Terror ends. Madness continues..

The bloodbath here has left India sick and reeling.
The media and their irresponsible attitude has been left bare.
And now the politicians come out of their cubby-holes (akin to rodents aren't they all?) and start their vote-mongering holier-than-thou tamasha. Insulting fathers of martyrs and fallen soldiers, declaring monetary benefit packages to families of police personnel whom they had accused of shady dealings not a week before, placing blame on senior official who have actually no clue about what is going on and shying away from answering the main question: who are responsible for this complete collapse of gathering, assimilating, strategizing, and executing of 'intelligence'? No, we are not talking of the doddering politicians who sit on their beloved 'chair' and leave the control of this huge democratic country in the hands of nameless 'experts' who seem to have no accountability. If we, India, had the information/indications that some sort of threat was present, why didn't someone (and btw, who is/are this/these people in power, this someone who can take decisions?) do something?
I apologize for these last few posts which are barely coherent. But, I ask you, how do you deal with this helplessness?
Here are some who have done a better job of dealing with the goings on:
Amit Verma - This city...
Mad Momma-Jaagte Raho
Kiran - Save Us
Salil Tripathi - Bombay Burning
Sadanand Dhume - India's Anti-terror blunders
Chyetanya Kunte - Shoddy Journalism
Enough. Will blog of something else later.

Why?

The hostage terror continues more than 24 hours after it started. There are armed terrorists loose in the city: no one knows where.
Now that the first shock and disbelief of this kind of fidayeen attack is wearing off, the questions are starting to form. Why? Why are these terrorists doing this? What are they hoping to achieve/prove? Why is it taking so long to end this nightmare? How could some of our top police and security personnel be slain in battle, when they have bullet-proof vests? How can anyone imagine our security force or police fighting these terrorists, armed to the teeth with automatic weapons, with pistols and rifles? Why are the top politicos and our Prime Minister in town visiting hospitals, when there are still terrorists at large and rescue operations are on?
One more burning question: Why are the news channels broadcasting the images live, even after being told that the terrorists might be watching the TV for updates?? Why do the general public have to know everything live, when there is an military operation on? Will a delay in reporting - even a few minutes delay - hurt the general public- yes, you and me - watching the TV? Why jeopardize an operation by beaming in images of commandos being air-dropped?? Why discuss the possibility of the terrorists watching this telecast when you know that it might be a possibility? Is there no common sense left or is it all about (tv-network-name)-reporting-live-from-scene-putting-our-life-on-line. No, we, your targeted audience don't want to know the live happenings, we want the security forces to finish this nightmare for those people who are trapped and their families who are trapped in this nightmare. We don't mind if you say after the operation, these are the images of the successful operation that we didn't beam to you live as it would have jeopardized the operation but now that is over, we can show you what happened. For all those who didn't have or show the discretion, the scruples and the common sense to understand this: you have lost what would have made you legends in Indian television reporting history: maturity and integrity.

Terror strikes Mumbai again

Terror strikes Mumbai again

Indiscriminate firing on unsuspecting civilians, bomb blasts in
crowded areas, and hostage situations in landmark hotels. Horrifying
images of injured, dead, burning buildings, terrorists shooting on the
street are being beamed in into every Mumbai home. All educational
institutions and most of the offices will be shut today. The trading
market will also be closed today.
If the objective if these brutal attacks was panic, fear and chaos,
well, that has been achieved. Even for the resilient Mumbaikar, this
planned, merciless attack is hard to swallow. If the motive is yet
another reminder to the American and British people that they are not
safe anywhere, I think the point is made.
Jaipur, New Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Guwahati, and now Mumbai. The
terror
continues.

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