My brother today engaged me in a very interesting debate on terrorism in terms of the cause and effect. The debate centered around the fact that terrorism is a disease whose symptoms we see around us everyday and we are busy finding the solution that will wipe out this disease but how much time do we really spend looking at the cause and doing something about it. I have far too many details floating around in my head which will make any attempt at reproducing a coherent blog all but impossible - however there is something else which this debate has made me realize and which i have to put down if only to get it out of my system.
As we stand examining our preparedness to comabat the terror from outside what exactly are we doing to protect ourselves from the terror within.
Which commando force is going to protect me when the butchers of Gujarat or the rapists of Singur or the Naxals of AP come knocking at my door in the night? Who is going to tell our people that while they hunker down behind the barricades ready for the battle ahead they do not need to fear the terror which stalks them from behind?
I am afraid that the solution to one is inextricably linked to the other and as long as we continue to distinguish the one from the other the solution for both shall continue to elude us.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Some random thoughts
Quite a few commentators have gone on TV and espoused that one way for the government to tackle and solve this menace is to get all parties together, declare a national emergency, suspend certain civil liberties and carry out all necessary measures to weed out the evil of terrorism from amongst our midst. The Homeland Security Programme introduced by the US has been put forward as an example.
I cant speak for anyone else but here’s is what I make of it – what we are being asked to do is to turn our nation into a system which resembles all these funny countries to our west and east (Pakistan, B’desh, Saudi, Kuwait, UAE, Iran, et al) in order that we become a country as safe and secure as the US. If this was the answer to our problems then I would rather live with the problems than live in circumstances prevailing in any of the countries named earlier.
It’s easy to go out there and blame the government for all that is wrong with the country. Civil Liberties sure - but when we parade the ideals of the US lets just introspect and look at ourselves in the mirror.
I stay in South Bombay, the supposed hub of India’s elite, most educated, most well to do, most sophisticated citizens? Try taking a drive around these parts on any given day and one will be witness to these very same people breaking every possible traffic signal from Mantralaya to Worli – and no it is not the drivers but the owners who do this more often than not. I have resolved to never jump a signal but it takes a lot of patience and will power to contain oneself when you find your self at a red signal at the front of a queue of cars and have the very same self serving people honking and jabbering at you willing you on to inch forward and jump the signal. It takes a lot of will power and patience to not get out and thump someone on the head. Anyone who wishes to contest this is welcome to stand at any of our busiest junctions and try and prove me wrong – don’t even contemplate the odds.
A very similar situation is repeated day in and day out at our busy domestic and international airports when important, busy and thoroughly pressed for time individuals roll their eyes, cast derisive looks at their watches and generally go out and make asses of themselves when being subjected to security searches by the airport security. Stand in any line and you will see an example of such individuals with unfailing regularity - guys with “I don’t have the time of day for you security guys who want me to remove my shoes” written all over their face.
Why am i bringing up this supposedly unrelated topic here?
I am doing so because to me the problem is not civic liberties but our very civic senses of which the majority of our well heeled citizens have none (at least not while they are in India which happens to be their personal playground). The laws of the land are good enough as long as they are applied to someone else – what we have done is usurp what little law is left here. And the problem with the educated classes is far more concerning the other half of our masses.
Lets not fool ourselves into thinking that pointing fingers at a bunch of politicians is going to change the realities of this country. Have you ever thought that the politicians we refer to are not exactly from Mars – they are people who come from within us. The problem is us and not them so let’s stop this duplicity.
For a start, when holding up the example of the West, can we start first by changing ourselves and resolving to follow the little civic laws which would give us the moral ground to demand implementation of the next level of rules and regulations? Think about it and please try and choose the right option which is not necessarily the easier one.
And coming back to the opening line – I don’t think suspension of civic liberties is required – what is required is our acceptance of civil practices. The laws are already out there but when everyone and his uncle are freely flouting these; the real criminals find it very easy to blend in when the majority on the streets tend to behave like them. So lets cooperate with the police and other authorities by giving them a little less headache when they do their duty and they will be left with that much more time and energy to identify the real targets. This would only be a start and does not for a minute mean to say that the police and other authorities themselves do not need major changes in their approach & thinking.
I cant speak for anyone else but here’s is what I make of it – what we are being asked to do is to turn our nation into a system which resembles all these funny countries to our west and east (Pakistan, B’desh, Saudi, Kuwait, UAE, Iran, et al) in order that we become a country as safe and secure as the US. If this was the answer to our problems then I would rather live with the problems than live in circumstances prevailing in any of the countries named earlier.
It’s easy to go out there and blame the government for all that is wrong with the country. Civil Liberties sure - but when we parade the ideals of the US lets just introspect and look at ourselves in the mirror.
I stay in South Bombay, the supposed hub of India’s elite, most educated, most well to do, most sophisticated citizens? Try taking a drive around these parts on any given day and one will be witness to these very same people breaking every possible traffic signal from Mantralaya to Worli – and no it is not the drivers but the owners who do this more often than not. I have resolved to never jump a signal but it takes a lot of patience and will power to contain oneself when you find your self at a red signal at the front of a queue of cars and have the very same self serving people honking and jabbering at you willing you on to inch forward and jump the signal. It takes a lot of will power and patience to not get out and thump someone on the head. Anyone who wishes to contest this is welcome to stand at any of our busiest junctions and try and prove me wrong – don’t even contemplate the odds.
A very similar situation is repeated day in and day out at our busy domestic and international airports when important, busy and thoroughly pressed for time individuals roll their eyes, cast derisive looks at their watches and generally go out and make asses of themselves when being subjected to security searches by the airport security. Stand in any line and you will see an example of such individuals with unfailing regularity - guys with “I don’t have the time of day for you security guys who want me to remove my shoes” written all over their face.
Why am i bringing up this supposedly unrelated topic here?
I am doing so because to me the problem is not civic liberties but our very civic senses of which the majority of our well heeled citizens have none (at least not while they are in India which happens to be their personal playground). The laws of the land are good enough as long as they are applied to someone else – what we have done is usurp what little law is left here. And the problem with the educated classes is far more concerning the other half of our masses.
Lets not fool ourselves into thinking that pointing fingers at a bunch of politicians is going to change the realities of this country. Have you ever thought that the politicians we refer to are not exactly from Mars – they are people who come from within us. The problem is us and not them so let’s stop this duplicity.
For a start, when holding up the example of the West, can we start first by changing ourselves and resolving to follow the little civic laws which would give us the moral ground to demand implementation of the next level of rules and regulations? Think about it and please try and choose the right option which is not necessarily the easier one.
And coming back to the opening line – I don’t think suspension of civic liberties is required – what is required is our acceptance of civil practices. The laws are already out there but when everyone and his uncle are freely flouting these; the real criminals find it very easy to blend in when the majority on the streets tend to behave like them. So lets cooperate with the police and other authorities by giving them a little less headache when they do their duty and they will be left with that much more time and energy to identify the real targets. This would only be a start and does not for a minute mean to say that the police and other authorities themselves do not need major changes in their approach & thinking.
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