2008 seems to be the year of the terrorist. After serial explosions in Lucknow & Jaipur that claimed over a 100 lives earlier this year, two more cities have faced the brunt of terrorist strikes.

On Friday(25-July), 8 explosions rocked across Bangalore, the IT capital of India. The bombs were reported to be low intensity explosions, with 1 death and around  20 people injured. Mobile networks were jammed to avoid spread of rumors, but abundant (and critical) information was being posted from Bangalore via channels like Twitter. High alert was sounded across India.

The high alert could not prevent what happened the day after. On a busy Saturday evening, 16 blasts ripped across Ahmedabad. Most of these were low intensity blasts, but some were high intensity blasts. The heaviest blast happened at the Civil Hospital, right outside its trauma center where injured from other blasts were being brought. The number of dead stands at over 40 now, and it keeps rising by the hour.

I am outraged. And so will every other citizen of this country. The internal security scenario in India seems to be really pathetic, with terrorists blasting bombs at their own whim. In the recent past, the buzzword has been sleeper cells. This means a group of terrorists ready and waiting to strike, literally sleeping till the time comes for them to carry out their cowardly plans.

There have been no arrests in the Jaipur blasts earlier this year. This proves the weakness in our security agencies, be it the State Police, CBI, RAW, IB ….. whatever. Nobody seems to bother about these terrorists whose dastardly acts claim hundreds of innocent lives every year.

And the terrorist group that has claimed responsibility for these strikes calls itself “Indian Mujahideen”. Well let me tell you something, you “Indian Mujahideen” pricks, you are not Indian. An Indian will always work towards the benefit and progress of his nation. An Indian will never think about harming his fellow Indians. An Indian will always rise above cast, religion, region to be an Indian first. You sir, are not Indians. You are cowards, cowards who want to follow the agenda of death and destruction. Forget Indians, you do not even belong to your religion. No religion ever asks it followers to take innocent lives.

And if you are so interested in being the Mujahideen, and fighting a holy war, go on the border. And take on a war with the Indian Army. I am sure they’ll rub it in your face that you are neither warriors, nor brave. You are just a pathetic bunch of cowards who can hide and take lives of innocent people. Don’t hide behind excuses of religion and holy wars, you are just ignorant fools with no understanding of life. Maybe if your mother, your father, your sister, your wife or your kids were to die in one of your terrorist attacks, your sleeping conscience would wake up.

And to the Indian Government, and our politicians who run this country, get a spine!! Your vote bank politics have led us to a situation where we innocent people bear the brunt of your inadequacies. Our lives are lost because you are more interested in saving your vote banks than taking steps to make this country safer for its citizens.

We need to stand united, we need to stay calm. These terrorists want to disturb our peace, our lives. Let us be resilient, let us be peaceful and tolerant. Let us not fall prey to the plans of these terrorists who want to instill fear in our hearts. Let us show these terrorists that our unity cannot be shaken by their cowardly acts.

And in all this, let us pray for those who lost their lives and loved ones in these attacks. May God be with them in their hour of need.

“MNS Mob fury!!”, “Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan for ST Status”, “BJP workers force down shutters, block highways”

These are just some of the headlines from our newspapers and news channels. Each headline representing some or the other political/social group holding a state or the nation at ransom to have their demands met. So are we turning from a peace loving, democratic nation to one that is ruled by hooligans of political parties?

The MNS rioting in Mumbai is a classical example of a political party deriving valuable vote bank mileage from its violent acts. When Maharashtra goes to elections next, Mr. Raj Thackerey would harp on his successes in making the life of the average Mumbai resident no less than hell. Yet the voting public would cheer, rather than condone, such acts. Who knows, it may even win him a substantial number of votes! After all, we Indians are known to forgive our politicians very quickly. Absolution is very cheap in our country.

The Gujjar agitation was a complete case in contrast. Without any direct political backing, a community led by a retired Army Colonel held the whole of Rajasthan and North India in its grip for a whole month. The reason, they wanted to be given reservation in the ST(Scheduled Tribe) quota. Roads and railways were blocked, with agitators damaging railway tracks to make sure rail traffic was disrupted till their demands were met. The Indian Railways incurred losses to the tune of millions of rupees. Now that the agitation is over, and the Gujjars have been promised of a special reservation quota, will the goverment send the Gujjars and their leaders a bill for the losses they caused? Naa, that won’t happen. Its not the government money, it is the taxpayers money that is laid to spoil. Our leaders sat in silence as several thousands of people had their lives affected with regional and national strikes!! And yet we forgive, forget and move on. What a great nation we are!!!

The most recent case is of the BJP & VHP calling a nation-wide bandh(strike) today. There are reports of protesters blocking road and rail traffic. The nation is being held to ransom again. People who earn their livelihood on a daily basis will go home with no money and no food to feed their families. Yet the political parties will gloat in their success at holding the entire nation at gunpoint!

So I ask, are we turning into a nation of rioters and hooligans?

There is one, and only one way to stop this menace. Make those responsible of such agitations to pay up! Ask MNS to pay up for every taxi its workers destroyed, ask Mr. Bainsla to pay those millions of rupees the Indian Railways lost due to the agitation he led, ask the BJP and VHP to pay up for the destruction and damage it has caused to property across the nation.

And while we are at it, send them bills for the lakhs of man-hours wasted by the police in controlling their crowds. Time that could have been spent in making our roads and our lives safer.

Some political leader, some political party needs to find its spine and take such action. But wait, is there any political party in India that HAS a spine in the first place?

George Lucas, in his movie Star Wars III made a very potent observation, in the form of a dialogue. I find it really apt as a closing quote to this post

So this is how democracy dies, with a thunderous applause

Pakistan is on the brink of another civil war after its prodigal daughter & the preferred candidate for the Prime Minister’s post, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on December 27. Her killing came as a shock not only to Pakistan, but to the western world that was counting on Bhutto for a smooth transition of power from Musharraf to a democratically led government.

Bhutto’s demise has changed a lot of equations in Pakistan. Though it has ensured her party’s victory in the next general elections, whenever they happen.

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Mr. Karat is at it again. After giving the UPA government some breathing space on the Indo-US nuclear deal in November, the left has put a stick in UPAs wheels a day after the parliament concluded its winter session. This time around though, the warning was much more direct.

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Justice it seems, has been sent off to exile. At least in the Indian state of Gujarat, where the current chief minister has thumped his chest at a pre-election rally justifying the police encounter of Sohrabuddin and his wife. Sohrabuddin was under suspicion for terrorist activities for a while before he was killed by the cops in what was a staged encounter. His wife was also killed by the police in the same encounter. The fight for justice for this family is currently on in the Supreme Court.

Narendra Modi thinks otherwise. For him, justice was delivered on the day Sohrabuddin was encountered by Gujarat’s finest. And the crowds cheer and applaud for him. Read the story on Modi’s election speech at NDTV’s website.

The bigger question stands, are we turning into a nation that is more inclined towards vigilante justice?

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In a stinging statement, A M Naik, MD of Larson & Toubro accuses the Indian IT companies of “doing nothing for India”. In an interview with Times Now, he also went on to say that IT companies should leave the civil and mechanical engineering students to be employed in infrastructure and manufacturing industry rather than writing C++ and Java code.
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