Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Why Such Furore!!

Much more than can be handled by a normal human mind has been said, written, argued, sensationalized by anyone and everyone. The list includes everyone who's even distantly associated with the terms blog, Mumbai, human, 'alert and concerned' citizens, audience-savvy media and the maximum city's elite who have been 'dining and sleeping' their way to glory in the financial capital's best hotels so far.

Talking of the terrorist attacks, they have been occurring forever now. This year itself we saw attacks in quick succession in Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Jaipur: the combined toll of human lives of which would surpass the number reached in the mumbai attacks. Of course, no matter what the official records say. So, why is it that suddenly we are seeing an outrage in the public to tackle the menace of terrorism 'at this very moment'?
For the simple reason that it is the elite who felt targetted this time and they have come down to the streets in protest. And it's anybody's guess that when we see a Preity Zinta, or a Shobha de protesting against this ghastly act, it isn't really difficult to pull the crowds who have been waiting since time eternal for someone to be their guardian angel, their 'voice'. And from this stems the basis of all the candle parties that we've seen on television in the last few days.
And when we come to think of it, not many whose kins would have lost their lives would have done so. For it's difficult to digest the loss of a loved one so soon and to take to the streets against a rotten system which includes just everyone. Or, maybe they've realised that there's nothing that can be achieved by this senseless hollering. A case in point is Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan's father. Indeed a brave father-son duo.

So, what should our 'concerned' citizens do? Being a bit more vigilant would help. But then again, who can help if all of a sudden we see a man firing indiscriminately at everyone. The root of all this lies there: up north. Ans since nothing is being done there, there's nothing that can be done here.

Then why is it that we have been ranting so much about this attack. Strikes like this have been happening and will continue to happen. A headless government at the centre led by we-know-who knows all too well how to let the anger die down. Simply by staying quiet. It has two reasons to do so. Firsly, for fear of being 'misquoted' they're all together refraining from making a public speech. Secondly, they don't want to say something to upset the 'monirity sentiments' for it has taken them years to instill faith in the little budding terrorists who take birth in any muslim household by the dozens. After all, general elections are just round the corner and muslim is indeed a large votebank. Currently, it seems to be following the dictum, 'A resignation a day will keep the anti-incumbency factor at bay'.

As responsible citizens it'll be good if we could get back to our work putting an end to all this hollering, yelling, ranting and rather cast our vote, of course to oust this terrorist-friendly government at the centre.

6 comments:

Vyom Bharadwaj said...

Sailor,
I agree with the point you quipped about the hollering and ranting.But the other day of this ghastly and mockery-of-humanity tabboed incident, I pondered that why should'nt I vote and use the power provided to me to eradicate such loopholes created by corruption and red-tapism.But Holla, then blinked the pros that knowingly i would be voting for a person who is even not literate enough to convince me.
My ideas might be quite whacky.Your reply is awaited.

Rud.. said...

nicely put.. very well written.. :)

Bertie said...

@vyom ..
Your vote and mine.. do you think they really count?
or for that matter the vote of any urban middle class educated lad who wants someone sensible to come to the fore??
NO.. simply because rural population easily outnumbers the urban pop...

@rud.. thanks that you liked my 'fundamentalist' view..:)

Unknown said...

Very well written.. Good that u presented ur own thoughts with some logical touch,which helps to understand the whole matter in better way.. Good points u have raised.. need to think upon it.. keep writing.. :-)

Cdr.(Retd) BB Khilari said...

Hello Bertie,

Very nice article indeed. You are absolutely right in saying "When nothing is happening Up North, what can you expect to happen Down South". But some thing has always (atleast in 55 years since independence) been happening Up North, and that is, "Vote Bank Politics", which is the sole deciding factor whether to act or not, or to what extent and how, if at all to act, against terrorism. Haven't we seen them act with great efficiency in the case of Sadhvi Pragya? In this great secular country the constitution provides to one and all freedom to practice any religion of their choice and rightly so, and all citizens should respect every individual's sentiments. But, how do our great Netas interpret it? When we say loudly "Allaah Ho Akbar", it is secularism; when we say "Jai Shri Ram", it is communal. When we say " Jesus my Lord" it is secular; when you say "Jai Bajrang Bali", it is communal (By the way, I say all these as loud as I can, including the Lotus Sutra of Buddha, "Nam Myoho Renge Kyoun" and " Bole so Nihal, Sat Sri Akal", when ever I can, it is my choice). This is the root cause of terrorism showing its ugly face with prominence. It is high time we choose the right thinking Netas to rule us. But can a common man, with right thoughts and patriotism, dare to contest an election without money power and muscle power? I did it in the last Assembly elections in Sarvagna Nagar Constituency, Bangalore and lost Rs. 1.5 lakhs of my hard earned money, including my deposit with the CEC, by securing only 212 votes, not bad for an outsider, settled as a retiree and also contesting from a constituency, which he doesn't belong to, especially since, these votes had trickled in from about 30% of all the nooks and corners of the constituency. It is an indication that people can respond positively. But alas, to my bitter luck, only 1, 08,000 voted out of 3, 01,000 voters!, for many, many called called up later to say their names were missing from the voters list, although they had valid voter ID cards! I made an informal protest, video footaged by CEC staff for about 10 to 15 minutes, to say that at least 1,50,000 voters names had been deliberately deleted and bogus names inserted to cause a stunning voting percentage to 35.6%, the lowest in the state. That was because they did not have adequate time to arrange for bogus voters to match gender and age and also due to very strict vigilance by the CEC for the first time. I also gave them a standing example of how, as per the voters list in KR Puram constituency, along with my wife and myself, a Christian couple and a Muslim couple also reside in my house! Definitely, 4 other genuine names would have been deleted else where against these false entries. With all such designs by the big political parties along with heavy bribes, goodies and false promises, easily believed by the innocent poor voters, can a good, patriotic, educated, honest and concerned citizen contest an election to bring in the change? And yet, I have asked for a seat from the BJP for Bangalore North Constituency on Shri. LK Advaniji's portal, but haven't met a single leader with the request for fear of being rebuked for not possessing any money power and muscle power, so what if I am a retired Commander of the Indian Navy, belonging to Kadu Kuruba, ST, a Marine and Aeronautical Engineer (after B.Sc), with 27+ years of managerial experience with proven dedication and integrity and above all being very passionate to contest, win and enter the highly known rotten system and try to cleanse it from within! You think they will even care to look at my request? It would be a great wonder if they did! Can I think of contesting independently? No, way for all the reasons I have elaborated above. The best I can do is go and vote the best of the rot! I am sure all people sincerely thinking about bringing in a change would be in a similar predicament, but all must vote. Jai Hind, Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Vande Mataram.
Cdr. (Retd) BB Khilari

Aditya said...

You blogged for only 5 months? What happened?