Living so far away as I watched my city where I grew up most of my life, being blown up and set on fire by a bunch of criminals was so painful. Added to this I had to watch this minute by minute coverage all alone with no one to scream at since the family was right in that distant city. Personally for me the family was safe but the experience has left me so numb that it is difficult to express anything. The only solace was the occasional breaks I got when I could call up my friends at least a few minutes a day and talk of the anguish we feel, the utter failure of everybody that allowed this to happen.
It was not even before a few minutes of this incident our tamasha circus was well in motion.
The media coverage to start with raises so many questions. How should the media cover such an event? The beginning appeared to be a terrorist incident but soon the situation was akin to a war. A war situation, that lasted for well over seventy hours. Should media have paused and questioned if it is appropriate to cover in such detail? Do we cover the war in such a fashion? Will any military allow a live coverage of a war? I am not criticizing but just seeking answers as to what should be the norm.
What about the world of cell phones, twitters, face book and so on? The digital nirvana that appears to be the solution to every problem as some of us believes. Does it have a bad head throbbing side affect? If so what do we do about that? While we find a challenge and even controversial to regulate the organized media we need to now ponder on self regulation. More questions and no answers today but we have to think on this because tomorrow this situation will arise again some where and we all need to know what is the right thing to do.
Then there were those general crowds hanging around the scene of utter devastation as the battle was still underway. Imagine if the terrorist had managed to hurl a few grenades from the Taj windows to the onlookers. How many more would have lost their life? It should have been the first strategic step of the security agencies to ensure the area be cordoned off and a strict curfew imposed till the situation was in control. A command center should have been established outside the perimeter probably a kilometer away to update the media and the nation. A select media could have been allowed inside the perimeter and allowed to record the happenings but not allowed to telecast live. May be they could have done that later. It is to our fortune that the ensuing chaos outside did not by itself turn into another situation. And the irony of it all, the very next day after restoring control our “fearless” Chief Minister decided to pay a visit. For what, I do not know, but more of that later. This time around the area was cordoned and secured.
The politicians, what a bunch they are. Across party lines they are all the same. They were looking for brownie points from the incident. A Prime Minister whose voice and speech was so insipid that the only thing that appears to make this man jump is somebody whispering in his ears “Madam Sonia Gandhi’ji is in the room.” I cannot believe this man so learned that he did not find anything of his own or even borrow a few words to lift the hopes and spirits of the people of a nation so demoralized that their gaze was steadily fixed to their boots. The all party meetings they were having later was more like our building society meetings discussing the water shortage or parking problems in the building. Actually I think even those are little more noisy and emotional than the one these people were having. Where is the outrage, even a controlled one or a dignified one? I read this on the banners of a protestor in Bombay today that sums up all “ Bharath Meri Maa, Baap Mera Ijada “. (My country is my mother, my father is impotent”) I am not asking for a war but at the least our leaders need to get some energy to express the collective emotion we all as a nation feel. Compare that with what Bush did post 9/11. Irrespective of what eventually happened credit that man to come out and tell and express the same emotion the nation collectively felt. We did not have one, one leader that can do that?
Talking about our beloved politicians and their parade for digging gold in the middle of a misery, One Chief Minister came from another State to give a political diatribe in the middle of a gunfight still raging behind him. The Chief Minister of the state himself was vacationing far away and deputes his deputy to hold the fort for well over 30 hours. Was he coming by train which probably explains the delay in appearance? Contrast that to Mayor Gulliani. I am not a fan of this opportunistic politician as well but on that day of 9/11 he rushed to the scene and put a command post right in the middle of that building. A message was sent on the steely determination to fight back. A token gesture may be but still a significant one.
Some brave leaders who wanted Bombay to be only for those who could show blood of pure local lineage were hiding under their bed with bangles in their hands probably and watching on TV the brave men from all over the country giving their life, fighting with puny toys against the enemy equipped with the best guns. Where were these guardian angels of the city and culture when it was getting raped and defiled right in front of our eyes? Now come out and ask for the local purity in my blood before I can claim a place in the city where I am born, where I breathe and wish some day I die.
One best of the breed politician thought “lipstick statements” is still in vogue. Another best of the breed politician found a novel way to express his indebtedness to the brave men who gave their lives so that he and his loved ones can see another day. Another politician inadvertently managed to teach the world that a dog is far loyal than men and any day I will take a dog as a friend than a politician. Alas we can only fret and fume on how these men end up at the highest pinnacle of governance of our beloved land. Somehow all the fingers are pointing at me, so let us move on.
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