'Sab chalta hai' – Aaakhir kab tak?

That our sab chalta culture entails a heavy price has once again been proved by the latest terrorist attack on India's commercial capital Mumbai. Over 150 people have died in the security forces' gunbattle with terrorists in Mumbai's three hotels – Taj, Oberoi and Trident. The loss of precious lives for no fault of theirs also makes a quote of George Bernard Shah on democracy more meaningful, especially in the context of our country. Says Bernard Shah, "Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve." In India, the leaders and masses have created such a system of governance that is in tune with this quote. Because from common people to heavyweight ministers – most of the Indians on the one hand try to look the other way whenever they come across something wrong happening if their interests are not harmed. On the other, they are always looking for shortcuts to achieve their small or big objectives – maybe it's jumping the red light to save a paltry one or two minutes or making millions out of public money by dubious means. So, it's not surprising that despite the lessons drawn from previous terrorist attacks in Mumbai and the Sansad Bhavan, despite the Coast Guard, despite our wide intelligence network, the terrorists sneaked into India's commercial heart and played havoc with the lives of the people.

So, we've got the leaders and the government that we deserve. No matter how tainted a minister is, his/her support to a coalition government ensures that he/she will remain out of the bounds of the law so long the government remains in office. Those accused of instigating the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, those charged with destroying the Babri Masjid despite assuring the court about the safety of the same, and so on, will always remain above the law because for political parties and the governments the charity never begins at home when it comes to booking wrongdoing big shots.

Apart from being natural low violators, we Indians also prefer giving knee-jerk responses than learning from what is happening around us. Only in September last, a deadly suicide bomber attack had destroyed a major part of the Islamabad Marriott Hotel but the managements of India's posh hotels did not seem to have anticipated this attack in India, hence no anti-terrorist measures.

Terrorists are trying to attack the very foundation of India but the political parties are more interested about their respective votebanks than taking a unified stand on the effective measures to root out terrorism. For some parties anti-terrorist law POTA is draconian while for others POTA is the best bet against terrorism. ATS chief Hemant Karkare has been martyred in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. However, till a day before his killing the Hindutva outfits had been criticising his team for their so-called high-handed approach in questioning the Malegaon bomb blast accused. It's high time that all political parties agreed to not to question the security forces' investigation because courts are their to verify the prosecution's claims.

Today a political party splashed Delhi papers with a hurriedly booked anti-Congress government ad. This ad, certainly prepared after the latest Mumbai attack, is in bad taste. Please be sincere in creating consensus to fight terrorism, not make others' misfortune a means to achieve your electoral goals.

Long Cherished Outlet II

I could not complete and publish my first-ever post for this blog yesterday because of the electricity failure in our colony. Before picking up the thread where I had left it yesterday, I reproduce my first post:

This just created blog is the outlet that I wanted to have for a long time. So many momentous events have been taking place in my country India, that I feel suffocated by not expressing my views on them. The title of this blog Waqt ke Nishan* is in Urdu language. It means 'Footprints of Time.'

Coming from a media background and blessed with a sensitive heart, I often end up asking questions about the ways of the society I live in. I have this burning desire of being useful to my society in some way. I wish to turn this blog into a platform where the constructive ideas are not only generated but also implemented for the good of all.

October is the month of festivities in India. It has begun with Id-ul-Fitr and would end with the grand festival of Deepawali. All the festivals of October are linked with religion. In the context of religion, one question that I often ask myself is: "Do all the human beings, who believe in the existence of the God, truly follow His word, written in their religious books? I feel anytime, whether in the history or today, a discerning person would answer this question in an emphatic NO. So, what to do to make the vast majority of peoples all over the world to behave in the way their religion want them to? To use a cliche, this is a million dollar question. I will try searching answer from time to time in this blog by focusing on personalities who used religion for the good of society.

*On June 11, 2013, I had given a new title, My Indian DNA, to this blog.