So even as families are searching for their loved ones in Jaipur. Even as the nation is in a state of shock (if they can get their minds off cricket), and the grief of mothers that lost their children is not over, the Politicians have stepped in. The Rajasthan Chief Minister is claiming that the intelligence reports were deliberately vague, like ‘weather reports she said’ and advised Sonia Gandhi not to try and come to the state to do photo ops for political mileage. But of course the top brass of the BJP was there, doing immense amount of photo ops for their own political benefit. I hope and pray that the people pf this country see these political acts for what they really are. Our politicians often turn into parasites on the miseries and grief of their own people.
And other than constant shots repeated over and over again of hapless grieving mothers without their permission, what may I ask is the top agenda for our media ? Will the IPL go on ! Of course the Media says that is what the people want. Has the Media then so desensitized our minds so much that we do not actually care ? Are we what the media blames us to be ? Like when I was making films in India years ago, I was told that films were bad because that is how the people wanted them. Like the people were some stupid uneducated ignorant mass. Well, I do not believe that. Politicians, Billionaires, Media Moguls better learn that their Billions are made because of these very people – and so for f—s sake – respect them !!
Back to the main point. I sincerely believe that anti terrorism and the internal security of the life of our people cannot be left in the hands of politicians or the corrupt political system anymore. !00 people died and 200 people were injured. Why ? Because their are different parties at the centre and the state, and in the political squabbling refuse to share crucial intelligence information. There is only one way out. If the blame lies with ‘foreign elements’ then the fight no longer exists on our borders. The enemy has brought the fight inside the borders. The counter terrorism and intelligence MUST be taken away form the Stae Governments and the Home Ministry, and handed to the Army. That is the only choice we have.
dear shekhar,
i do not want to sound pessimistic…….hell it depresses me too when the mind travels that path………..but, the army has shown us the carnage it is capable of in kashmir. the innocent ill fated people who must be cursing the day when the military took over ?
shekhar, which area is NOT controlled or monitored by politicians ? who does the army answer to ?
the only miracle that can be hoped for is the people themselves………..disgruntled terrorists too…….take action instead of reacting and attack the source of misery instead of hapless innocents who are frankly ONE OF THEIR OWN ( the encounters would definately be including at some time, some of their own friends and loved ones too!) at the end of the day !
I completely agree with you about the current state of “politics” in our country and also where its headed.Our system of resolving issues ,urgent or not is too old. Everything shud be fast track now… it is everywhere else if we care to look around.There shud be “special action team” with special powers when the country is threatened in any way. Not only on papers but in “action ” .If people dont feel safe in their own country there cud be nothing worse than this.Inspite of all these comments by so many Indians, there is hardly any change in terms of how India deals with such acts of terrorism. One bombing in UK and the world knows when to back off. We are getting bombed every now and then.Its almost become casual for terrorists to make such attempts.Its a pity that big and fancy malls seems to be coming up in every city of India but there has been no progress in terms of basic safety within the whole country.There is simply no account of who is where and doing what.There is no personal identification system in India at all. The blame is of course going to land on the ever exploding population ….but there are other countries with heavier populations ,progressing steadily towards “advancement”.
Dear Sir,
I am big time fan or you movies. you are amazing and at the same time i am a die-heard fan of Mr Amitabh Bachchan…Sir why dont you come together for a move..i m sure that will be a big time blast in the Film Industry…Sir tell me about ur thinking for the same..I m waiting sir.
Have a good day,
hi shekhar !
this huge problem will not have an easy solution. so, for now come and have a nice cup of coffee with me…….( coffee break from the grief of the globe ! )…….i wont offer you ‘starbucks’……ok ? just nescafe !
Scavengers…these politicians… Have they no shame?
How incredulous a person be..by using dead bodies for their photo montage…
Sometimes…its difficult to distinguish between a terrorist and a politician.
Hiya Shekhar…
The voice to let the army take over must be done by the people
.
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a legal website…where people should raise thier voice together…and ask for what they want!!!
Our voices need to be spread…and the best way would be a Legal website!!!
And then awakening people to follow the gandhi way…non violence….make the changes.
.
let people voice out a solution on this website…as to how to make our needs be acted upon!!
smiles
Are you suggesting something like movie “The Siege”.
Thanks
Jatin
Are you suggesting something like movie “The Siege”.
Thanks
Jatin
Hello Shekhar,
you concluded that “life of our people cannot be left in the hands of politicians or the corrupt political system anymore” .. then what do you think is the solution?? Who shall take the responsibility of our citizens security?
Whatever happened was really a bad and a shameful act. But countries around the World are facing the same situations in one way or the other. If anything could be done to make us free from terror.. then it would be a thing at a very root level. And big brains and people with power should have to come forward with good models that will improvise the situation in future.
One very simple example is: Look at the rate at which our population is growing.. Even slum dwellers are enjoying having minimum 3 – 4 kids. They love to give birth to them.. but what about raising them? Among all the species human being need the most care in there grown up years.. so human parents should have to be more responsible and serious about having or raising there kids.. but i don’t see this happening… There is no particular framework that people are following in this area.. as a result more and more disturbed people are filling the world. “If the present is turbulence then only the future could be the peace..” .. And future depends upon learning from mistakes that we made in the past..
In short its not just politicians we can blame.. even if we replace thr positions and powers with that of ours… we won’t be able to resolve these problems solely without a root level understanding…
Thank you,
Ranjeet
Dear Shekhar:
Your anger screams from every line you write. Rightfully so. Will your suggestion to assign jurisdiction over counter terrorism and intelligence to the Army work? I have serious doubts. The people who run the army have the same mindset as those who govern countries. They are all political animals who think of their own careers first and are not driven by the same anger you now display. They will continue to manipulate the masses, make strong statements to appease them and in the end nothing constructive will have been done to eradicate this terrorist insanity. In all fairness: What can be done to fight and stop terrorism? When America was violated inside their own borders on September 11 it wanted to unleash all its might in a holy rage against the perpetrators but there weren’t any who in a conventional way could have been dealt with. All that rage was shamelessly exploited by politicians for their own unsavory agendas, such as the Bush administration to curtail civil rights, all under the pretense that it was for the good of the people. It only accomplished the dumbing down of the masses and the introduction of a new sinister method of mind control by declaring any dissenting opinion as an unpatriotic act. When they created homeland security as a new agency, designed to fight terrorism all it did was to add another administrative monster to an already bloated bureaucracy. America has been spared any major attack since 9/11. Was this due to the ingenuity of homeland security and their hoped for seamless interaction with intelligence or is it only the quiet before the storm? When these terrible acts are committed we all want to lash out in a stupendous rage and punish the ones who are responsible for them. In our anger we roll up the stone of Syssiphos to the mountain top and just when we endeavor to proclaim victory another terrorist attack rolls that stone down again.
Terrorism is a new scourge that no army in this world can conquer. We must win this fight on the battlefield of social justice and equality, trying to eliminate poverty, discrimination and address the causes of a hunger that gives impetus to this new and deadly threat that puts in question the survival of our societies. Ultimately, I believe the optimist in me will win out and we will prevail. Politicians, however, will not have much to do with that fight.
With kind regards.
Horst
Dear Shekhar,
Human life is the cheapest commodity in India. It is still untouched by the sky-rocketing inflation.
Cheers!
look around you whole world is ruled by politicians and their hidden agendas, no help and hope for people who are suffering let it be china, mianmar or our own india same old same old. i was watching BBC and the footage of people inrubble in china, bleeding people in japur and dead bodies in Burma i cried my heart out.
I am in canada and media here does not seem to be much concern about what happening around the world.
Dear Shekhar,
I see some inherent pitfalls in allowing the Army to take over homeland security.
Firstly, we have enough border skirmishes and tensions to keep them on their toes there. Then we have insurgency in the North-East and Kashmir. The Army in India is fighting a low-scale war in more locations than one. So the first problem is that the army has it’s hands full.
Secondly, to deal with terrorist situations requires special training and attitudes. You are dealing with civilians everyday and the absolutist army approach will not work here. You need a far more flexible entity.
Third.. Who says the Armed forces are not stained by corruption? We have seen as many cases of high level corruption in the armed forces in the recent years as we have seen with high level politicians. The Army is already fighting strong human rights violation allegations in both Kashmir and North-East. Remember the incident of the Manipuri woman coming out against the Indian army a year back? The Army is not without it’s blemishes.
And last, but not the least, I think there is an inherent danger in giving the Armed Forces too much power. Look what happened to our neighbours. We don’t want a military dictatorship.
I think we need to establish and empower an organisation that is dedicated to this cause (if there is not one already). The key is to empower. It should have it’s own dedicated intelligence and power to override squabbling politicians. And it can be done.
A slightly unrelated of the advantage of empowerment example would be of the Delhi metro. Look at the way they have met their deadlines. I am told by an architect friend that is because, they don’t need to go through the red-tapism of clearance etc. They have tremendous powers as a central govt. funded effort. In a similair vein, let homeland security have power to override the squabbles and power struggles between the state and central govt entities.
My two bits…
Regards,
Ritu