Its all of us - stupid !

Another ghastly terror attack, hundreds dead, good samaritans help each other, world leaders condemn attacks, politicians make a beeline, issue inane statements and make hefty compensation announcements in the air, blame thy neighbour across the border, media keeps talking till they bump into a more sensational story, 'experts' make their opinions known, almost anyone (m'inclus) has something to say or write and life goes on. But, is it really so?

Least to say, it was apalling to hear the rhetoric made by Mulayam that SIMI does not have any presence in UP or one of his mouthpiece's profess that SIMI might not have perpetrated this criminal act of the Mumbai blast. We as a nation may never learn to live in unity; except for the semblance of harmony displayed in smaller groups as witnessed in the great act of herioism and resileince displayed by the Mumbaikars in the moment of crisis. Leave alone the usual suspicions cast on the involvement of the neighbour across the border, when are we going to learn to lend one common voice in a moment of horror and national calamity. How can we ever fight the pervalence of terror with so much of divergence on the very definition of the phenomenon and the criminals inflicting it? An outlaw like the SIMI gets the backing of a major political party and the reason can only be mandated by the shameful requisites of vote-bank politics. The moment the central government asks the states to crack down on a suspected unit, how can a state government be so deliberate in its backing of the same unit with its ministers openly acquiescing the unit. Doesn't this amount to criminal activity of the same magnitude as the ultras who languished the terror on innocent citizens of Mumbai? This is not the only instance of political partisanship playing precariously on the lives of the innocent lives. The Kerala CM comes calling Karunanidhi all in the need - on Humanitarian grounds - to inquire about the well-being of a convict serving his cause in the jails for his role on the Coimbatore blasts. Where on earth would killing hundreds of innocuous human beings and spreading the menace of terror would demand humanitarian treatement? A forest brigand murdering dutiful officers, besides felling so many tuskers gets exonerated like a patriot. While the outlawed get so sophisticated, we arm our poor guards with antiquated weaponery. The enemy is not across the border - it is right next to us - our impotency to define and stand for righteousness. As long as we let the politicans play the game of selective favoritism in the name of vote-bank politics and create for ourselves myopic policies to remain oblivious to the need for a uniform anti-terror law, we are going to be soft targets for any criminal waiting to wreck havoc on us.

These blasts may not be categorized as acts of terror - it is a war and should it be handled like a war. We need fire to fight fire. Call it TADA, POTA or whatever, there should be one unshakable law that can strike terror on anyone including the politicans - if it need be. Does such dastardly act even deem a defense lawyer, a sessions court that is still trying to express its jurisprudence even after eight years of the cowardly act of the coimbatore blasts, while the poor souls of the frail victims rest in peace? With so much acrimony amongst the various political parties on working towards a national consensus, sans a semblance of it when it comes to the need to preserve their vote-bank at any cost - any such law would get shoved down the drain and god forbid there be yet another terror strike somewhere and we go in circles! What does the so called increased diplomatic pressure on Pakistan going to achieve - what has it delivered all these years? If not to take a cue from the Israelies, we should know how to defend ourselves and protect our soverignity. We need leaders who could show us that way and not try to divide the nation in the name of pitiful power game and shameful vote-bank politics.

Alas, we chose the kings and so our destiny !