Mumbai blast: my anger at government, the media and the people

Government:
They did what they could do, they took timely action – this is accepted and much appreciated. But government did this only after the strike; could the strike itself be prevented? Yes, this is what intelligence gathering is all about. Home minister of India, Mr Shivraj Patil, is famous for his incompetence in running the ministry. When bomb blasts in Delhi took place, Mr. Patil was fussing over which shirt to wear, to appear before media, he reportedly changed his clothes five times before coming out of his house – just shows the concern of the Home Minister of India for the common man. Even when the catastrophe had struck Bombay, our minister foolishly goes to the media and lays bare the operational plan of the National Security Guards. “200 NSG commandos are being deployed” says he, little knowing that Taj hotel will have TV inside, which terrorists would have been watching.

Media:
The necessary evil, I call them. I appreciate the journalists (cameramen included) braving their lives to appraise the nation of the situation, however, amongst them are also some idiots who must speak because they are being paid to do so – even if it codswallop. They let rumours run amok and spread dissatisfaction among general public over alleged inaction of the government. I heard CNN-IBN running a report that government brought in NSG a “full” nine hours after the attack – they made it sound as if the Maharashtra government and police played poker in the mean time. Ill informed, rather uninformed, media does not realize that NSG is brought in only when it becomes clear that police will not be able to handle the situation. It is very rare for MARCOS (Marine Commando Force) to be brought into action. Nobody knew the intensity of attack initially so ATS (Anti-Terrorism Squad), which itself is well-trained and well-equipped force, tried to handle it by itself. When they realized it is well beyond their capability, then the call for NSG was sent. Nobody can be blamed for this, the plan of terrorists was foolproof and intensity of attack was high. The intensity of attack can be judged from the fact, that even the elitist of NSG commandos were not adequate to handle and hence MARCOS too had to be flown in.Another media person complained that NSG was brought to the site by bus, what else do you expect Madam Barkha Dutt, should they have made a landing strip right in front of the attack site and flown in first-class British Airways? For heaven’s sake, let’s not talk about the comfort of commandos – just think of it from operational perspective, how else could you have brought in commandos in the crowded area like that?Another reporter from NDTV said that people do not have food to eat inside the hotel, which is “another” problem. I think she failed to notice that there are terrorists holed up in the hotel, providing delicious food to the hotel guests was nowhere in the priority list at that time.

Politicians and People:
It was disgusting to see Narendra Modi and Vilasrao Deshmukh coming to the attack sight to make political statement. Even if Narendra Modi acted irresponsibly, Vilasrao Deshmukh – the Chief Minister of the state could have remained calm and let the security people do their job but he too had to come to counter the political point made by Narendra Modi. When will these people understand what pressure police undergoes to arrange for their security even under normal conditions and when they come right to the doorsteps of terror attacks they are risking the lives of many innocents in the process by diverting the attention of the police.It is normal and understandable for the relatives of victims to be angry and upset. All is forgiven for them if they vent their anger at wrong people but how about the people who are not directly involved in the tragedy. I heard a citizen complaining that fire brigades did not take any action for three hours, despite the fact that they (meaning those people being interviewed) urged them to take action. These people speak like imbeciles, never ever trying to put them in others’ shoes. Would they, had they been fire personnel themselves, had gone on without orders from their seniors? Would they gone on to rescue a few persons at the cost of jeopardizing the whole operation?It is high time that people, media and government start acting wisely.

All said and done, I was awestruck by the professionalism of the security personnel and except for such sporadic incidents the media and administration handled the situation well and prevented many more losses of lives.