Mumbai ...

Just like most of you, I witnessed the horror of terrorism in Mumbai... live on TV. And just like most of you, I was left extremely angry, frustrated and completely dejected with 'the system'. I watched most of the 60 hours of the battle and during the process was hounded by many many questions.

1) How on earth can 20-something men (boys?) be convinced to unleash such terror?

I know the quick answer is that these people are brainwashed with sermons with religious/Islamic duties and the idea of trying to save their brethren. But my question is, how would killing people of other religions help? If at all, it only increases the divide between Muslims and non-muslims. If extremists in Pakistan were so sensitive to atrocities on Muslims in India, why don't they call them to their own country? In 1947, people had the option of selecting the country they want to stay in. The Muslims in India made that choice themselves. I know, some of the present Muslims may not have been born then and maybe they disagree with the choice made by their great-grandfathers or grandfathers. If there is any truth in that, the extremists in Pakistan should pressurise their govt. to call Muslims from all over the world who are unhappy with their respective countries and allow them to stay in Pakistan.

2) What about Kashmir?

The original conflict started with the dispute over Kashmir. With the current sorry state of affairs there, I guees, Kashmir has just become a 'piece of land'. Its more in the news for terrorism than its natural beauty. I don't have concrete numbers, but I am pretty sure that tourism in Kashmir is certainly not big enough to affect the economy of either India or Pakistan. I am quite certain that both countries spend more money on military in Kashmir than they get from it. Not to mention the pain that it is causing to the millions of other people. I think, Jawaharlal Nehru's words 'If there is heaven on earth...' has caused more damage than promoting J&K. In such a situation, why would holding a plebicite in Kashmir under the extremely extremely heavy surviellance of impartial international police (you know who) be a bad idea?
Beyond that, I think, if Kashmir is 'owned' by any country, the other one would be unhappy. Why can't people agree to the idea of open borders? Regarding the money that the tourism and other industries in Kashmir would generate, spend all of it on Kashmir itself. If there is a will, the logistics could be worked out.

BTW, the above should be done only because of the fact that there was no clear mandate as to whether Kashmir was meant to be with India or Pakistan (Yeah I know about Hari Singh and all that... but the ground realities are different). If Pakistan or anyone else thinks about snatching any other part of India it should be met with proper force.

3) Is it jealousy?

I've always felt that Kashmir and Islam is just a reason for the jealousy that some people have against India. India and Pakistan were (kind-of) born at the same time. Who had more advantage at the start is debatable. But the whole world would agree that India has done much more constructive work in the last 61 years than Pakistan. India is a big player on the international scene today with a big booming economy. But Pakistan has probably no significance. If it were not for terrorism, Pakistan would have been no different than say Latvia or Libya or Ethiopia. Seriously; they don't have many people, they don't have oil, they are not a very accepting society and most countries in the world dont play cricket.
Therefore, its fairly natural for them to feel jealous of India. Some of the more aggressive people have therefore taken it upon themselves to bring India down rather taking Pakistan up.

4) Aren't politicians supposed to be 'servants'?

'Public servant' is the term used probably in text-books now-a-days. From the local corporator to the member of parliament, every is my servant. Everybodies servant. And these servants are not doing a good job at all. Its amazing to see that India is developing so rapidly and so well and yet the people are increasingly unhappy about politicians.
Time-n-again my mind goes back to lesson learnt in history. The British came to India and promised safety and security to the kings from other kings. And slowly but surely got a stranglehold over the entire country. Similarly, politicians pose a people there to help you in every which way during elections. And immediately after that, they start behaving as if people are at their mercy. Its time these things change. I laughed out loud when Barkha Dutt mentioned on NDTV that no politician was ready to come on 'We The People' after the incident because they were scared. Guilty conscience pricks the mind :). I laughed out even louder when Mrs. Hemant Karkare refused to take compensation from Narendra Modi and also when Mr. Unnikrishnan Sr. refused to meet the Kerala CM.

Unfortunately, 'the system' in India has always given the impression that whatever you want, you can get it done. Be it driving without a licence or getting a govt. job or avoiding income tax. What would it take to make everyone more responsible and honest?

India has the 'Right to information' act these days where ordinary citizens can ask for the information they want. I am quite sure that this wrath against politicians will now be translating in many RTI petitions where many scams and promises-not-delivered will be unearthed; especially by TV news channels. I can't wait to see all that...

5) What am I doing?

Its all good to sit back and keep poiting fingers at others. You, me and everyone else knows that if one wants things to be better, then one has to work towards it. We all should realise our responsibilities and act in a responsible, fair and trustworthy manner.

Hopefully, a bigger, better and a much much stronger India will emerge from all this.

Also posted on shri-perspective.blogspot.com