On Mumbai Terror Attacks Anniversary Part – 2

We are back with the part 2 of the series of posts on the anniversary of 26/11 Mumbai Terrorist attacks. In the first part we had a lot of bloggers and readers sharing their thoughts like Shobhaa de who had to say ‘Their concern is survival at any cost. But that instinct should not be confused with indifference.’ and many more. In this part we have more bloggers and readers who share their thoughts on the anniversary of the Mumbai Terror Attacks when we asked them ‘What kind of thoughts are running in your mind on the first anniversary?‘. Our profound thanks to all of them for taking time out and sharing their thoughts and concerns.

I feel that it’s been one year and not much has been done by us to learn from our mistakes yet. Kasab has still not been punished where as his crime is very well recorded and there’s no denial of the fact that he’s committed the crime.

Apart from that, the way we handled the situation, right from the police force to NSG to media – all parties committed a lot of mistakes but we have not taken any steps at all to learn anything from those mistakes. Certain heads should have rolled, certain policies should have been formed by now to standardize what is done in such hostage situations but nothing has been done. Armchair activism by joining facebook groups or lighting candles is of NO use. So why even the sham?

I don’t know whom to blame and why to blame since what we know is whats told to us either by Govt  or Media or through some other sources and get disheartened by limited responses. So whom to trust is the biggest question arises and for that we can’t blame anyone then ourselves.

It feels good to  contribute to society, can and would like to do more, but lack resources or self enthusiasm someway restrict us :P. If we want any change, I believe it should start with your own self.

We are resilient by force not by choice – A Wednesday – sums up my thoughts completely on this one year later.

It is easy to blame the Government – but we elected the same people or more important did not turn out to vote. Media – is also a business that works on sensationalism, print, channels, with its own priorities. Judiciary – is also dependent on a whole host of support from others so in the end it just does not move at the speed one wants it to. The unfortunate fact is that we did/do not wish to learn from it as we did not from the 1993 and other incidents.

Unless the basics are taken care of, it shall not matter what you debate & point fingers at. Remember Noise or Voice choice is finally yours & it is here that we are unable to either. 🙂

26 /11 happened, and it was one of the latest terrorist attacks which Mumbai has been seeing every few years starting from 1993 serial Bomb Blasts. Now the main question is – Why is state and Central government so incapable of thrashing these attacks when we all very well know that Mumbai is on their hit-list all the time.

What they do is – few months after the blast, security is tight (especially when the threat is least..) and couple of years down the line we are back to square one – relaxed security !!!!

Mumbaikar’s take these incidents in their stride because, they do NOT have any other choice. But who is asking questions to these corrupt Government.

Its been a year today when Mumbai was shaken, infact not just mumbai the whole country…. and when I think of it today I still go numb… I go numb because of the fact that nothing has been done to give justice to the people who lost their lives that day, they are still mourning and hoping for justice. Kasab should have just been hanged without trial.

Media has repeatedly failed while they were covering 26/11 and while they are covering the anniversary… For them everything is about sensationalizing……

But look at the silver lining of 26/11, good thing that is happened is that the Indian youth has finally woken up and I think this is something which we somehow need to utilize before it fizzes away… In the end all I would say is May God give strength to the families who suffered and may justice come soon.

God has given us the gift of having to move forward in life, whether you like it or not. It is this virtue that has helped many who have suffered in the horrific Mumbai attack last year come to terms with what happened and hats off to the spirit with which they have nursed their wounds and have tried to move on.

For me this incident was a learning as to how unpredictable life is even in one of the safest cities of the world. If we can take one thing from here, it is to live life to its fullest. Don’t end a day with any grudges left towards those you love. Life is too precious, for this world does not associate any value to the life of a common man.

One year to the horrible day, and I can imagine the turmoil in the minds of folks like Mrs Karkare,Kamte, Salaskar, and even the nurse from a hospital who was given a compensation and then it was taken back from her. Life, as we know it, today is difficult. It is shameful ,  that dying is also difficult. Nobody is interested in getting to the truth, investigating facts, and the politicians continue to make empty promises, disgraceful legislative behaviour, lies and immense amount of shady money.

A government that takes so much trouble to ensure that it is seen to give a fair trial to the fellow Kasab, disgustingly, is unable to take care of its own citizens.

The common man of Mumbai, is and will continue to be the person I trust .

26/11 came to India as a surprise and an unwanted one. I was supposed to travel to Mumbai on 29^th novemberr, so this was a shock and the plans had to be rescheduled. Those 60 hours were horrifying, when I felt insecure and terrified. I reached Mumbai a day after operation finished and I could feel the silence after the attacks.

Today, after a year I feel sad that Kasab is still undergoing trial, politics still being played on Mumbai attacks, media trying to benefit and play with public emotions. But I salute the hard work done by national security guards and Mumbai police, salute the spirit of Mumbai and India to move on despite such jolts from terrorism, salute major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Hemant Karkare and others who sacrificed their lives so that we can live. I don’t want any celebrity to come and tell me to move on,

I don’t want any mobile network to tell me I can support the police by calling at particular time, I don’t want media to show me the last year’s footage over and over again to re-ignite the fire of last year’s attacks. I respect each one who saved India that day and did not bow down to terrorist’s intentions. Today after a year, I wait for yet another trial to finish so that justice can be done.

26/11  reminds me of cliche of ‘andha kanoon‘. Entire world saw Kasab killing recorded on camera, but Indian government fails to see it and hasn’t yet prosecuted him. It’s shame that FBI has investigated more stuff about 26/11 than us. 26/11 is becoming to be a stark reminder of our overall inefficiency. Don’t tell me it could have been worse, tell me what you doing when now you know  that it, thankfully, was not as worse as it could have been.

I don’t want to hear more riff-raff and analysis about 26/11 unless there are new points like closing of trial or discussions of how we can stop it next time. Reason I don’t want to hear/talk same stuff about 26/11 is because the terror machine thrives on our paranoia of terror attack and we are doomed if we fall to that bait each time.

We want every inch of our nation safe for everyone but even after serial explosions at city centers all around culminating in Bombay being held hostage, we don’t seem to have acted well. The surge of sentiments won’t insulate cities from further attacks. State Government machinery is not adequate to handle such threats.

Army can not be deployed everywhere and that leaves only one option i.e. for citizens to act as effective guardians of their localities. Being alert, following security procedures without Uff..Aaah.., not giving in to corruption anywhere and making accountable politicians win. Corruption in offices has made it easy for terrorists to get passports and hide among us. We must put a full stop to such things.

I am not a “Marathi Manoos”. I am a Bihari who travels via Bombay VT to Goa and gets to spend 12  hours roaming in Bombay. But I have never loved a city (My birthplace being an exception) as well as I love Mumbai. The enterprising and friendly populace is very inspiring. We are with you Bombay.

Nothing has changed! No one cares! No matter what happens we (our government & ourselves too) will never ever react, our thinking and our reactions will always remain clouded trying to worry about no innocents being dragged in our quest for the villains. If we cant hang Kasab yet how the heck can we ever do anything to the terrorists that exist outside our custody.

I am feeling as Cynical as I can get.

Call me an eternal optimist, but I am sure you will have plenty of people dissatisfied with what transpired after 26/11. I therefore, will deliberately go in the other direction and say what all gives me hope after one full year has passed.

The lone surviving terrorist Ajmal Kasab still awaits trial in our courts. Many might say this gives credence to our soft-state status. To me however, it is a sign that the tolerance that has symbolized India in the eyes of the world for ages. We have the integrity to allow a full trial even to something as obviously guilty as a Kasab.

When I recall the 60 hours of seige that followed the attacks on mumbai on 26/11, I smile proudly at many things. One event in particular however, gives me great hope regarding our future. The much-maligned Shiv Sainiks of Mumbai came forward to help save Christian families and to assure the safety of a madrassa. It gives me hope because it shows how, in times of need, my countrymen can shed their differences and come together to fight a greater evil.

Many of us still characterize the public outcry following 26/11 as a lot of gas. But I feel that 26/11 changed the nature of such outcries forever. What changed was that instead of blaming intruders from across the border squarely for what happened, we looked to our leaders for answers. We stripped the home minister of his rank, we caused the government to press Pakistan for answers. I know many of us will ask “what answers?” but what we have managed to squeeze out of Pakistan in the last year is a lot compared to what we have in the many years before that.

In spite of the waves of anger sweeping India, we did not lose our temper and give in to the war-mongering initiated by some sections of the society.

An open letter to all TV News Channels: 26/11 – The more we change, the more we remain. Just because you have so much footage during the terror attacks, does it mean it is revamped and repackaged into more and more noise (don’t forget the background dhadam dhadam music!)?

I have three fundamental issues with all this sensationalism. One – that this sort of ongoing TV coverage is what terrorists actually desire and live and die for. While we mourn, they celebrate. Two – it’s just more noise and talk and outrage and anger and glorifying heroes – how does all this Prime-time coverage actually help families of innocent victims, and all of us too, as a nation? Three  – don’t fool us with all your citizen journalism sort of stories to round up people for your ad campaigns (Idea), media campaigns (Join Hands, lets meet here to show our solidarity etc) to showcase you care – the war here being who rounds up the most people, tweets, phone calls, and who gets the highest TRPs etc.

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You can share your thoughts as well using the comment form below. We had a year back compiled a list of all bloggers who were live blogging and writing about Mumbai Terror Attacks. We received 123 emotions packed responses for that post. If you want to feel the pain and emotions, do read the responses.