Saluting martyrs..

I salute ATS Chief Hemant Karkare, Additional Police Commissioner Ashok Kamte, Encounter Specialist Vijay Salaskar and NSG commando Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, as well as the many other policemen and commandos, incredibly brave men who go in knowing full well they might never come back, never see their families again, who selflessly lay down their lives so that people like us can be safe. All the forces have indeed done a wonderful job over the past 2 and a half days, and I am greatly thankful to them.

I also pray for the more than 150 people who died in the shootings and attacks by terrorists, Indians as well as foreigners. May they rest in peace.

In this fight against terror, politicians have not failed to disappoint each and every one of us. Their petty pathetic bickering, finger pointing, politicising of the deaths of hundreds of people for stupid votes makes me boil. What the hell do they want votes for anyways? So that they can be the ones whom fingers are pointed at? Till now I have not heard one single person take responsibility for anything that has happened, not the politicians, at the state or central level, not the intelligence, not the police. Everyone except the terrorists is clueless, and instead of acknowledging it, they blame each other.

Just the fact that people actually suspect that an Indian political party can be involved in an attack as dastardly as this speaks volumes of the reputation these selfish, horrible people have built for themselves. At times I am glad I do not live in India at the moment, as I would never know whom to vote for, they are all corrupt, power hungry bastards.

Despite the fact that elites have been hit this time, the government still seems to be asleep. One after another, bomb blasts occur all over the country. Pakistan does nothing, India does nothing. Today we talk about our anger, the desperate need for change; tomorrow the hype dies down, all sacrifices are forgotten, till another attack happens and the whole cycle repeats itself.

While I totally detest the mud-slinging by Narendra Modi on the Indian PM Manmohan Singh, I can't help but agree with him on the point that the latter's statement to the nation was disappointing to say the least. It was the same old promises, we will go after terrorists, blah blah. Ya right! I am not a Bush fan, but I did agree with one of my friends when she said that when the terrible 9-11 attacks happened, Bush went after the terrorists in hot pursuit, despite all the criticism that he got, because it was his countrymen who had been killed, his nation which had been attacked. It might have also been driven by the desire to show that the United States was the most powerful country, but the Indian PM's reaction to what has been called India's 9-11 was shockingly mellow. In fact he seemed so dead while delivering the speech, no emotions on his face, just his lips reading out words probably written by his secretary because a need was felt for the PM to issue a statement.

In an SMS sent by Karkare on the morning he was gunned down, he said "I am sick of being a police officer in a country where every investigation is politicized." The moment the truth starts to come out, the politicians involved start raising a huge hue and cry and get the honest officers removed, so that they can put in their own stooges.

At this point, the Rang De Basanti dialogue comes to mind, "is desh mein kuch nahi badla hai, kuch nahi badlega. Aisa hi hota aaya hai, aisa hi hota rahega." (Nothing has changed in this country, nothing ever will. It has always been like this, and will continue to be so.) Sad but unfortunately true words. Nothing seems to wake politicians out of their comfortable slumber. Why are they not the ones who are killed? Because people lay down their lives to saves them. As someone on TV was saying, "I don't know whether to be happy or sad that nobody was killed in the Parliament attacks." Except for innocent soldiers of course.

The ease with which terrorists seem to be able to move inside our country, the intensive preparation that they carry out, undisturbed by anyone whatsoever, tells a sad tale. I agree that India is a large country, with a long coastline, and it is indeed difficult to police such a vast territory, but to be totally clueless? With so many agencies?

I believe that terrorism cannot be rooted out by military action alone. You kill 10 terrorists today, a more 100 more come up tomorrow. The hateful ideology that hardened militants plant in the minds of so many innocent youths is the real reason why it is so hard to control it.

I do not know what can be done. But I do know that if nothing is done, terrorism will rise. Because they obviously realize that India is a "soft target". I sadly also know that nothing will be done. Mumbaikars, as well as the whole country realizes that we CANNOT depend on politicians to do anything, they are too busy politicising terror.

Today Mumbai is silent, dazed, shattered, shocked and shaken; a financial city which just wants to get on with the business of life has today come to a standstill. Will the sacrifices of Karkare and all the others be remembered in the right way, as professionals who just wanted to do their jobs, but were haunted and hunted all their lives by politicians? People need to know what Karkare stood for, honesty, integrity, professionalism, confidence, a man of few words but immense courage, who never thought twice before leading from the front.

Today I have tears in my eyes as I watch people paying respects to the body of Karkare, a man I had not heard of till 3 days back, but today he symbolises for me hope, the knowledge that my country has produced people like him makes me hold my head high with pride.

But today I am angry, just like every other Indian. Today fine speeches are not enough, I want change. All we expected was some basic standards of government, and we have been failed miserably by our “leaders”. If the system does not change, it has failed people like Karkare and their sacrifices have been in vain. If the government does not change itself, families who have lost their loved ones will feel violated. Today people who go to five star hotels have realized that even they are not safe from terror. Slogans are being made at the funeral processions, but can good intentions be shaped into action? The everyday man cannot take up AK-47s, they don’t have television cameras. We have obviously not learnt our lessons from 1993. Will it be different this time?