Have we come anywhere close to finding those behind the terrorist acts of July 11, 2006? And are we better protected today from such attacks than we were an year ago? Answer to both these disturbing questions is resounding No
We are still clueless as we were one year ago.
A week after July 11, 2006, Western Railways installed close circuit television (CCTV) cameras at seven of the 28 suburban railway stations in Mumbai. It was decided that a total of 530 CCTV cameras would be installed throughout the suburban rail network. This has not happened yet, as mandarins continue to dither over whether it would be cheaper to hire these cameras rather than buy them.
Is it the bureaucracy or the unwillingness of the political leadership ? may be the later . B.Raman writes for Outlook India,
On July 7, 2007, we saw on the TV touching scenes of Mr Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister, and his wife visiting the tube stations where the terrorists struck and placing flowers at the scene of the tragedy.
In India, our so-called secular political class and elite kept away from the observance of the anniversary of the Mumbai tragedy of July 11, 2006.
Raman was expecting Manmohan Singh would attend the anniversary but he forgot the fact the PM was having sleepless nights
But back to business
He did not attend because he was worried that any public expression of sorrow for those blown up by the jihadi terrorists might be misinterpreted by the Muslims as stigmatising their community.
A few weeks after the Mumbai blasts of July 11, 2006, I had been to Kolkata to attend a conference. One of the eminent participants told me that a few days after the blasts there was a meeting in the Raj Bhawan chaired by the governor of West Bengal to discuss some other subject.
One of the participants proposed that they observe a two-minutes’ silence in memory of those killed in Mumbai.The governor ruled his suggestion out of order.
Why?
Lest the Muslims misinterpret it as stigmatising their community.
Jihadi terrorists can go on indulging in one act of mass casualty terrorism after another.
But, according to our so-called secular political class and elite, we should not talk about it or even cry about it.
Our anger, our tears, our exasperation at the failure of the government to deal with them might be seen by the Muslims as stigmatising their community.
How many acts of jihadi terrorism we have had in India since the present government came to power in Delhi in 2004?
Delhi, Varanasi, Mumbai, Malegaon, Bangalore, Samjhota Express, Hyderabad.
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The political leadership of today gives sermons and no leadership. It avoids active monitoring and supervision of the investigation lest the Muslims misunderstand.I was in service at the height of terrorism in Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir under leaders like Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao.
They never gave sermons.
I had never heard expressions like “stigmatising a community” or “targeting a community” etc coming out of their mouth.
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Since the botched-up London and Glasgow terrorist strikes by a joint Arab-Indian jihadi cell, we have been guilty of the same sins of commission and omission which we attributed to the West in the past.Much of the initial leads about the Indian participants and their jihadi background before they migrated to the UK came from the Karnataka Police.
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Leaders of the Indian Muslim community are worried that digging out the truth might lead to a stigmatisation of the Indian Muslims abroad.They express their concern to the so-called secular political leadership. What does it do?
Till recently, our Prime Minister was giving sermons to our police and intelligence agencies not to do anything, which might be viewed by the Muslims as stigmatising their community.
Now, he calls up Mr Gordon Brown and gives him a sermon about the importance of not doing anything which might stigmatise the Muslim community.
B Raman concludes by saying
Let us shed tears for ourselves today for having the misfortune of having a government for which the feelings of the Muslims are more important than saving the lives of innocent civilians from the continued depredations of the jihadi terrorists.
Please read the article in its entirety.
On the similar note, Read articles on Glassgow airport blast
Living in Denial - K P S Gill
The Blue Chip Jihadis - B Raman
The danger of deep religosity - Swapan Dasgupta
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