Terror attacks and the symbolic message

This has not been the first time; and it may not be the last time either. The scenes are becoming that much more routine and common. In the last seven months or so over 500 people have been killed – most of them innocent civilians – in merciless terror attacks in major cities like Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Guwahati, Malegaon and now once again Mumbai, by both Islam and alleged Hindu terrorists.
The audacity with which these terror attacks are carried out is one angle to these rampant strikes. What is even more shocking and terrifying, especially in the present Mumbai terror, is the obvious message that comes alive as a powerful symbol: India is a haven for terrorists and easy target to vent someone’s anger on someone else. The almost complete failure of Indian intelligence during this terror strike can only further destroy the faith of common man in the State. The life of common man has come to naught, what with he/she finding no security anywhere. Indeed it is surprising that the Mumbai city which is on the shore of the sea had such poor security with hardly any coast guards or security agents at important places like the India Gate, that the terror outfits could sneak in so casually and hold the entire city to ransom.
If we look around the world and see we should further be troubled to learn that no other country, including Pakistan, has had so many and such brutal terror strikes in the recent past. The USA had one major attack – the 9/11. That’s it. After that no one ever heard of any kind of terrorism in that country. Similar was the case in the U.K. After minor terror strikes in 2001 and Glagow international airport car bombings in June 2007, no one heard of terrorists holding the cities to ransom. Only in India can such terrorism be meted out on innocent civilians and how. This is because the powers that be are either afraid to act or they do not have the political will to respond. They did care, of course, about themselves – when the Parliament was attacked on December 13, 2001. Democracy was under attack, they said, as though democracy contained only in the stony Parliament structure and had nothing to do with civilians.
It is now or never. Unless the state acts immediately, these strikes will only increase. Terrorists, whoever they are, have to get a strong message that India and Indians cannot be an easy prey for their hate mongering. Passing anti-terror laws like the POTA and MCOCA will not deter the terrorists from carrying out their sinister designs. What India, at this stage needs is stringent security measures in places of high human activities like railway stations, bus shelters, government offices and also market places. Further, we cannot fight the disease by fighting the symptoms. One needs to go to the root of the problem and see why India is an easy target for the militants. Our think tank has to deliberate seriously, pooling together the resources of the experts in the subject and then act accordingly. Only thus can the terrorists get a strong message and not otherwise. The common people are not asking authorities to provide them with z type of security. What they are just asking is to at least keep cities and towns safe for them to freely move around. If the state cannot do even this much, then it has indeed no credibility to be in power. The common man only hopes that the honourable Home Minister will at last take this wake up call seriously.
As for the media, it was a heyday of sorts. What one viewed on TV, as described by the anchors, may not have been the actual scene on ground zero, even if it was tense and frightening. What one saw throughout the day on TV was melodrama and great work of dramatics doled out by the TV journos. Of course, electronic media is all about dramatisation as journalists there are expected to describe and visualise news. But we till now thought that it was not to be melodramatic and Bollywood style narration. With Barkha Dutts and Rajdeep Sardesais and Arnab Gosamis vying with one another for viewers’ attention, you could only forgive them their misdemeanor.

Power politics and a not-so-sure media

Politics is always about power. But Indian politics is also about power at any cost. That is the message the common people receive always. This time around, it was more vivid than ever. Indian politicians – well, most of them – are concerned about power and only about power and nothing else. They do not seem to be concerned whether people are killed or cities and towns are being burned down by militants.
Take a few examples of recent past: there was a clear case of booking Raj Thakre under the National Security Act. He has already over 80 cases registered against him. This time, though, he went about fearlessly inciting violence and challenging the government to arrest him at its own cost. But the Vilasrao government was not interested in acting tough. Arrest him they did. But we knew it was a token arrest. The reason is obvious. The Congress party does not want Raj Thakre to stop his pranks, as he is a threat not so much to the ruling coalition as the Shiv Sena itself. It is just trying to use Raj Thakre as a weapon to wipe out Shiv Sena from Maharashtra, as they drove away the left parties using Bal Thakre in the seventies. However, it has not been an easy task for them, as the North Indians form a major part of their vote bank. Raj Thakre for them seems a greater choice than North Indians.
Another clear example is the recent Assam blasts and how political parties tried to cash in on them. No sooner was the State rocked by terror attacks than opposition party leader L. K. Advani began the blame game, holding Bangladeshi militants responsible for the blasts. Our politicians, it seems, have an unimaginable sixth sense which can get to know the cause of incidents even before they can be investigated. While it is true that the UPA government is slow on terror, taking into consideration the possible alienation of a community (their vote bank), it is also unfair on the part of the BJP to terrorise a community, holding it responsible for all the terror in the country.
Unfortunately for the BJP, it had to face the turn of events. And it was a very embarrassing situation as well, to see one of the hardcore VHP leaders being arrested in connection with the Malegaon blasts. It is interesting to see how BJP leaders are trying to hold their nerves together and putting up a brave face. “Let the law deliver justice; but let us not try and accuse someone when investigations are underway,” they say. But the Rudys, the Ravi Shankar Prasads and their ilk have no problem delivering ‘justice’ to those arrested from other communities, even before they being convicted by court.
Media, especially the English press, have given quite good coverage to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur. However, media are in a piquant situation. Till now they used the terminology ‘Islamic terrorists’ or ‘suspected Islamic terrorist’, almost associating terrorism with Islam. But they have been slow to use the phrase ‘Hindu terrorist’ or not even ‘suspecting’ Hindu terrorists. Terrorists are terrorists, irrespective of their religion. Media seem not to be sure as regards Hindu terrorists and are waiting for the court to decide it. This only means that media are being very partisan as regards terrorists.