TALES OF TRAVESTY
DR. JITENDRA SINGH
Another opportunity for political punidts and media anchors alike to engage in late night debates and midnight discussions. Hyderabad serial blasts came handy just about a week after Afzal Guru hanging. Indian Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Pakistan. All familiar references. Echoing inside and outside the Parliament. And then, the clamour gradually calming down… following a monotonous sequence of events indifferently witnessed over and over again…. for as many number of times as one can recall.
Remmeber, that sobbing night of candle light vigil when we sat to mourn the deceased of Mumbai terror attack and vowed to avenge it.
Remember, that dark afternoon of Parliament terror attack when we swore to redeem the nation’s honour through “Aar Paar Ki L:arhai”.
Remember, that ill-fated evening of disgust when a hijacked Indian aircraft landed in Kandhar and we vowed never again to allow the likes of Maulana Azhar languish in our jails pending trial lest there should ever again be a similar terror blackmail.
Remember, that ominous morning of hurt pride when Ragunath temple at Jammu was attacked or later Akshardam temple at Ahmedabad was taken under seige and we vowed never again to allow our places of worship to be trespassed by sinners against mankind.
We vowed, vowed, vowed.. and vowed again only to forget the earlier vow and vowed yet again after the next terror attack. We continue to vow and pledge to take a vow each time a similar happening confronts in future too. But, is this the best way to guard ourselves against a future attack and is this the best way to thwart a future terror attack ? And, by the way, are we in any way better prepared today than before for the next terror attack ?
One the one hand, successive governments in New Delhi over the last one decade have consistently failed to get their act together thus leading to a morbid sceptism among the common citizenry. The common man simply refuses to believe that there are any safeguards in place for him and that an act of terror can happen anywhere anytime more by the will of the striking terrorist than by the knowledge of Intelligence or security agencies . On the other hand, the constraints of day to day survival compel the common man to go about with his routine as usual notwithstanding the terror threat facing him and this attitude of his is ironically construed as a sign of what media fancifully describers as “the spirit of a Mumbaikar or that of a Delhite or so on”.
The worst and perhaps a tragic paradox is the silent message that there exists potential for premium on terrorism or anti-nationalism and not on peaceful activism or nationalism. Look at, for example, the manner in which the Mumbai attack convict Kasab enjoyed state hospitality at the rate of 8 to 9 lakhs per day including his security expenses before he was belatedly hanged.
Be that as it may, the question that incessantly bothers the common man and drains him out of his sense of security is “Are we prepared for the next terror attach and can we foil the next terror attack ?” As long as there is no clear answer forthcoming, Umapathy will continue to live under incessant fear of becoming a helpless victim of a terror attack ‘‘anywhere” ‘‘anytime” for, to use the poetic refrain ‘‘….Mere Kabile Ka Har Fard Qatl-gah Mein Hai !’’
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