Wednesday, July 12, 2006

A day that will be remembered or forgotten?

Yesterday, as many of us sat in the safety and comfort of our homes, Mumbai the vibrant city of India shook under terrorists attacks. My initial response was anger, frustration and feeling totally helpless. We have yet again seen how ruthless the enemies are. We have yet again seen how the terrorists act cowardly and claim the lives of innocent people. It is not an act of terror but an act of cowardice.

Mumbai has been attacked six times in 12 years. To better illustrate that situation imagine if Oklahoma city bombing happened every 2 years. Yes, the situation is bad, really bad.
Today as I saw the pictures of these truly barbaric acts I began wondering - if a terrorist network with motivated recruits and paid mercenaries can hatch this plan well ahead of time and execute it why a country like India cannot hatch a counter plan and act? Sure we cannot find every terrorist alive but you can find training camps, terrorists leaders, weapons, finance trails and a lot more. When will India act?
This is war and they have directly challenged India. The response should be swift and brutal. Make no mistake. India is very capable to doing that. Only thing it lacks is leadership. Oh yeah, we have always had problem with that. Let's find out why. Some people think the government follows the principles of Mahatma Gandhi. Hmmm...Interesting point. Let's refute. So Mahatma Gandhi is a symbol of peace. If the politicians have taken that to heart I guess they should also refrain from bribes. Well...I rest my case. Of course taking bribes is one of the many crimes they do but imagine the ripple effect it can have. Even terrorists might be using the same bribe-entry points to get into our system. Did they ever think about that? No, they are too busy building mansions and hiding bribe money. Shame on them! So coming back to the question of why the leadership doesn't act. Political reasons? Well said. How can you win elections in the world's largest democracy and second most populous country? I am sure there are better ways but for them its a game of words, empty promises, money, lies and deceit. For board game enthusiasts it is pretty much like playing scrabble, poker, monopoly and chess all at once.

How can someone so worried about losing his position care or do anything about the terrorist threats in India? The Home Minister of India shivraj Patil said they knew attacks like these are in the making, just didn't know the time and place. Yeaaaaaaaah, he should blame the terrorists for that. How can they carry attacks without giving the exact place and time. Did they warn the public? Did they do a preemptive attack on the training camps? Did they get the intelligence community to foil this plan? Answers of some of these might be yes but that doesn't change anything. The attacks went on and they have failed. The leadership of India has failed!

Ok they are corrupt and inefficient, the leadership I mean. Phew! Doesn't end there. Some are criminals. Oh yeah. The railway minister Laloo Yadav was in jail because. You know why. Why bother writing about that jackass. So why would a complete moron like him bother to do anything about the security scene is train stations and trains? No reason. He is good to pose to photographs and of course make money. Google him. Some interesting readings.

Ok they are corrupt, inefficient and criminals. What else? They are politicians and have to play politics in everything. My oh my! How could we miss that? Any assertive actions taken by the government will not viewed as good by everyone in the voting bank. They might lose some minority votes. And that should create a problem in the very delicate balance of their majorities and so on. The international community might condemn the pre-emptive attacks but whose ass is on the line? They are not dying in our trains are they? When you try to protect your family and create some noise your neighbor might complain. But you wouldn't care. Would you? No.

Nothing I wrote here is new and that is sad. We know so much and yet do so little. I live far from home and today I miss her more than ever before. I wish I was closer to my family. I wish I was in our country. Today I weep. Today I pray. Today I stand with the victims and the families and voice my opinion. Go India! Go kick some ass!

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