We were spot on. All the major points discussed in the previous updates have been considered by the government.
1) Removal of the incompetent home minister
2) Forming a federal agency (http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/mumbaiterrorstrike/Election_Story.aspx?ID=NEWEN20080074719&type=News)
3) Strengthening the legal framework. (May not be return of POTA, but still its a good step)
Though the steps are in the right direction, quite often we seem to lose the momentum half way through. I hope this time we would not lose the momentum.
Thanks for all the valuable comments posted. More comments are welcome.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
The imputation of Blame
Taking cue from the comments (or was it just a single comment….yes it is!!) that have been made on my earlier post; I would like to address the two major points raised in that comment. One point that has been mentioned is to stop blame game that is being played by the politicians and the other point is about unity and support (Just like what the US opposition parties did after 9/11).
First of all, drawing parallels between the 9/11 event and Mumbai massacre is fundamentally flawed. 9/11 is a single event. Mumbai massacre is a continuation of a series of terror attacks. There has been innumerable amount of terror attacks and bomb blasts which has killed lots of innocent people in the past two years. However, since 9/11 there has been no such incident in US. The security measures were tightened, lots of arrests were made, movement of funds to the terrorist organizations was curbed – In short US did everything that is necessary to prevent any such attack in future. However, there are no such efforts made by the current incumbent government. If we had blamed the current government for inaction after the 2006 blasts, I would say the argument would have some logic. But that is not the case.
Since the government has not taken any steps to curb terrorism (US government had done after the 9/11), I would not blame the opposition parties for finger pointing. I do understand, in a situation like this, every one in the country should support the government in its anti terror measures. However since the government is not taking enough steps, to address this issue (other than giving statement to the media, which doesn’t help anyway), it is better to finger point and remind the government, that it is supposed to take some measures to stop this menace. After all, opposition has the fundamental right and the duty to do so, in a thriving democracy like ours.
I am sure every Indian (irrespective of the party to which he is ideologically inclined to) would support the government, if it had taken some efforts to curb terrorism. Even the current outburst is just an effort to inject some sense into the otherwise torpid home ministry. Will the government wake up? Let us hope so.
First of all, drawing parallels between the 9/11 event and Mumbai massacre is fundamentally flawed. 9/11 is a single event. Mumbai massacre is a continuation of a series of terror attacks. There has been innumerable amount of terror attacks and bomb blasts which has killed lots of innocent people in the past two years. However, since 9/11 there has been no such incident in US. The security measures were tightened, lots of arrests were made, movement of funds to the terrorist organizations was curbed – In short US did everything that is necessary to prevent any such attack in future. However, there are no such efforts made by the current incumbent government. If we had blamed the current government for inaction after the 2006 blasts, I would say the argument would have some logic. But that is not the case.
Since the government has not taken any steps to curb terrorism (US government had done after the 9/11), I would not blame the opposition parties for finger pointing. I do understand, in a situation like this, every one in the country should support the government in its anti terror measures. However since the government is not taking enough steps, to address this issue (other than giving statement to the media, which doesn’t help anyway), it is better to finger point and remind the government, that it is supposed to take some measures to stop this menace. After all, opposition has the fundamental right and the duty to do so, in a thriving democracy like ours.
I am sure every Indian (irrespective of the party to which he is ideologically inclined to) would support the government, if it had taken some efforts to curb terrorism. Even the current outburst is just an effort to inject some sense into the otherwise torpid home ministry. Will the government wake up? Let us hope so.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
How to prevent “India Burning”?
By now, many of us would have written articles about the Mumbai massacre deploring the attacks, expressing anguish, sympathizing with the victims etc.
Does anyone bother to find out the root cause of these terrorist attacks? Does anyone try to take steps to prevent such terrorist attacks?
There are some people who foolishly blame the BJP for such attacks. This includes some staunch supporters of the congress party. They also realize that their argument is very foolish. But they have no other choice, as they know that it is the inefficiency of the incumbent government which is the root cause of such attacks. It’s their inability to accept this bitter truth, which makes them make such foolish statements.
Our beloved home minister behaves as if he is the Minister for public statements. He does not do anything other than giving public statements through the media that the terrorists would be punished etc etc. He has become a laughing stock in the eyes of the public. Now we know that if there is another terrorist attack (pray to god that such a thing does not happen) the media would not ask for his opinion. Instead they can publish the same statement which he has been repeating for the past 2 years. We can have a tape reorder as a home minister instead of the current occupant.
On the question of prevention of such terrorist attacks, much needs to be done. At least we should ensure that adequate measures are taken.
What is meant by adequate measure? As a home minister a lot could be done. But there are two major things which we must do to prevent such attacks.
1) Create a Federal agency which could look into such terrorist related activities
2) Enact sufficient laws to give more powers to the investigating agencies.
Lack of a federal agency in our country is a stumbling block in the investigation of terrorist activities. In a country like ours, where there are a number of state intelligence units are functioning, it is essential to have a federal agency to take up coordinated and effective measures to investigate the crimes and take measures to curb these crimes.
Repealing a law which was in force, just to prevent misuse of the same, is a stupid decision. Would we decide not to have any police force just because there are a few policemen who misuse their powers? We repealed POTA and now we pay the price for the same!!! Its time we realize that we need more law like POTA to prevent terrorist activities. But our beloved home minister defends the repealing of POTA sitting in an air conditioned office and without understanding the ground realities.
At least BJP at the end of their rule could run a campaign named “India Shining”. Going at this rate Congress would only be able to run a campaign named “India Burning”.
Does anyone bother to find out the root cause of these terrorist attacks? Does anyone try to take steps to prevent such terrorist attacks?
There are some people who foolishly blame the BJP for such attacks. This includes some staunch supporters of the congress party. They also realize that their argument is very foolish. But they have no other choice, as they know that it is the inefficiency of the incumbent government which is the root cause of such attacks. It’s their inability to accept this bitter truth, which makes them make such foolish statements.
Our beloved home minister behaves as if he is the Minister for public statements. He does not do anything other than giving public statements through the media that the terrorists would be punished etc etc. He has become a laughing stock in the eyes of the public. Now we know that if there is another terrorist attack (pray to god that such a thing does not happen) the media would not ask for his opinion. Instead they can publish the same statement which he has been repeating for the past 2 years. We can have a tape reorder as a home minister instead of the current occupant.
On the question of prevention of such terrorist attacks, much needs to be done. At least we should ensure that adequate measures are taken.
What is meant by adequate measure? As a home minister a lot could be done. But there are two major things which we must do to prevent such attacks.
1) Create a Federal agency which could look into such terrorist related activities
2) Enact sufficient laws to give more powers to the investigating agencies.
Lack of a federal agency in our country is a stumbling block in the investigation of terrorist activities. In a country like ours, where there are a number of state intelligence units are functioning, it is essential to have a federal agency to take up coordinated and effective measures to investigate the crimes and take measures to curb these crimes.
Repealing a law which was in force, just to prevent misuse of the same, is a stupid decision. Would we decide not to have any police force just because there are a few policemen who misuse their powers? We repealed POTA and now we pay the price for the same!!! Its time we realize that we need more law like POTA to prevent terrorist activities. But our beloved home minister defends the repealing of POTA sitting in an air conditioned office and without understanding the ground realities.
At least BJP at the end of their rule could run a campaign named “India Shining”. Going at this rate Congress would only be able to run a campaign named “India Burning”.
Funny Flight story
Traveling is fun. You get to meet different people, learn about new culture etc. All my international travel till now to US or
On boarding the emirates flight I was relieved to see that the crowd is of working class. Thankfully there would be no discussions on project, work etc. The guy who sat next to me (Lets name him X), looked uneducated and I guessed he should be traveling to
The flight was for 4 hrs. Normally flight journeys are boring. I do sleep for most of the time except when the hostess wakes me up for having food. Emirates flight was not an exception. As I woke up from deep sleep I was not in a mood to eat immediately. So I was watching X have his food. And this made the flight journey really interesting.
The flight menu had Croissants, fruits and South Indian breakfast items (idli sambar etc). X started his meal with the fruits. He looked at me as if to ask something, then he decided not to. He took out the fruits using his hand and swallowed it at one go. Not bad. After all, when we are really hungry we swallow everything. Then he tried to open the cover in which the croissants were kept. It was sealed at one end and opened at the other. Before I cud tell him that it could be taken out of the open end, he took out the fork, tore the sealed portion of the cover and ate the Croissants. Then he turned towards me, saw the croissants cover in my hand, and told me that I could use the fork to tear the cover. I thanked him for the wonderful idea and kept watching him as he continued having his breakfast.
Once he finished the croissants, he opened the creamer that is kept for adding it to the coffee and gulped it at one go. And his eyes conveyed a sense of achievement. Well it is. I used to wonder whether someone would use the creamer in the coffee, because I feel, it tastes really horrible. But this guy proved me wrong.
The spread was too big for him to handle. The next thing his radar eyes looked at was the after mint. I thought his brain would give him signals to have the after mint at the end. No!!!. It did the other way. He opened the after mint and swallowed it immediately as if I was going to ask a portion of it. Now its for him to enter his familiar turf i.e idli sambar stuff. Once he finished the idlis he had a look at the butter and the jam. He could not understand the purpose for which it was included in the menu. And we have a tendency not to waste anything which comes for free. Butter and jam suffered the same fate as that of fruits.
Now, it was tea time. As soon as the black tea was served, he added sugar in it. I was wondering whether he would at least use the spoon now, for stirring the contents. To my surprise he opened the cover of the toothpick, used it to stir the contents and gulped it. Then he threw the toothpick. Once he had his food he started listening to Arabic songs (with full sound....even I could listen to it) and slept.
Quite often we worry what others (and the society) would think about our actions. But this guy did not bother about anything. Sometimes, not being educated has its own advantages. Don’t you think so?
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