Although I no longer stay in Mumbai I still have fond memories of the place. Mumbai was probably the only place where I felt the safest at any time of the day- or night. Not anymore.
Terrorists in VT station. I mean, imagine, you are buying tickets and some mad caps start firing randomly. WTF do u do?
Terrorists in two of the biggest hotels in the country. Both are landmarks. The Oberoi is one of Mumbai's tallest buildings. And the Taj Mahal, right beside the Gateway, is an excellent piece of architecture. Was, rather. Last I heard its top floor was burning.
This attack was not just a collection of bomb blasts. It was and is much more. Their sole aim was to create fear in the minds of the aam Mumbaikar. And they have succeeded. When I first heard of the attacks I was like "Oh fuck another series of bomb blasts" but hey, thats not what this is. These terrorists have attacked the very fibre of our country. And its not still not over. Hostages are still being held in the two hotels. Its like an entire city has been brought to its knees. And this city is Mumbai, the biggest and most populated city in our country, known for its resilience.
What do we do? What can I do? I'm writing a blog. How the hell is that gonna make a difference, eh? Cos every small voice matters. India is after all, the biggest democracy. I personally feel like torturing to death each one of the terrorists with my bare hands. But hey, thats what they want. Spreading hate and fear.
Just look at our country's politicians. Up till now, responsibility for every terror attack has been dispensed like bloody birthday gifts. I saw Shivraj Patil talking like a doddering old ruin and Deshmukh warning the people of Mumbai to stay inside. He said the police are fighting! Goddamn it is that all they can say? Didn't the world see how USA reacted after 9/11? And this is like our millionth terror attack. How much more before our politicians wake up and realise this is serious business and you just have to forget vote banks now. Please.
One would ask what can the government do about this. They can do hella lot more. Manmohan has proposed the creation of some kind of national security agency. For the first time the opposition has not pointed fingers at the UPA or ATS accusing them of negligence. Its time for all of us to come together and take a bold stance. The Muslim clerics need to do more than issue fatwas. They need to eradicate the dirt within.
The fact that the terrorists asked only for british and american tourists proves that this is indeed a global threat. Leaders from all over the world have condemned the attacks. Compensations have been announced. After a week or two Mumbai itself would have forgotten the gory details. That should not happen this time. We need to wake up. And real fast.
Telling Stories…
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