When Will We Ever Learn??

I sat and listened in abject horror to the terrible news of yet another terrorist attack on Indian soil yesterday, this time in Hyderabad. As I watched the gory events unfold, transfixed to my television screen, my mind was filled with a multitude of different emotions – shock, anger, disappointment, trepidation and complete frustration.

Despite being an emerging global economic, scientific and technological superpower, we have failed to get one thing right – how to protect our people. Since September 11, 2001, the US has managed to foil atleast 40 attacks and has a perfect record to date of no terrorist attacks on its own soil since then, thanks to their homeland security. India, in stark comparison, has an appalling record of 40 terrorist incidents since 2001, the notable ones being the 2005 Delhi blasts, the 2006 Mumbai train blasts, the 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings, the 2008 Jaipur blasts, the 26-11-2008 Bombay blasts, and now the Hyderabad blasts.

Sadly, national security in our country is taken extremely lightly and is not considered priority at all. We do not learn from our past mistakes and our politicians in power believe only in vote banks and in amassing as much money as they possibly can. Apart from that, blame games, tirades and knee jerk reactions to gain political mileage seem to be the order of the day. Instead of our politicial leaders telling us that they will ensure a more stringent security and policing mechanism that will protect our country from any further attacks, they are quick to announce compensation measures for the aggrieved - a mere band-aid on a wound that refuses to heal anytime soon. 

Our blatant disregard to learn from the past is costing us valuable lives. Are we so pathetic that we do not care one bit for the lives of our own citizens? We dismay and strongly condemn Indian killings abroad – why is it that life is so cheap here in India? Maybe there is a feeling that since we are in any case bursting at the seams as a nation, a few people dying every now and then in a terror incident is par for the course. Why do we have such a casual lackadaisical attitude when it comes to national security? With every terrorist attack that takes place, we have now got the drill down pat – we condemn it, then have an inquiry, make a few token arrests, sack or transfer a few police officers to another precinct and do absolutely nothing till ‘after’ the next terrorist attack. 

What is shocking in this particular case is that our intelligence agencies knew that there was a terror attack looming, but did not give it due importance. In October 2012, even a recce of Dilkhush Nagar in Hyderabad was carried out. This was the exact same spot where the twin blasts eventually occurred. The Home Minister even sent out a high alert to all cities about a potential terror attack, 2 days before the blasts. However when the Home Minister was asked by the media, after the blasts had taken place, if Hyderabad was one of the high alert cities, he said that he would have to check about that with his office. How appalling, to say the least, that he was unsure of something that should have been on his fingertips. So in the ultimate analysis, we still chose to do nothing about the warning signs – no CCTVs, no tightening of security, nothing - the result being yet another terror attack on Indian soil, taking the tally to 40 such attacks in the past 11 years 

When will we ever learn? After another 5-10 more terrorist attacks, when more and more people are killed and injured? When more public property is destroyed? What message are we sending out to the terrorists? That they can come and infiltrate our borders and attack us anywhere, anytime they like and we will simply let them? We cannot let this continue ANY LONGER. 

We demand answers for why there is such a lax attitude in this country when it comes to national security. We want better accountability. We want to live in a terror-free environment. We demand a professional, tough and intelligent national security that is completely independent and is able to carry out its duties without government or political intervention. We want better policing, less for the VVIPs and political diplomats and more for the citizens of this country. We want up-to-date weaponry. We want the best intelligence system which can intercept criminal activity and avert future attacks on our sovereignty. We have the resources but lack the will to do anything in this area. Let us make national security our first and foremost priority. 

We MUST make a HUGE hue and cry about this. Let us not sit back and simply sympathise with and commend the affected cities for their resilience – frankly I am sick and tired of the same old rhetoric. We need to act and we need to ACT NOW. If necessary, let us boycott the upcoming elections and refuse to vote at all, unless we see some concrete advancements being made to protect our nation. What is the point of national elections when we are not even sure of our own national safety? 

Let us, as responsible citizens of this country, demand our FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT to safety and security. Everything else – sport, cultural events, sending a mission to Mars, etc must be second to that. We cannot let this inept government continue to take our safety for granted because that is exactly what is happening. 

I urge you to forward this to each and every Indian that you know and spread the message far and wide that we will not be sitting ducks ANYMORE. We cannot be soft on terror ANYMORE. 

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.