Prescription for disaster: Double jeopardy
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 15 2011 -

Apart from sapping the very source of energy and vibrancy of a country or a group of people, corruption can also take dangerous turn and team this up with inefficiency and we have the perfect formula for a lethal cocktail which can take a heavy toll on human lives.

In as much as the serial blasts of July 13, 2011 at Mumbai, which has so far claimed over 20 lives and counting, can be attributed to the growing efficiency and blood thirsty agenda of the terror organisations it can also be attributed to a large extent on the overall culture of corruption and inefficiency that has come to be the defining point of everything that has got to do with the Government.

So while the Who and Who of the Congress were busy racking their brains to come out with some juicy quotes to belittle the demand of the civil society organisations to include the office of the Prime Minister and higher judiciary within the ambit of the Lok Pal Bill, murderous terrorists were busy plotting yet another round of blasts in the very city that epitomises the spirit of the surging India.

The last terror strike was in 2008 when terrorists struck with such clinical precision that even the then Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil was not only caught napping, but had his sartorial taste exposed to the Nation. It is nearly three years down the line and the question is whether India has learnt any lessons or not.

The fight against terrorism can be taken up at different level, one at the diplomatic level, one at the domestic level, one at the intelligence level, one at the international fora etc.

However one point that runs constant in all these different levels at which terrorism can be tackled is-Sharp vigil-and an efficient intelligence where even a sneeze should not go undetected.

The terror strike leaves the people of India with the uncomfortable question of whether the State has it in them to provide security to its citizens or not.

This is a serious question, for when rooms are created for the citizens to doubt the efficacy of the State to protect them from such attacks, then it says something very unhealthy about how the Government has been conducting itself all these years.

It was some sort of a cruel irony that the latest attack should come just two days after the anniversary of the Mumbai train blasts on July 11, 2006 that killed over 180 people. v If the speculation that the attack may have been carried out as some sort of a birthday gift for Afzal Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive during the November 2008 terror strike at Mumbai, then it adds to the gravity of the situation.

The worry is not only about a group of terrorists sneaking in and placing some high powered explosives in the crowded places of Mumbai but also about the sheer audacity of the men behind the attack.

Such cockiness can come only when there is room to believe that they can unleash mayhem and bloodbath and everything indicates that India has become the favourite target practise of the terror outfits. Why this is so should be obvious to all. The frantic damage control exercise by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram with his gibberish rhetoric is but one example.

That Mumbai and Delhi are on the map of the terror network is something that has been told and retold with chilling efficiency. In 2006 more than 180 people returning home after their day's work were blown to pieces when a number of explosives meticulously planted by terrorists went off one after the other.

A repeat story was witnessed in 2008 when terrorists from across the international border sneaked into India and went on a killing spree. As things stand today, this will not be the last strike as tall talks spiked with hot air continue to come tumbling out of the mouth of some Congress leaders.

Even as the country was trying to unravel the larger plot as well as the finer details of the July 13 attack, Rahul Gandhi decided to play down the loss of over 20 lives by announcing that 99 pc of terrorist attacks have been stopped ! Since when have these attacks been prevented ? After July 13, 2011 ?

Try telling that to the family members who have lost their near and dear ones to the terror strikes, instead of announcing this before a media conference, would be fine advice for the young man. Does the situation call for statistical analysis ?

Stopping any single terrorist attack is supposed to be difficult, according to the new poster boy of the Congress and while no one will refute this, what is disturbing and at the same time outrageous is the insensitive demeanour that is unmistakable on the visage of the not so young Gandhi scion.

How many sleeper cells of the terrorist outfits have been deactivated in the last few years ? Or are these strictly classified information that it cannot be disclosed to the people ? What are the special arrangements that have been put in place after the 2008 terror attack ?

Or is the latest blood bath going to be treated as just another leverage to apply the pressure on the United States to come down heavily on Pakistan ? Can we really expect the Government of India to nail Pakistan with the US hammer, given the fact that it had goofed up with even the most basic things like the names of terrorists as well as in the joke of the efforts taken up to have Abu Salem brought to India from some foreign soil ?

Mumbai will come bouncing back on its feet. There is no doubt about that for no terrorist attack can deflate the spirit of this city. The biggest tragedy is there is a bunch of people here in the country who are hell bent on breaking this spirit and one does not need to look far for this bunch of people. They come in the shape and form of the political Netas.