This was posted on a FB group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=41530697270 Will the Real Indians Stand up Please? Nicky Roy The attacks in Mumbai have been horrific – everyone knows that. But the other horrific result of this terrible incident seems to have escaped the attention of most. The exceptions to this are few and far between and one can barely hear their voices above the purported 'rage' and 'anger' being professed by the vast majority, egged on by people like Shobha De, who urge Mumbaikars not to forget and to go on being 'angry'!
A lot of what Shobha De and Amitabh Bachchan have accomplished is worthy of respect. But their attitudes on this incident, shared by most television media and evidenced by slogans such as 'Enough is Enough', are shocking to say the least. Why is it enough NOW? Why not when there were bomb blasts in places like Zaveri bazaar and the Gateway of India or the overcrowded train compartments leaving CST? Is it because the persons who are 'angry' and the journalists comprising the media don't really frequent these places? Is it enough NOW because the terror has landed on the doorstep of people like you and me and Shobha De who have thus long, existed in a parallel Mumbai, untouched by the daily grind of the chaiwalla or the office worker who has to fight her way through to the ladies compartment of the Mumbai local to make it home in time to cook dinner for the family? We have had the luxury of existing in a Mumbai where an a/c car with driver waits to take us home, where a hot meal will probably be waiting on the table, which we will no doubt consume while sat watching our flat screen TVs? So the reality is that that Enough is Enough NOW because our lives that have been disrupted rather than some unnamed office worker chopping vegetables in a local compartment. We, the educated of India, have been complicit in this apathy and we have therefore, forfeited our right to say Enough is Enough! We have stood by and watched the Thackerays hijack the principles of a unified secular India. We stood mute while Gujarat and its citizens – both Hindus and Muslims burned and while a missionary and his two little boys were burnt alive in their jeep. We watched as an ancient mosque was hammered down and while people were blown to bits as they walked by the beautiful Gateway of India. Yes, we have forfeited this right. To those who raise apparent criticisms of the system, the government, the fire department, the general handling of the crisis, I would urge caution. Criticism and introspection is good, as long as it is tempered by an acknowledgement of what is positive. But by focussing on the half empty glass, we are in fact adopting a skewered view of the situation….which can only lead to a skewered response. Yes, the NSG could have got to Mumbai earlier and yes, it is useful to have systems in place which correctly identify a threat as a terrorist one requiring a specialist response. But these are lessons which we have learnt with the benefit of hindsight. What we as Indians need to question is whether we are comparing a first world response from what is in reality, a poorly equipped developing country struggling with basic issues like clean drinking water, healthcare and education. We need to ask ourselves the extent to which live coverage of BBC and CNN on 7/7 and 9/11 have coloured our view on what is the 'norm'. In any such comparison, India will of course fall short! Mostly because of resources. Do we have the resources to send our police for regular training? To ensure that the fire department is equipped with the latest equipment? To ensure that those entrusted with our security have adequate arms to carry out their jobs? Yes, we need to ask these questions? But not with a view to bringing down governments and shouting from rooftops about the uselessness of a political system – rather with a view to ensuring that all of us – rich or poor, black or white or yellow, North Indians or South Indians, Hindus or Muslims or Jews, live within a safe India. Yes, we need to be aspirational and expect a response similar to the US or the UK in such situations, but we also need to give our governments the time and resources to put these systems in place. How many of us can claim to have paid all our taxes in time in the proper manner. How many of us have gone out to dinner with our friends and saved the bill to claim as a business development expense? How many of us educated Indians have used a room at home as 'office space' and paid our domestic servants as 'staff'? If we don't want to pay our taxes honestly and with the highest ethics, if we do not wish to see defence budgets go up and are willing to go out on the streets shouting about the price of petrol, then what legitimacy do we have in our 'anger'? We have cheated the system of resources and have lost the moral right to such 'anger'! The other criticism is of the fire department and how they watched while the 'iconic' Taj burnt. Firstly, who is it an icon for? Is it all Indians? All Mumbaikars? Even more iconic than the Gateway, which is a stone's throw away? How many Mumbaikars have actually seen the Taj from the inside? Would they even be allowed? Secondly, anyone who alleges that a fireman would stand by and watch while people died needs a little tour of their local fire department and the conditions that firemen work in and their method of working. What happened at the Taj was a very bad situation. If the fire department could not rescue people, it was because of other factors and not because of an unwillingness to do so. To doubt their intentions is to do them the greatest disservice. Then there is the criticism of the Intelligence. Once again, it is ironic that the ones who shout loudest seemed to have ignored the fact that 9/11 happened in one of the most developed countries in the world notwithstanding the availability of the most sophisticated equipment as well as a willingness (to put in mildly) to use not just the equipment but also other data collected in most dubious ways. And neither have the TV channels listing the number of reports provided to the Taj and Oberoi, simultaneously listed the total numbers of such reports in a given time span (say 5 years) along with a list of how many of these have actually resulted in a real incident. Without this information, we don't have a complete picture. If the Intelligence had been passed on to the Taj, then in reality, it's not a failure of the govt. but of the Taj in failing to protect its customers. If, after having received such Intelligence, the Taj still deemed it fit to downgrade security, then the blame squarely lies on the shoulders of Mr. Ratan Tata, notwithstanding his views on whether the city has a crisis management plan. The real question here is why Mr. Tata thought it fit to downgrade security? Could it be because most people frequenting the hotel objected to it? The same way they object to being frisked at the airport or think they should be exempt from having their bags searched when they go to watch a movie? Isn't this more reflective of the educated and wealthy classes of India who claim all sorts of exemptions on all sorts of grounds? Why doesn't the introspection of middle class educated Indians extend to themselves and their behaviour? And why isn't the rage of those who claim to be 'angry' extend to Kashmir, where fellow citizens live everyday in fear of their lives? Why doesn't our anger ensure that the Kashmiri people get justice? That India honours its commitment made to the UN that it would hold referendum in Kashmir? How can we continue denying Kashmiris their rights and expect that ours should be upheld? Why don't we, the people, force our government to act positively to resolve the Kashmir issue rather than posturing endlessly with Paskistan and the rest of the world, while on a daily basis, Kashmiri people continue to struggle and fear for their lives, very often, from the very people who are charged with protecting them? If our anger doesn't extend to the rights of the Kashmiris then we have forfeited out moral claim to such anger in Mumbai. And there are complaints about politicians generally. While I hold no brief for any political party, it is shocking that L. K. Advani would have given an all-party meeting on security issues a miss because he was campaigning! To me personally, that is reflective of his priorities! And it is also shocking that absolutely no one has remarked on the comments of the terrorists in justifying their actions on the basis of Godhra and Babri Masjid. Doesn't this reflect on the effects of the Saffron parties and govts.? Or is there a skewered agenda being played out by the media and lapped up by a majority except the most discerning? And finally, the internet appears to be overflowing with those who opine that we should bomb Pakistan, supporting their logic with statements such as "All Pakistanis are terrorists" and "Wherever there are Muslims there is violence". This is precisely the attitude which gives rise to a 'them vs. us' syndrome leading ultimately, to a group of young people feeling that they have nothing to lose by picking up a gun or a bomb. This is true of every part of the world hit by terrorism. It's always 'they' who do it. None of those making such statements see that Muslims have been affected like the rest of us in these attacks. That the loss of lives of Muslim children is just as heartbreaking for their parents as the loss of parents of a Jewish child will be for him. Its not politicians who divide us, it we who divide ourselves into 'us and them'. In 1947 India made a choice and that choice was to be secular – which means that we are Indians first, before being Muslims or Hindus or Jews or Sikhs or Christians, or North Indians or South Indians. But we, the educated net savvy Indians seem to have forgotten that we live in a democracy and the power vests with us….that boycotting elections is naïve serving only to give unscrupulous elements a chance to vote in someone else's name! To those who think all Pakistanis are terrorists, I would say – Let's see who the real Indians are? Are they ones who have upheld the legacy of the Mahatma 60 years on or are they ones who have moved on to new agendas and new perspectives which call for bombs as a method of conflict resolution? Will the real Indians please stand up! Reply to Nicky<http://www.facebook.com/edittopic.php?uid=41530697270&topic=6520&action=4&reply_to=27732>Mark as Irrelevant<http://www.facebook.com/edittopic.php?uid=41530697270&topic=6520&action=64&post=27732> Report <http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=41530697270&topic=6520#>Delete Post<http://www.facebook.com/edittopic.php?uid=41530697270&topic=6520&action=256> -- Bobby Kunhu http://community.eldis.org/myshkin/Blog/ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
