In the Hindu eipc of Ramayan, there is a character named 'Kumbhakarna'. Kumbhakarna was the brother of Ravana. The highlight of this character was the fact that he used to sleep for six months at a stretch, then wake up for a day and then go back to sleep for another six months. This 'unfortunate' skill of Kumbhakarna was a cunning tactic by the gods - who knowingly cursed him with this behaviour when infact he went to the gods to ask for a boon. The interesting thing about this behaviour was when Kumbhakarna woke up - he would eat anything and everything in his sight, including humans.
Are you wondering where I am going with this?? Well, I am reminded of Kumbhakarna on seeing the reaction of the Indian Citizen at the recent carnage that took place in Mumbai on 26th Nov 2008. I fully condemn any atrocious acts of violence against fellow human beings. May the soul of people who lost thier lives rest in peace.
However - what took me by surprise was the 'sudden anger' of the Indian Citizen directed towards the politicians.
The 'sudden' surge of patriotism.
The 'sudden' realisation that we are no longer safe.
The 'sudden' realisation that 'enough is enough'.
Who are we kidding? I cannot but help be 'cynical' about this.
Let me ask a couple of questions here:
1) There have been innumerable attacks for quite some time across different cities, by various groups. Some of then have been more violent than this one. Why is it that suddenly the Indian Citizen has woken up to this? Where was the Indian Citizen during previous incidents? Where was the 'patriotism'? Where was the 'zero tolerance approach'? Where was the 'anger'?
2) How many times has the Indian Citizen been vigilant enough to spot, report and deter anti social activities? I know instances where this 'Mumbai Spirit' used to watch in muted silence at people being molested and thrown out of trains, the 'Assam Spirit' watching in silence at innocents being burnt alive etc etc.
Some may argue that this time it's different - this attack was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. They say may be it has reached a point when people thought "enough is enough" and realised that if they don't protest strong, nothing is going to happen.
So what was so special about the Nov 26th attack that made this sleeping Indian Janta wake up? Lets look at the facts here - It took an attack on a couple of 5 star hotels, in posh localities, foreign lives at risk - before the 'janta' decided enough is enough?
Lives of ordinary people - fishmongers, dabbahwallahs, college going students - lost in the train balsts in 2006 - were not high profile enough for the Indian Citizen to get vocal?
Poor people shot to death in Jammu and Kashmir - were not high profile enough for the Indian Citizen to get vocal?
Kids molested and killed by a couple of demented monsters in Noida were not high profile enough for the Indian Citizen to get vocal - Care to run a story on this now, Brakha Dutt??
Farmers committing suicide - no act of terrorism. Does the Indian Citizen care?
A school burns in Kumbakonam, kids are burnt to death - no act of terrorism. Does the Indian Citizen care?
It hurts if it attacks your prosperity, but don't care if it does not?? Hell, up till this time there was not even a whimper, leave alone a protest from the Janta. And many more innocent lives have been lost.
According to a recent article by Mr. Arun Shourie in the Indian Express - 67,000 people have lost their lives to terrorist activity in India. 'Sixty Seven Thousand innocent lives'. Think about that for a moment. Reflect on that number. It took this 'aam janta' sixty seven thousand innocent lives before it woke up. 6 months for Kumbakarna, sixty seven thousand lives for the Indian Citizen to wake up?? You know what that tells me - it tells me that we are cursed beyond redemption - no trickery of the gods here. We are paying the price of our own lethargy. It took 67,000 innocent people to loose thier lives before the Indian Citizen decided 'enough is enough'?? We should have said 'enough is enough' when the first innocent life was lost.
The Indian Citizen wakes up after deep slumber now and blames the govt for everything? They want a quick fix? You sleep for 61 years, wake up one fine day and expect the whole world to feed you? Expect everything to be perfect on the day you wake up, without having done anything so long to make your world better?
I think the problem is not with our politicians or our neighbours. The problem is within us. We have no respect for human life - unless its our own life. Citizens, who have been historically lethargic, cannot expect to turn up one day as 'utmost concerned' and expect the whole world around them to change overnight. Society that does not value human life in general with eventually find itself in a situation where no one else will value their life. This is what is happening in India. Unless we change our attitude towards human life, start treating it with respect - we will not change a thing. We can change our leaders as much as we want, we can go to war, we can increase diplomatic pressure, we can do anything and everything outside of us, but unless we change the attitude inside us - we will go back to sleep only to wake up 61 years later and god knows how many more innocent lives will be lost by then. Larger evils like terrorism cannot be solved by Government alone. It needs participation and help of the people. It needs people to give up a few liberties, follow some rules - and not try to break them by bribing their way through it. It needs people to value life - their own and others as well, irrespective of age, cast, creed, demography etc. If we take a pledge to stay alert, follow rules, do not act corrupt and learn to respect our fellow citizens, value life, then we will achieve far more in the fight against terror than any government sponsored action.
Jai Hind.
Are you wondering where I am going with this?? Well, I am reminded of Kumbhakarna on seeing the reaction of the Indian Citizen at the recent carnage that took place in Mumbai on 26th Nov 2008. I fully condemn any atrocious acts of violence against fellow human beings. May the soul of people who lost thier lives rest in peace.
However - what took me by surprise was the 'sudden anger' of the Indian Citizen directed towards the politicians.
The 'sudden' surge of patriotism.
The 'sudden' realisation that we are no longer safe.
The 'sudden' realisation that 'enough is enough'.
Who are we kidding? I cannot but help be 'cynical' about this.
Let me ask a couple of questions here:
1) There have been innumerable attacks for quite some time across different cities, by various groups. Some of then have been more violent than this one. Why is it that suddenly the Indian Citizen has woken up to this? Where was the Indian Citizen during previous incidents? Where was the 'patriotism'? Where was the 'zero tolerance approach'? Where was the 'anger'?
2) How many times has the Indian Citizen been vigilant enough to spot, report and deter anti social activities? I know instances where this 'Mumbai Spirit' used to watch in muted silence at people being molested and thrown out of trains, the 'Assam Spirit' watching in silence at innocents being burnt alive etc etc.
Some may argue that this time it's different - this attack was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. They say may be it has reached a point when people thought "enough is enough" and realised that if they don't protest strong, nothing is going to happen.
So what was so special about the Nov 26th attack that made this sleeping Indian Janta wake up? Lets look at the facts here - It took an attack on a couple of 5 star hotels, in posh localities, foreign lives at risk - before the 'janta' decided enough is enough?
Lives of ordinary people - fishmongers, dabbahwallahs, college going students - lost in the train balsts in 2006 - were not high profile enough for the Indian Citizen to get vocal?
Poor people shot to death in Jammu and Kashmir - were not high profile enough for the Indian Citizen to get vocal?
Kids molested and killed by a couple of demented monsters in Noida were not high profile enough for the Indian Citizen to get vocal - Care to run a story on this now, Brakha Dutt??
Farmers committing suicide - no act of terrorism. Does the Indian Citizen care?
A school burns in Kumbakonam, kids are burnt to death - no act of terrorism. Does the Indian Citizen care?
It hurts if it attacks your prosperity, but don't care if it does not?? Hell, up till this time there was not even a whimper, leave alone a protest from the Janta. And many more innocent lives have been lost.
According to a recent article by Mr. Arun Shourie in the Indian Express - 67,000 people have lost their lives to terrorist activity in India. 'Sixty Seven Thousand innocent lives'. Think about that for a moment. Reflect on that number. It took this 'aam janta' sixty seven thousand innocent lives before it woke up. 6 months for Kumbakarna, sixty seven thousand lives for the Indian Citizen to wake up?? You know what that tells me - it tells me that we are cursed beyond redemption - no trickery of the gods here. We are paying the price of our own lethargy. It took 67,000 innocent people to loose thier lives before the Indian Citizen decided 'enough is enough'?? We should have said 'enough is enough' when the first innocent life was lost.
The Indian Citizen wakes up after deep slumber now and blames the govt for everything? They want a quick fix? You sleep for 61 years, wake up one fine day and expect the whole world to feed you? Expect everything to be perfect on the day you wake up, without having done anything so long to make your world better?
I think the problem is not with our politicians or our neighbours. The problem is within us. We have no respect for human life - unless its our own life. Citizens, who have been historically lethargic, cannot expect to turn up one day as 'utmost concerned' and expect the whole world around them to change overnight. Society that does not value human life in general with eventually find itself in a situation where no one else will value their life. This is what is happening in India. Unless we change our attitude towards human life, start treating it with respect - we will not change a thing. We can change our leaders as much as we want, we can go to war, we can increase diplomatic pressure, we can do anything and everything outside of us, but unless we change the attitude inside us - we will go back to sleep only to wake up 61 years later and god knows how many more innocent lives will be lost by then. Larger evils like terrorism cannot be solved by Government alone. It needs participation and help of the people. It needs people to give up a few liberties, follow some rules - and not try to break them by bribing their way through it. It needs people to value life - their own and others as well, irrespective of age, cast, creed, demography etc. If we take a pledge to stay alert, follow rules, do not act corrupt and learn to respect our fellow citizens, value life, then we will achieve far more in the fight against terror than any government sponsored action.
Jai Hind.
2 comments:
Oh Darling, Yeh Hai India.
Jai Hind!
I think its just that it took 3 days of continuous "attacking", gun fights, non-stop media coverage, and more than anything, the fact that there were "real terrorists" kicking and fighting that brought out the anger. Plus the whole commandos, and live fighting that pumped up the adrenaline. In previous bomb blasts its the "someone faceless" who did it and it was over instantly that reduced the perceived impact and anger and people went on with their lives. This time the population had days to talk in detail about whats happening with one another, at home, at work, in the road, that also created a more lasting impression.
Plus I think the sheer audacity of the act sparked the feeling of insecurity more than anything else.
Plus the sheer stupidity of some of our politicians that added fuel to the fire.
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