets and are hence forced to take action from outside at ground zero exposing themselves to greater risk.The terrorists are armed with the latest AK 47/56,endless magazines,grenades and remote controlled devices…..our police on the contrast are using arms and ammunitions that are atleast 50 yrs old.4.Leadership---It breaks my heart to say that in a nation of heroes we do not have one ..one single leader who can bind the nation together and take it to its natural consequence in such times of crisis.There is not a single voice that rises above the rest and assures us the people that all will be well..that the offenders will be dealt with adequately..that the government will leave no stones unturned to avenge lawfully these dastardly attacks…..that we the citizens have nothing to fear….Where is that leader around whom we can rally and be safe in the knowledge that our nation’s future is secure? Are these terror attacks any less than the forceful aggressions by historic colonial and imperial powers? Where is the spirit of nationhood? After all, all you political power holders are enjoying the seat of power of India the nation. Where is your accountability to your motherland? Had a burglar entered your own home and attacked would you have rested in similar peace?Trust me, if any of you leaders had defied the vote bank interest or rather compulsion and come forth openly safeguarding the larger interest of the nation and did something concrete in the direction of securing national security and honour…you would have been the undisputed hero….and these very common people would have voted you to the power seat you so crave for..It is a sham that our political representatives are busy finger pointing each other at a time when they should have stood united.So it is time we learnt our lessons.Nothing comes before national pride,security and interest. It is time to take up a strong, united stand against our common enemies. We have allowed our enemies to take advantage of our weaknesses and hollowness and difference for too long.( how many times will history teach us that united we stand and divided we fall?)If you cannot provide the basic security and protect the lives of the very people you represent you have no right to be on the seats of power.It is never too late to learn from past mistakes. We have vast shore lines and borders with countries that are not exactly friendly.We need to be more vigilant. Of what achievement is a Chandrayan if we cannot keep a tap on what is affecting our own land?We immediately need to pull up our socks and address the lacunae that caused this damage. We need to address every little detail right from corruption to negligence to conspiracy.We need to send out the right signals. We can no longer afford to be a soft power. We have to take to task those involved.We have to press demands and pressurize our neighbour country to expedite the process of extradition of notorious gangleaders and also immediate action against The LeT and other terrorist outfits operating out of their land.Time is also ripe to garner foreign solidarity around us to execute these tasks against the terrorist outfits.Not to get wound up in petty internal politics and differences.8. Ensure that each state has a specialized agency capable of handling terror attacks and other crises.It should be answerable to only one authority.It should have all the latest arms and ammunitions.All local security setups and firefighters too should be provided with required equipments and arms.9. Make mandatory lessons in terror and disaster management for administrative and political personnel.10. Make mandatory a year of military training for all able bodied youth.11. Draw up stringent anti terror laws.12. Create study groups to study terror modus operandi across the world and actions undertaken by other governments across the globe.this will help us remain up to date with our own anti terror strategies.It is only through engaging in proactive measures that we can regain the confidence of the people as well as the outer world.And we need to regain the faith in our system.India is on a road to all round development and is a potential threat to all competing developing nations.It is but obvious that our enemies would like to pull us down at the slightest opportunity.But we will not play into their hands..we have to show the world our worth and the extent we can go to protect and promote our national dignity and honour.But watch out.Let us not get caught into fanciful and romantic rhetoric…This is the time for actions…Actions that are time bound…Actions that have a positive and certain outcome..Actions that have far reaching repercussions….Actions that teach all a lesson forever.My request to my fellow citizens is that do not, pray do not, get trapped into the age old tactics used by politicians to buy time. Public memory tends to be short and our political representatives sadly are waiting for something different to happen to break this nascent, germinating sense of unity emerging in the people. After a long time we have seen common people coming together pointing fingers at the government and demanding explanations even on candid camera. We have to keep the spirit going. Our government and all our political representatives are answerable to us. It is because of us that they are in the ‘power chair’. And they better start getting accountable and prove their worthiness