Testing Times

Written by Administrator

After the 7/11 train bombings in Mumbai we were witness to a panic created by the media as to who is responsible for the crash and a mad rush from our politicians playing the usual blame game. It is tough in a country like India to analyze the events leading up to and after the terrorist action. Even after the meticulous work, all the leads may not point to the right target. Unlike their counterparts in developed countries Indian Police have limited resources such as cctv (Close Circuit Camera) technology. We should realise that we are fighting an enemy who is coward and shrewd. They plan their sinister activities while the ordinary citizens get busy with work. They catch you unaware and shock you with maximum destruction. In spite of their claim of bravery their acts are covered in utter cowardice. The right equivalence of their shameful act would be like punishing an infant or a person with physical disability.

These are the testing time for any country advocating freedom to choose. Therefore we should raise our degree of vigilance to a new level. The best thing the ordinary population could do is to report suspicious activities to the local authorities which I think in time would prove to be crucial in fighting terror in a densely populated society like India. This would spare the intelligence agencies the painstaking process of sifting through the information and enable them to act swiftly not only to catch the terrorists after their deadly act but to thwart their plan well in advance. In addition, if we give wholesome backing to Police and the Government without overly criticizing their every move it would give them new zest in their resolve to combat terror. This is painful when we lose our family members and friends and looking for instant justice.

More often than not our politicians first jump to the conclusion and then do their investigation. There is no doubt that Pakistan is rife with terror elements of which Musharraf has no control whatsoever. However, we should clean our backyard first and make sure we do not have radical elements capable of such atrocities. It is tragic the way Mulayam Singh came out in support of SIMI after 7/11. What chance does the UP Police have to successfully carry out anti terror investigation if the Government it serves put obstacles in its path? Lets pressurize the Government to build our intelligence agencies, Intelligence Bureau and RAW in the line of Israeli Shin Beth and Mossad respectively. We need to go after these terrorists the way Mossad did through “Operation Wrath of God" after Munich massacre.