Yes, you guessed it right. I have not quit writing on the topic, mumbai and its aftermath. I was going through ibnlive.com and the citizen’s comments there under each article. I do post there my opinion occasionally too. Anyhow, the following is one post I came across, which made me think. Posting it for you to read too.
User: abhigyan_dg
Post:
Hi Rajdeep,
I watched Mumbai being shattered by 10 so called ‘motivated’ people. Undoubtedly it was painful, to see a few fanatics holding a 10 billion strong country at ransom! Like most, I blamed the government, the politicians, the administration, the intelligence … et all. Until last evening when I was pondering over the crisis we currently are in. And … I blamed myself, a citizen of India, a common ‘urban’ man (I use the term ‘urban’ purely because it is primarily urban India which is under threat from terrorism). Zillions of questions cropped up!
- Vigilant: I scream of in-efficiency of the security forces. How much did I as a common citizen contribute towards keeping at least my neighborhood if not the city or the country safe?
- Co-operation: Airport security, if tightened for some reason, passengers are the first to protest, with arguments that they were ‘harassed’ and ill treated. It is only now, after the recent Mumbai attacks, that we are slowly coming to terms with the extra security measures.
- Votes: I blame the politicians and rightly so, because they have failed in performing their duties. Question is, was I a part of the voting system to start off with? Sadly, the answer is NO! Am I not shying away from my social duties as well? I come up with excuses like, ‘it is a difficult process to ensure the name appear in the voting list’. Tax filing in our country is an equally difficult process. But since I expect gain out of it (refunds), I will go to any extent of this difficult process, without complaining.
- Casual: I have been hearing about the Spirit of Mumbai since the 1993 blasts. It is said that nothing can dampen my spirits, the spirit of a Mumbaikar, the spirit of an Indian. But do high spirits mean putting everything behind me and carrying on with my day-to-day activity from the very next day, as if nothing had happened? The list can go on, but due to paucity of space, I have highlighted just some of the points which I felt needs attention. This is purely what I feel about myself. But, I am certain that there will be many like me who will have similar thoughts. Yes, our agitation against terrorism and corruption is completely justified, but along with that, as responsible citizens, we need to sit back and think of ways of becoming a part of the ‘cleaning process’. No country can be sanitized by the police, intelligence, politicians or the armed forces from terrorism, without the contribution of the citizens of that country. Things are changing, India has woken up, authorities are being questioned, but with all of this, let us, as individual citizens, wake up as well and contribute to a safer and cleaner society. Let us not wait for the next eventuality to happen. However little it might seem let us act NOW.
