My initial reactions to smses from friends and family to check the new channels was one of bewilderment. What was it ? another bombing ? More middle class lives lost ? which means some mundane speeches from useless politicos, some sops thrown in say INR 10000, or less as compensation for “victims” it just doesn’t make sense…
After 9/11 can we remember ANY such incident in the USA ? NO! Because there was a complete crack down on terror. Yes its more annoying to strip to the minimum at airports when we are being checked in the USA, but hey at least we know we are safe.
It dawned upon me. that once again we are a city victimised and helpless. Yes now that this news also affects westerners is the only reason it warrants such attention. Imagine a bomb blast in Agartala, or even rain storms in Chennai,(70 lives lost) nope, no coverage
When our own countrymen and politicians don’t care about the people its that much easier to strike terror. We are vulnerable. I don’t feel safe in my country. My own city.
Our own media is like a bunch of vultures waiting to feast on such news. Sometimes one wonders if these are the eyes thro which the terrorists can see and watch our every counter move ?
A few points
1> IN fact I had no faith that our portly Policemen could actually take on terrorists. They look like who have all their lives(bar a few) lived on hafta/ and other money. Paunchy and totally out of shape. They should be suspended till they get into shape.
2> Bravehearts like Karkare, Kamte and Salaskar are all victims of POOR infrastructure. We are responsible for their death. Did you see what gear Karakare had while going to to combat the terrorists ? He had no chance. IT hardly seemed like a bullet proof vest. Our police seemed to be fumbling at the CST scene. They had no chance. Set up against AK 47s and what have yous?
3> Untill the army was called in, I had no faith that we could get through this. Not affiliated to any region.location./politico. They are agile, and very task oriented. NO time to give sound bites to TV. . Kudos you guys. May your tribe increase. And as one of the news channels
4> As for Maharashtra Napun**k Sena, where are you now ? oh son of soil ?? why cant your activists come up to assist the police ? At the most you will call a bandh after all this is over. Shame!
5> Why couldn’t we just take the help of the ISRAEL govt ? they are any way adept at handling such situation.
6) Atleast NDTV and TIMES did some of the “better” reporting. Not the best, just some of the better ones, in comparison to tabloid television like India TV, AAJ TAk with their ridiculous voice modulations etc…Just give us the news. Not YOUR personal views. Be sensitive to the victims, Don’t harass them for interviews. Have a heart!
How can we counter terrorism?
1) Arrange for Baggage scanners at Hotels/Sniffer dogs at all times.
2) Same arrangement at large junction railway stations across the country .National and local. AT ALL TIMES. Not just a week before some holiday
3) Introduce Military training compulsory for the youth. Perhaps with Israel/or USA. Men and women alike. In situations like this, we need every head count we can have
4) Better infrastructure to our police men. Better equipped with guns and ammunition. None of those pathetic WWII pistols please. Its like we are setting them up as targets for terrorists, who are better equipped. Can we blame citizens deciding to take up arms ? its because we are NOT convinced we can be saved by our own POLICE FORCE!
5) Fitter policemen. Fire the out of shape, panchy ones. Get them to be watchmen at buildings instead. Even the Private Security firms have better security officers,
6) Mock drills and test simulations for Police and citizens in schools, colleges, cinema halls etc so that we know how to deal with such a situation.
7) Guard our waters. One boat hijacked in Gujarat and we are unaware of it ? Now thats the boat they use to come to gateway of India. What kind of coast guards are there ?
8) We are such an IT savvy country. Use hackers to hack into satelline phone networks of these terrorists.
Be alert at all times. Give us faith in our Police and Army that indeed we are Safe.
10 comments:
Hey D..your pen strikes!!! bang on target as usual. Concise and to the point. that point you made about our IT savvy millions is awesome. Am sure many of the IT nerds working out of Bangalore and Chennai can get Pacman to appear on the terrorist's screens every time they try something sneaky. TIMES NOW did tend to get overboard but they were far above the other so called news networks delivering trash by screaming their lungs out. Am sure you saw the news about Major.Unni's father telling the Kerala CM and HM to get lost. Awesome. Now I know his braveheart son had the perfect genes to become a NSG commando. Adored his guts to tell off the politician and shame on the bast*** for passing that pathetic remark in response. About our police force, the less said the better. Ill trained, Ill equipped and totally out of shape. Most of them I suppose get into the force out of the need for a secure government job rather than any motivation to fight crime and such. God bless their souls, but if u ask me Karkare and Salaskar lost their lives for no reason. I dunno about Kamte (he sure looked like an aggressive tough cop). The other two underestimated the situation totally. It was not about the equipment they had. Why the hell should an ATS chief try and tackle the terrorists from the front. He came dressed in formals and took a revolver a la james bond getting into battle all for the cameras. Salaskar should have known that an 'encounter specialist' stands no freakin chance of an icecube in hell while dealing with terrorists. His gangster targets only know how to shoot at point blank range while these are trained terrorists well versed in the art of urban warfare. They had no clue about what they were entering into..displayed lots of over confidence and a penchant for playing for the cameras. I wonder if they are to blame or our news networks for encouraging them to get into the limelight. Contrast this with our commandos who were so down to earth and humble even after a super super job. Most of them just said it was their duty and another day at the office.
Totally agree Stan. and among the few "strong worded SMSes" doing the rounds was this one "
What disgrace to every Indian that the NSG force was transported into ordinary BEST buses whereas our cricketers transported in luxury A/c buses. Ministers want bail out for vpt. airlines so that Mallya can print porno calendars and naresh goyal can make money for the underworld. But Pay commission recomendation for increase in military salary is not passed.Martyrdom of thse brave jawans is politicised."
And another one was this one "
We need not worry about those who came by boat, its hightime we should worry about those who came by VOTE.
India Ab to Jao'
Simply super.But the point is, after this what ??
Wao , great note Deepa,,
well documented with all the points ,,,
i guess it all boils down to the will of the politicians / people who choose them and the effectiveness of implementing the proposals.
1. Half of the reforms ( especially the police reforms) are stuck somewhere on some mantri's table.
2. In India's population most of the people who vote are either less educated or vote basis caste / creed / religion etc. This results in people who can exploit such vote banks to come into power and turn the system corrupt. In this process the main people who are effected are the middle caste as they are not the ones who have chosen the politician.
3. There is not entrance exam for politicians / not minimum education level / no criminal check etc ITS ALL ABOUT THE WEALTHIEST PEOPLE/ THEIR CHILDREN TO COME INTO POWER. AGAIN AND AGAIN.
4. There are enough and plenty reforms / laws in India. who the hell knows them and even if u know who would follow them. The Judiciary/ the police / politicians are all hand in glove to make merry out of the pain which the AAM AADMI undergoes.
5. When US is attacked , Afghanistan and Iraq disappear from the map of the world. When Israel is attacked EGYPT and IRAN disappear. When India (People/ parliament) are attacked politicians Disappear till the time people forget.
I hope some day India would get answers and accountability from our politicians. May be then we can work towards the safe and right society.
Regards / HM
Yes I think we as Indians and mumbaikars should take the onus on ourselves to stand for our country and fight for it . We need openly challenge the terrorist that we are not scared of them . Best way to do same is to be the first person to enter Taj and oberoi on the day it opens and send out press releases and photos . We need to organize a 31st Dec 2008 party at the gateway of India and have hoardings of our commandos killing the terrorists and winning the Nriman house Taj and Oberoi
one can only say... atleast now the people who matter is making a noise and I hope it is being heard .
you are right they forgot about the Chennai floods or did not care much about Orissa massacre
(possible they were the ones without the lipstick, the dalits/Schedule castes of India ) no body cared then.
the people who are now making a noise then did not mind it because it was then locals or the poor who lost their lives.
and now, that the elite have been hit, the pressure is on now from who/where and now it matters, I only hope the so called
politicans now all in a shell, will need to wake up & serve.
During the last Mumbai train blasts these so called elite talked high, about the" Mumbai spirit " Mumbai is strong " and
claimed will bounce back the next day whatever it be . they always get back to life the next day, to me this is ..
did they not realise then what is the option for the poor man, one has to get back to work the next day only then will he
have his meal ( elite people tend to forget easily )
this country will only prosper once these existing politicians are wiped out ( 90% of these sloppy politicans will not be
considered for a job in any organistation in India, they can only talk and divide and rule ) and a new breed takes over and
end divisive politics.
Today India is bleeding.... SO people can ask if we were not bleeding earlier...Yes we were bleeding in the past and present, why till time we were all bleeding in many ways, only the incidents /location /time and races were different,many a times it was based on the religion, creed, land, temple mosque, or even at time the natural calamaties.
This kind of the situation is prevaling through out the world, but what is difference between the rest of the world and India, is that ROW have become aware of these situations and have strengthen their base and also made the back up plan and are ready to tackle any crisis which strike them. while we were actually waiting for such things to happen to change our mind set.
I think we need to think slightly away from this and at least know we fight to shape up country's needs and wants.
In our daily life we usally see what is there in it for us Instead we must practise and replace it with what is there for my county,
and then see the difference to Our INDIA.
Lets us work towards this GOAL.
seems like an outburst
coz we cant compare ourselves with US
Us stopped terrorism by controlling islamic infiltration
*US
double checking for muslim visas
in 9/11 those pilots who came to US for education...had undergone prior security checking by the agencies to clear off terrorist backgrounds
but their agencies were so slow and the process was very lethargic, the report came after 9/11 that they all were cleared :D
it was embarrasing for them :D
so they tightened the checks
but how is it possible in India ?
we have an open door
onew in kashmir
and one in bangladesh
as long as there is infiltration, terrorist attacks can be made like cake walk :D
Reg. Military Training:
Its highly unfeasible for a country like India to provide military training for ALL. Look at the cost and resource requirement !
Moreover, before talking about military training and all, there is something called NCC in all college level ! How many of us have joined ? :D
the rest of the points are pretty reasonable to counter terrorism :)
And Indians are no good hackers ! :D We are accountants ! :D
And I agree with ammunitions part. Better Communication technology and faster transport can also be introduced.
IMO, I would say, the best way to counter terrorism is INFILTERATE.
Infilterate them and knock them down.
One day, they should never be able to distinguish between who is a terrorist and who is not, in their group !
Youngsters should become terrorists, to counter terrorists ! :)
whats frustrating is that all this talk, we have had a few politicians resigning and their place being taken by equally corrupt ones like say a Chaggan BHujbal. DO we really have a choice ? i cant remember voting him in!
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