Time to Stand Up for yourself

Forgiving a Terrorist is left to GOD. But fixing their appointment with GOD is our responsibility.

                          ---INDIAN ARMY---

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My nephew Krishang turned 4 today. In the midst of his birthday celebrations, our constant fixation with the news channels continued as we watched the terror drama unfold in Mumbai. Amidst the reports of heroics by the Indian Armed Forces, the NSG and the Marine Commandos, we heard the news of another child who celebrates his birthday today, with the biggest tragedy of his life.

Terrorists killed all 5 hostages held at Nariman House. Among the dead, were this little Israeli child's parents (age of the child unknown, but from the pictures, he appears 1-2 yrs old). For two days, India and the rest of the world have scrapped their routine television schedules to watch the latest developments taking place in South Mumbai's landmark as well as elite hotels.  The Taj Mahal Palace, Oberoi and Trident are household names now, if not earlier. The world is watching us. Maybe because of the number of people from various nationalities who were attacked. 

And we have the familiar sights yet again. Politicians raking political mileage out of all this. I've been listening to this crap throughout this entire ordeal. L.K. Advani, Shivraj Patil, Pranab Mukherjee, Narendra Modi....the list of name callers goes on and on. I have enormous respect for Manmohan Singh as an economist. But as the leader of this country, I think he's a hopeless failure, these terror attacks notwithstanding. 

The whole blogosphere is angry. Including myself. Why shouldn't we be? Can't we be safe in our country and our home? I am angry not with just the political blame game. I am angry with myself for being a silent witness to all this name calling and unkept promises by the so called leaders. I have questions....I have no answers.

Where the hell is Raj Thackeray now when innocent lives were lost in "his" Mumbai? Where are his MNS supporters now?

Is it just me, or the terrorists seem much more united in their cause than we as a country seem to be? Aren't we our biggest enemies in that case?

L.K.Advani, Jaswant Singh, Narendra Modi, Shivraj Patil, R.R. Patil were all shown at the scene of terror for a fleeting glance when they came to make their poilitical statements. They wasted all that money to come down to Mumbai and give us all that crap and stand at safe distance from the scenes of horror to address the media to use this as campaigning platform?

How many more terrorist attacks before we learn to demand action from these incompetent men at the helm of the affairs of our country? How many more days will we go back to chasing our materialistic dreams and brush aside things that concern all of us, by saying "The Governement should have done so and so"?

Is it not our duty to keep the government on its toes and make it responsible to take action against every reasonable grieviance we have? Why should we be helped if we are not ready to stand together and raise our voices and ask for what is rightfully ours?

How many times have we complained about the bad road conditions on our way to work/college etc. and never bother to demand the government to provide us what has been promised?? Why do we keep using those bad roads, or in other case, use other roads, waiting for the government to take steps when it has time?

If we cant stand together and demand for our basic rights, why do we expect the government to do anything else on the much larger issues?

We complain about non-availabilty of young, honest, dynamic, educated leaders to lead our country. How many of the people who actually fit that profile, would rather lead this country than run the affairs of a Multi-million dollar MNC?

Why do most parents encourage their children to become lawyers, doctors, engineers, chartered accountants? Why not something bigger? Like the Prime Minister of the World's Largest Democracy?

It is such an irony that even I am a coward when it comes to answering these questions. These have been troubling me throughout the day as I sat there listening to chilling accounts of horrific tales that are being told in Mumbai. Its not about religion, nor nationality. Nor caste, nor status. 

Its about human life. 

And how its value seems to get depreciated in the hustle and bustle of daily life. 

Can Rs 1 Crore for the families of the brave martyred soldiers diminish their pain that they are feeling now? 

Can those few thousands of Rupees repair the fractured souls of the people who went through this ordeal?

What goes on inside a terrorist's mind to kill someone else in flesh and blood? What?

I can go on and on and on. Writing here might not serve any greater purpose than to serve as a medium to vent my ire. I know I have been shaken like never before. 9/11 was a spectacle for me, something I had witnessed and shrugged off, as a carefree teenager. 26/11 cannot be that. For now, the world has changed many folds. 

Do we want our children to grow up in a hostile environment with a constant fear for their life? 

Do we want to blame particular communities and countries for our sufferrings, forever and ever, and just witness all this until it reaches our very doorstep?

Do we want to be just passive watchers and just comment from the sidelines thinking, "Oh it has happened somewhere else, lets think of something more important, like say, the recession".

Do we want to still wait for the government to keep playing dirty political games, talk only about elections, take out extensive rallies with our hard earned money and not give us basic like street lights?

Or do we now start demanding them to give us what we as tax paying citizens of this country deserve and make our voices heard?

After all, even we deserve the chance to live our life free of fear. If the politicians deserve the elite security forces, can the rest of the 1 billion odd population just settle with less than mediocre??

ARE WE GOING TO WAIT FOR ANOTHER INCIDENT TO SHAKE US AND JUST WRITE OUR MINDS OUT, OR ARE WE GOING TO TAKE SOME ACTION??

ARE WE??

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