I agree with your views
word-to-word. I feel so low being an
Indian and on top of it being a
Bihari. I do not see any reason to
feel proud of being either of these.
I have never used the line 'Saare
jahan se achha....' because it's
impossible to justify. I got an
opportunity to stay in Singapore for
few months. There I realized the
values of being a human. The place
is so safe that girls can walk alone
even at midnight letting their
parents have sound sleep at home.
We Indians are struggling for day to
day food. Frustration among people
are high due to huge financial gaps.
In rush for all these we forget not
usually but always that we are human
beings and should show respect to
others with same vigor.
I really liked the point you raised
about Mulayam Singh. He is not
bothered by the killings of innocent
people. Instead, he wants to keep
his vote bank intact and so giving
emotional statement to appease our
so called minority sector.
I have seen educated people
celebrating after 9/11 or London or
Mumbai blast. They are too innocent
to hide their inner joys. I may
sound like a pessimist but if our
politicians don't change, then we
must say 'worst is yet to come'. -
Sujit Kumar - July 17, 2006
There is a proposal to make high
alert in the Capital a permanent
feature. If that were the case, it
would tantamount to admitting defeat
at the hands of our enemies. We must
find better and more lasting ways to
combat, control, and contain
violence and terrorist threats. The
policy of strict security will fail
to provide the needed security if it
is not supported by a political
strategy. We have to refuse to serve
the interests of the communal
terrorists, who are enemies of both
God and man. - Omar Luther King -
July 17, 2006
Dear Mr. Aarcee,
Thank you for raising the issue.
Yes, we are complacent to the point
of almost encouraging the terrorists
to come and take over our land as
and when they wish. I am equally
guilty as charged. Since the Mumbai
blasts, we had been discussing this
issue passionately in Indian
gatherings but I could not muster
enough cohesive thoughts to put them
in writing and present here on PD.
Thanks for the rude awakening.
On
a personal note, I for one, am sure
glad to see your name once again on
PD after a long time. I have missed
your amusing, enlightening write-ups
and have developed immense respect
for you. Please don't be a stranger
anymore. This forum needs people
like you to occasionally remind us
of some harsh realities of this
world. - Anil Kumar - July 17,
2006
Every time there is a terrorist
attack, there are people who try to
misguide others. The helplessness of
the middle-class Mumbaiyas (I prefer
using Mumbaiya instead of Mumbaikar
for reasons unknown to me) is hailed
as the rhetorical ‘spirit’ of
Mumbai. The cowardice, the
indifference, the vulnerability of
the common citizen is covered under
the political buzzwords of
resilience, culture and spirit. This
follows by national-level
discussions involving the experts,
politicians and concerned citizens
leading to no conclusion.
I do not blame the common citizen
for the indifference which is
nothing but a result of its past
experience of similar disasters.
What can an average person do? Is he
expected to form an army to combat
terrorism?
Some of the ‘extremely’ concerned
would talk of India being soft on
cross-border terrorism. They would
prefer an all-out war as a solution
over the peace process. Such concern
is just an emotional outburst,
actually. Let us accept the fact
that we cannot afford another war.
We need co-operation from the
neighbor countries. We are no super
power to dictate terms to any
country. And so, we need to bring
Uncle Sam into picture. Uncle Sam
can not bully the bad guy who has
been providing support in the war
against terror. That’s a problem a
middle-class Mumbaiya cannot solve.
That is why we have a ministry
called External Affairs in the
center.
Now as long as External Affairs
doesn’t succeed in persuading Uncle
Sam to tighten the noose against the
bad guy, we cannot let such attacks
happen in our country. Let us also
accept the fact that however tight
the internal security is, a
zero-terrorism cannot be guaranteed
by anyone, particularly in a large
democracy like India. But the roots
can be traced out; the channels
through which money and logistics
come through can be identified and
closed; the sympathizers can be
brought to justice. This is another
problem a common Mumbaiya or
Banarasi Babu is not expected to
solve. That is why we have a
ministry called Internal Affairs in
the center and the states.
Robert Frost said- ‘A jury consists
of twelve persons chosen to decide
who has the better lawyer’. In most
of the trials against terrorists
caught by police, they seem to have
better lawyers than the government.
What can a Doodhwala do for that?
Not that what does a Doodhwala have
to do with that? Ultimately it is he
who dies.
Finally, I am glad to see Mr. Aarcee
back. - Kumod Jha - July 18, 2006
As I sit down to write this comment,
three days after posting the
original article, I have comments
from 4 conscientious readers. I
could even have predicted three days
ago who the comments would come
from. I am still 15 comments short
of the reader's responses to Seema
Jyotishi's article, "Kya Prem hai",
which had 19 comments /
observations.
Somehow, with most Desis, in general
and Biharis, in particular, the
little guy always wins in the battle
of the heads. Intellectual thought
isn't second nature to most of us.
It should be, but it is not.
While I clearly understand Kumod's
point that the average guy on the
street is helpless in changing how
we function as a whole, I thought
the outrage expressed by Biharis -
the keepers of the Golden Heritage
of the Maurya Dynasty, Nalanda and
Buddha (stuff we brag about), would
have an angry tone. We gave many a
freedom fighter to to country, but
look at what we are today! "Farzand
aatesh khakesta ast!" - "The child
of the flame is Khak (ash)." That's
what we are today - Jali hui rassi!
The doodhwala may not have a voice,
but we the educated people have the
capacity to turn heads with our
outrage. We unfortunately lack the
will. However, the will is readily
found when it is time to discuss the
perversions of a non-entity.
I lament at the degenerated state of
our mentality today. Did the British
make us this way ? or was it Lalu ?
Or were we like this from the get go
? If education does not light the
fire of enlightenment and
righteousness in a person, then it
is a waste.
I had expected anger and 'ideas on
the anvil' for things like:
National Identity Cards,
National searchable databases of the
'Wanted',
Revision of religious scriptures,
A National Licensing test to seek
political office,
Strict continuing education and
testing for public representatives,
and
Constitutional amendment so that the
politicians do not create and pander
to vote banks
If we, the educated, don't ask for
it, we will find ourselves
sandwiched between Saif(sword)-e-Mohammad
(like Muhammad Shah) and the Bay of
Bengal. - Aarcee - July 19, 2006
Terrorism is not a new phenomenon
for India. Many Indian lives have
been lost over decades. India has
been crying hoarse for decades to
get other countries to unite against
terror. However, terrorists for
India remained freedom fighter for
the rest of the world till 9/11.
9/11 in one stroke took as many
innocent lives as India had lost
over decades to terror. Is it the
last attack the US has seen? Time
will tell. For the first time after
9/11 old established paradigms were
shaken to the roots. A war was
launched which continues till today.
Many more lives have been and are
being lost.
Do we still have a solid group of
right thinking countries putting
pressure on the sponsors of terror?
NO. Politicians of all countries
still cook their political meals on
the funeral pyres of innocent
victims. President Bush and Mulayam
Singh are not very dissimilar in
this respect. Had they been
different there would have been no
war in Iraq. The world would be
paying more attention to Musharraf
than Saddam and his WMDs. The world
would have been a great place to
live.
The common man dies. The common man
is angry. However, in this imperfect
world, where the high and mighty are
busy playing filthy, selfish,
political games and pushing the
world into further chaos, the common
man has accepted terrorism as
destiny. An unpleasant but
inevitable truth- something like
death.
The question we should be asking is
not why we do not have public
unrest, outcry or bloggers crying
hoarse about terrorist attacks. The
main question is can we, the
educated people, stop the
politicians of our respective
countries from playing political
games over terrorism? Can we get
countries to shed their narrow,
selfish gains and join a true,
honest war on terror? Terrorism is
just a symptom let us cure the
disease. - Rajesh Chaubey - July
21, 2006
The predictable complete silence.
Why? We expect so much from others
but when we are shown our
responsibility we turn indifferent
and go back to our popcorn and coke.
Our logic becomes "Everyone's
problem is not my problem alone. Let
someone do something. If it is good
we will clap or else we will
criticize." This is the precise
reason why the politicians are
ruining the planet, our future and
the future of our kids. Be sure we
all will have to pay for this
indifference with our health and
happiness.
We, who understand, have to unite
and form pressure groups to put
concerted pressure on the people who
matter. If we do not get out of our
comfort zones now, we forfeit our
right to complain later and will be
responsible for what future unveils.
- Rajesh Chaubey - July 21, 2006 |
