HOW PROTECTED IS THE LIFE OF A COMMON CITIZEN IN INDIA?
The recent terror attacks and violence has cast its ever-lengthening shadow of fear on every common citizen’s mind. He lives unsecured, as a mute, helpless spectator with loads of trepidation in his heart bracing for the worse still to happen. It is a common knowledge that no terror act, howsoever meticulously planned it may be, can successfully be committed without the local support. All out efforts will, however, be made to keep the unvarnished truth of the Mumbai terror violence out of the domain of public knowledge. After sometime, all will fade away from the notoriously “short” public memory. It will lose news-value for the media. Only the family, friends and relatives of the victims of these dastardly acts will be left to mourn the loss of their loved ones. Then some still more lives will be lost and maimed in the next terror violence through gross and criminal negligence on the part of those responsible for the safety and security of the common man, only to be forgotten soon after raising some more heat, dust and fury.
Our political leadership, concerned as it is only with its own safety, security and survival, has no qualms in consigning hundreds of ordinary lives into the hands of the Merchants of Death. How is it that once and only once and that too taken totally unawares, 9/11 happened in America whereas after every short-a while the devil-dance is enacted, with still more ferocity than before, in our ill-fated country, claiming and maiming still more innocent lives as a result of repeated betrayals by our ruling political class?
9/11 is a “one-off”. Americans are sure about that. The rest of the world is still more so. Indians are also sure about 26/11 albeit differently. Sure enough, it would be replicated many times over. The rest of the world is still surer about that. Time? Place(s)? Choice is that of the prowling predators. The victim common citizenry seems to have learnt to live under the ever-lengthening shadow of these perils nervously waiting for the worse to happen.
Indian security apparatus and architecture is made to order for the protection of life and property of politicians. If it also serves as a status symbol for them so much the better. Yo! It sure creates an impression. The lives of the common people is quite dispensable- can routinely be offered as cattle-fodder before the demon called “Terrorism”.
Terror violence has already taken a huge toll and it is high time that all political parties, irrespective their political persuasions took it headlong as a national challenge instead of viewing it as a local law and order problem. But again this could also be a tall order not quite achievable due to the vote-bank politics. In the present arrangement of things and the political order obtaining in our country, the very survival of quite a few political parties and politicians depend upon fostering, nurturing and inflating their vote banks. They cannot simply afford the luxury of ignoring their vote banks. And since it is a matter of their political life and death, their very survival depends on it, they are ready to pay any price for it; to witness the mass massacre of the innocent people- being a very small one- is quite affordable for them.
To my mind, till the whole political system of governance is revamped, constitution of a semi-military federal police force and federal investigating and intelligence agency fully controlled by the Centre may go a long way in dealing with the terrorism and the sooner we did it the better it would be for the safety and security of the citizens- their precious life and property.
The recent terror attacks and violence has cast its ever-lengthening shadow of fear on every common citizen’s mind. He lives unsecured, as a mute, helpless spectator with loads of trepidation in his heart bracing for the worse still to happen. It is a common knowledge that no terror act, howsoever meticulously planned it may be, can successfully be committed without the local support. All out efforts will, however, be made to keep the unvarnished truth of the Mumbai terror violence out of the domain of public knowledge. After sometime, all will fade away from the notoriously “short” public memory. It will lose news-value for the media. Only the family, friends and relatives of the victims of these dastardly acts will be left to mourn the loss of their loved ones. Then some still more lives will be lost and maimed in the next terror violence through gross and criminal negligence on the part of those responsible for the safety and security of the common man, only to be forgotten soon after raising some more heat, dust and fury.
Our political leadership, concerned as it is only with its own safety, security and survival, has no qualms in consigning hundreds of ordinary lives into the hands of the Merchants of Death. How is it that once and only once and that too taken totally unawares, 9/11 happened in America whereas after every short-a while the devil-dance is enacted, with still more ferocity than before, in our ill-fated country, claiming and maiming still more innocent lives as a result of repeated betrayals by our ruling political class?
9/11 is a “one-off”. Americans are sure about that. The rest of the world is still more so. Indians are also sure about 26/11 albeit differently. Sure enough, it would be replicated many times over. The rest of the world is still surer about that. Time? Place(s)? Choice is that of the prowling predators. The victim common citizenry seems to have learnt to live under the ever-lengthening shadow of these perils nervously waiting for the worse to happen.
Indian security apparatus and architecture is made to order for the protection of life and property of politicians. If it also serves as a status symbol for them so much the better. Yo! It sure creates an impression. The lives of the common people is quite dispensable- can routinely be offered as cattle-fodder before the demon called “Terrorism”.
Terror violence has already taken a huge toll and it is high time that all political parties, irrespective their political persuasions took it headlong as a national challenge instead of viewing it as a local law and order problem. But again this could also be a tall order not quite achievable due to the vote-bank politics. In the present arrangement of things and the political order obtaining in our country, the very survival of quite a few political parties and politicians depend upon fostering, nurturing and inflating their vote banks. They cannot simply afford the luxury of ignoring their vote banks. And since it is a matter of their political life and death, their very survival depends on it, they are ready to pay any price for it; to witness the mass massacre of the innocent people- being a very small one- is quite affordable for them.
To my mind, till the whole political system of governance is revamped, constitution of a semi-military federal police force and federal investigating and intelligence agency fully controlled by the Centre may go a long way in dealing with the terrorism and the sooner we did it the better it would be for the safety and security of the citizens- their precious life and property.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment