Gurcharandas: A Passion for Death or Life?

I have always believed that India would relentlessly march towards a modern, capitalist and democratic future; and terrorist attacks are a noisy, tragic, but ultimately futile sideshow. Islamism and Hindu extremism are a barely disguised form of tyranny, which will eventually lose their appeal...

...For all its seductiveness, I never did buy the ‘clash of civilizations’ theory. Radical Islam or jihadism is political rather than religious. Sayyid Qutb and Osama bin Laden employ dangerous ideas of violence that are not Islamic but resemble anarchist ideologies of Europe.

PRAJATANTRA: Paranoia and Paralysis - Facing Terrorism

The casual approach of the Government and the constituent parties is evident from the way they indulge in blame games and creating confusion.

Consider their views on having tougher laws to strengthen the hands of the agencies in dealing with terror. The party and the government constantly keep making contradictory statements. The main tactic adopted is to keep saying that the country does not need POTA. Even 38 year-something upstarts from the Congress party do not fail to give their two-bits worth opinions on POTA, with superficial knowledge and being short on facts. When the Administrative Reforms Commission recommends comprehensive anti terror legislation, a spokesman of the Government sings a different tune. There are other voices also that say that tough laws are required. Does this innocent confusion happen by chance or failure in co-ordination? It certainly does not. It happens as a result of a well-thought out ploy. The Government is actually equating terrorist activities with ordinary criminal activities as highlighted before and is content to deal with terror on the basis of the normal criminal laws. By constantly harping on the so-called evils of POTA, it seeks to keep the focus of the people on a needless and futile debate focused on POTA. One the one hand, it keeps the self-styled protectors of human rights happy and on the other hand diverts the attention of the people from the core issue i.e. its failure to tackle terrorism. It just keeps the issue alive and inconclusive. It also enables the Government to do nothing, considering the short time it has left before the elections.

Greatbong: The Way Forward

If any good has come out of 26/11 it has been the government’s announcement in principle to have a federal agency on terror (though I believe that similar ideas have been floated before and then consigned to the dustheap of public memory). Now the only thing that remains to be seen is how this federal agency is staffed, what kind of counter-terrorism equipment provided, how much political interference the agency has to put with and the extent to which the powers provided to this agency will be misused to settle personal scores and spy on political opponents.

A wide angle view of India: What role did we play in the Mumbai terror attack?

I need not wax about how irresponsibly the whole situation was handled by our ‘leaders’! But are they the only ones to blame? What role did we play? When did WE take a step to make them accountable? Do I really have a right to ask for accountability when I did not even vote? I’m not proud to admit it, but it’s the truth and I hope I never make that mistake again. My voter’s ID will and should be a reflection of my right as a citizen of the largest democracy and not as a mere ID card! How many of us fuming over the feeble response from our politicians, over their quibbling and finger pointing, has take the that simple step of even voting?

Nostalgia: Nausea after Mumbai terror attacks

Much more fearful thing is that, how many people are still at large. By the number of places attacked and amount of ammunition they carried defiantly point out many more people and local logistics. If someone wants to attack a place in neighboring city they need some support there, I just can’t walk into anyplace and shoot. What essentially means that in India we have enough people who can sell their country.

A Blog For All: The Mumbai Terror Blame Game

The media is busy casting about for someone to blame in the deadly Mumbai terror attacks. They’ll focus on the failings of law enforcement, the Indian government, and everyone but those on which responsibility for the attacks rests - the terrorists themselves (that is if they bother to call them terrorists at all; often they will refer to them as gunmen or militants).

That always seems to get lost in the blame game.

Law enforcement shouldn’t get blamed for the attacks, but rather castigated for being unprepared to handle such an emergency situation and that a city of 13 million people didn’t have a special weapons and tactics police group to handle such incidents is unforgivable.
That’s a situation that can be corrected with due diligence and can help prevent future attacks as well as respond to future attacks in a far more decisive and swift manner that will reduce the chances of a mass casualty incident.

What Lies Beyond the Facade: Couple of Questions: Out of the ‘Blues’

India should not give a knee jerk reaction as it may adversely affect the much needed cooperation Pakistan can offer and is at the moment offering India. So, I think Indian government should utilize all the support Pakistani establishment is providing in fighting the terrorism. After all they too are suffering at the hands of the same bunch of morons who need to be wiped out from the face of earth.

Diaries of a Madman: Never Forget

If Pakistan’s involvement is proved beyond any doubt, does it justify India going to war? Or should we concentrate on improving our security mechanisms so that such acts do not happen again? Nothing should ever justify going to war. As for security, only god knows how many times have we mourned the apparent apathy of our politicos, hoping that they spend as much time on security as they do on closing down dance bars. How far do we curb the freedoms that we enjoy in our country in the name of national security? Should we invade our citizen’s privacy like in the US or should we remain the moderate nation we claim to be? The government stance after all this is over will show the world and the public of India how we see ourselves, a strong nation or one plagued with indecisive political leadership. Let us pray that the only outcome is not the BJP coming to power in the next election but some concrete steps, a foghorn into the mist signalling that we shall not take this lying down, that “we shall go on to the end...until, in god’s good time” we have extricated this scourge from the face of the earth.

Bratgaba: And then came the Vultures...

The policy of ‘highest posting for the highest bidder’ in the police and other bureaucracy will continue as-was, merit be damned. The best and brightest of the forces will, naturally, be allotted to the Netas’s security, yes, even two-bit ones. No matter who wins the next election, they will accord each other all manner of increased security cover ranging from A to Z and continue the obscenity of having a hundred men guard one person of their’s, and having one person guard a hundred thousand of our’s.

Diaries of a Nomad: The Fire continues to burn...

...we talk about fitting tributes to our martyrs- Hemant Karkare,Sandeep Unni Krishnan,Gajendra Singh,Ashok Kamte,Vijay Salaskar and others whose names I am not aware of. A lot of people have said that no Indian blood be shed post Bombay 26/11 will be the most fitting tribute to these bravehearts and we need to setup an infrastructure to ensure this...Do you think politicians can rise above their petty differences and ensure an efficient system? I don’t think so...I request you to understand that we are a part of a pseudo democratic setup and the right to vote is not really a privilege when you have to choose the best amongst the worst. So for those martyrs, for our country I request everyone- DO NOT VOTE. Do not give power to people who don’t deserve it and who cannot handle it. I am not going to vote until one of us is up there creating the change that all of us love talking about...

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