Do we lack the killer instinct?

‘25 blasts in 24 hours, what next?’ screams the headlines on one news channel. ‘14 blasts, 14 dead, 140 injured’ screams another. People rush to condemn the dastardly act of bombs being set off in a hospital’s trauma wing. ‘How can they do it?’ is the common refrain. My question is ‘Why not?’ A terrorist has only one objective in his mind. That would be to terrorize. Ever heard of a peaceful terrorist who leaves roses inside the abandoned bag? No you won’t. Because then you won’t be scared of him and he’d be out of a job.

17 is the final count of blasts as I finally give up listening to the news channels. This seems familiar. Roll back to 2006. Mumbai saw something similar. Train after train was hit. Their timing was off on a couple of trains. Else the body count would have been more than 9/11. I wonder what we did after that. Did our intelligence bureaus become smarter? I’d love to imagine so. But to this date, the intelligence agencies of other nations command better respect. I’d love to talk about the exploits of CIA and MI6 but that would be too clichéd. Instead there’s one closer home as a nation and its intelligence agency that seems to be working better than its more famous cousins.

1972 Olympics would long be remembered for the deaths of innocent athletes. Yet their nation took the pledge to avenge their deaths. With blurring memories of the actions, clouded by intrigue and secrecy, it is hard to contemplate the exact details. But it does show that there was enough collateral damage to the perpetrators to force a paradigm shift in their path to attain their objectives. In 1976, the same nation said, “Hell no!” to a group of hijackers sitting half a continent away. Not only did they successfully recover the hostages, they also went on to slaughter the terrorists. And yet we sat mute witness to a group of 5 terrorists walk away into the Kandahar sunset, as our leaders did nothing. Not only did we do nothing then, we did nothing later on too. The prisoners we released are still standing. USA, even in their most controversial stances, still went and blew up $10 tents with $10000 missiles post 9/11. It was a statement that was needed and they made that statement. Come what may, if you strike us, we will not hesitate to retaliate wherever we deem suitable.

All in all, it makes me wonder. What makes our nation an epitome of perseverance? Why do I feel that the perpetrators of today’s event will live to tell about it to their grandchildren? Way back in time, when there were rumors that the plague in Surat was in fact a biological weapon tested by our enemy countries on us, I used to wonder. What if there were people, covertly yet totally insanely dedicated to only one cause? And that cause would be the protection of our nation from all enemies foreign and domestic. I had a rather humdrum name for it, ‘CDAC’ or the Comprehensive Defense and Attack Committee. It was to consist of brains from all fields. There would be political experts, economists, biologists, engineers, software specialists etc. All would be working together contemplating the different ways the country could be attacked, plan the countermeasures and then plot retaliation.

“No it can’t be done”, that’s all I have heard till date. I would love to imagine that it is being done. Not that I see it working, but then it is achieving its objective of being a covert operation. Then again the channels report that there is widespread horror and terror amongst the people, even the ones who were not affected by the blasts. The perpetrators responsible for this would just need to switch on their television set and flip to a news channel to see their work succeed. Truth be told, I’d have loved to see at least one man not try to steal his 15 seconds of fame with a scare story and rather just stick up his middle finger and say, “Fuck you! You can’t scare me with this. You’re gonna pay for this” and then later on someday have the news reporter cover a retaliation by the nation. That would get the attention of the terrorists. Not only would they see failure in being able to terrorize innocent public, but also not be sure when they would be on the wrong side of a ticking explosive device.

Somewhere in some darkened room that is owned by the nation’s rulers, they should be planning retribution. If the credit for this dastardly act is being claimed by an outfit operating right on our soil, we should dedicate our efforts in eliminating such pestilence. And this should not be stopped even if these elements exist on a foreign soil. While these individuals send boastful emails to media, where are our NSAs and NROs tracking down the origins of the emails, sending out S.W.A.T. teams authorized to use deadly force against the senders? With an IT industry boasting 300K+ workers, why is it so hard to engage in surveillance of electronic communication with an objective to catch such activity? Why do we see our government websites defiled while we so tolerantly let their websites stand?

So what do we need to do? Frankly, nothing significantly different. We still need to keep our plans for Sunday on track. We still need to venture out into the market and buy whatever we planned to buy. We need to show, as the common public, that this was not something that scares us. Let’s not have the news channels report that life is limping back to normalcy. Let us show that we took a running start back into it. At the same time, we need to understand what is to be done. We could be more vigilant about our surroundings. A suspicious package needs to be cordoned off. Don’t contaminate a scene by trying to be Sherlock Holmes. There are people with that job profile, who’d appreciate it if you left the things as they were. If you can’t help, you are better off out of the way. Bottom line is, “Be smart not scared.”

And next time some television reporter wants you to recant the tale of horror, please do stick up
your finger to the perpetrators and say, “Up yours!”

Note: To the families of those injured or killed in these incidents, let there be the strength to come to terms with the tragedy and go on. To the families of the medics who lost their lives while tending to the wounded, let there be pride in the knowledge that they performed their jobs beyond the call of duty in the face of an enemy who didn’t stop at performing inhumane actions.

Tryst with Ignominy

Three score and a year more ago we made a tryst with destiny, redeeming a pledge to will for a nation conceived on the principles of democracy and equality of men and their religion. At the stroke of the hour, when the world watches, India awakens not to freedom and life, but to its darkest hour as a test. It is a test that others have stood through and barely passed before us. A test of whether a nation, so conceived on ideals can long endure the vagaries of human vice like the greed for power. It is a test for a nation to endure thus and still stand true to its commitment of common good by a handful few. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, where we bear mute witness, the end of an age where the keepers of the bastions of the nation were dedicated to its upkeep, and watch hapless as the soul of a nation, thought to be free, finds suppression without remonstrance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to ensure that the keepers of our nation’s bastions are in their basest interests only dedicated to the service of the country and her people, free of hunger of power or money, unhindered by their prejudices and aligned without question to the only cause of our nation’s progress.

We need not meet on a battlefield of a war fought amongst us or against invaders, for this battle is to be fought in our hearts and minds. The brave men, living or dead, who struggled to achieve our nation’s freedom, have consecrated with blood and sweat this nation, far above our poor judgment of selecting the people to lead it forward. The world will little note, nor long remember what is said here, but it can never forget what they did. It is for us, the people of the nation, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to remind ourselves of the unending quest of a nation through trackless centuries to strive in face of countless odds, emerging victorious or failing, yet never losing sight of the quest or lay down the ideals of peace, equality and oneness with nature, which are her strengths.

In a global arena, we stand at the start of a period of ill fortune, wrought with problems of poverty, population, global warming, energy crisis and inflation. These problems are not the result of divine wrath upon humanity, but brought upon ourselves by our thoughtless pursuits suiting our selfish interests and behavior contrary to our ideals. This should provoke us to will the end of this era and rediscover ourselves as individuals capable of doing the right thing, to be wanting to awaken our real conscience and no longer take pride in the ability to break the rules and get away with it. And so listening to it, we strive forth not alone, willing others to fall behind, but as one state, one country, hand in hand, towards the quest laid down by the founders of this great nation. The achievement of such unity will only be a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us.

Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future? The service to India no longer means the service of the millions who suffer. It is no longer prudent to aim to wipe every tear from every eye. It is a larger effort of uplifting each one and in the process, each mind, to want to not bring a single tear to any eye. We need to labor and work hard, walk a path potholed with our own desires, asking us to shy away from sacrifice for a greater good, asking us to be morally weak just because someone else was too. And yet we may falter, succumb to our inborn weakness momentarily, we need to remind ourselves to rise above it and make amends.

Let us not give to the future generation the reason to add from our generation people to the ranks of Jaichands and Mir Jaffers and instead rejoice in the fact that we as a generation went on to rebuild the foundation of a nation aimed at becoming the most revered nation that led and not just aimed to lead the progress of humanity. Once committed to such a cause, let us remind ourselves to purge ourselves of the sins committed by putting the future of our nation into the hands of people who believe not in its progress but only their own. Let us ensure that we do not rejoice the existence of a government and its opposition who hold amongst their ranks convicted criminals. Let us not rejoice in the fact that scammers are in charge of the decisions that affect the progress of a nation. Let us not rejoice in the fact that the leaders we elect are ones who only espouse the cause of fragmentation of the nation by creed or language or caste, or those who hold dear the progress of a community instead of the whole nation. Let us for once put the ‘we’ before the ‘me’. Let us awaken to a future we would promise to the future children of this nation.
Only when we start on this arduous journey, shall we hallow our respect for the ones who gave the last full measure of devotion to this nation and thus solemnly resolve that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not only not perish from the earth, but shall be the greatest one ever conceived.

Note: This 'speech' is totally inspired from the 'Tryst with destiny' speech by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and the 'Gettysburg Address' by Abraham Lincoln and is a result of the events that unfolded in the hallowed portals of the Parliament on and before 22nd July 2008.