Mumbai 26/11: Eye-openers

[This is the first in a series of posts on Mumbai 26/11]

In the wake of the impudent run of terror attacks across South Mumbai, I believe there are certain eye openers in the context of the unity of the country when an attack of such proportion takes place. The intensity of the attacks has been unprecedented and the sheer outrage within cannot be expressed by oft-repeated rhetoric but only firm and affirmative action.

Friendship with Pakistan is a myth
First of all, yes this point is open for debate. But before you are tempted to engage in the classic version of a democractic debate that won't help in the current scenario, please realize that Jehad exists and it is being waged against India in full flow, by brainwashed youth of radical Islamist organizations in Afghanistan and Pakistan with an unforeseen determination and so-called religious pride. It is scathingly launched from the mainland of our neighbours time and again, spewn with jealousy and stitched with ammunition directly obtained from the founding fathers of cross-border terrorism worldwide, namely the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

No terrorist possesses weapons like AK-47s and MP-6 guns, unless aided by more powerful organizations. We have perenially been sceptical about the Pakistani Army, the ISI and their unstable democracy and they, all along, have been perenially envious and resentful about a flourishing, growing India. The ice has broken and maybe Shah Rukh Khan would still prefer shaking a leg with Pakistani actors on bilateral entertainment shows or the media would want to "not bring Pakistan into this so early" or Asif Ali Zardari would want to claim that "Pakistanis have a little bit of India in their hearts", but a resolute comprehension is a must and a willful, power-packed reply a necessity.

More than it has ever been.

The media is more irresponsible than we can even imagine it to be
Another eye-opener is the role of the media. The same pseudo-secular reporters "terrorizing" people across the country with their spot commentary and "latest updates". For God's sake, stop discussing the NSG movements and plans on national television. But this is not all.

Padma Bhushan Rajdeep Sardesai and fellow CNN-IBN newsreader and "analyst" Sagarika Ghose held interviews with BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad and former Armymen on CNN-IBN and started off with "communalizing" terrorism themselves. The irresponsible Ghose, who deserves an outing in a jail for her utterly shameless and senseless questions, was reprimanded by Prasad for initiating a debate such as "What is the BJP's clear stance?" when Prasad had already made it clear that the BJP will not be critical of the Government. The BJP offered full support, which is a sign of hope for politics, but Ghose and co. were hell bent on provoking Prasad and getting him to speak exactly "what the IBN team wants to hear".

Barkha Dutt, with the fakeness of a full-blooded hypocrite, interviewed two women, one of whose husbands had yet failed to emerge from the Taj. What I heard next should certainly have infuriated any rational viewer of NDTV yesterday night. "How do you feel?", "What would you do if your husband fails to make contact?", "What do you think is going on in his mind when he is out there with the terrorists?" were some stinkers directly from the mouth of a so-called celebrated journalist.

Their coverage of the attacks has been completely self-defeating and highly immoral, if nothing else. They are causing as much damage to us right now, just not in terms of lives. Shameful irreverence from such tardy mediapersons is shocking in such times. They definitely have an agenda of their own, and I can bet my entire fortune on it that the unity of the people or strict action on terrorism is not part of it. They are too happy in their petty world of pointless debates, disuniting and cynical rhetoric and brainless remarks on sensitive issues.

Get off us, you burden of ills.

True heroes will never be acknowledged on a large scale
With the kind of world we live in, where Bollywood celebrities and cricket superstars are revelled and celebrated with felicitations of the highest order, the true heroes are never acknowledged on a larger platform. The deaths of Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar and Ashok Kamte pain a few of us as the rest are hardly aware or do not bother to find out who truly protects them and ensures they sleep in peace.

False heroes become public figures and every word of theirs is blown out of proportion and felicitated in the mass media and by the largely oblivious masses. Where is Raj Thackeray? Isn't this the same Mumbai? What does the Shiv Sena now have to say about "their" Mumbai being brought to the ground? What about the Marathis killed in the attacks? Karkare, Salaskar and Kamte were all Marathis. If the Thackerays were true pioneers of the Marathi cause, they would at least speak up on their behalf.

Realize, fellow countrymen, that the true heroes do not speak, do not seek fame, do not come out in the open, do not think about themselves one bit before sacrificing their lives in these circumstances.







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