Two days ago, September 7, 2011, around 10.30 am, a powerful bomb placed in a briefcase, exploded at the Gate No.5 of the Delhi High Court, nearly 2km away from the Parliament House and the Rashtrapati Bhawan(Presidential Palace), killing 13 and injuring nearly 100 innocent people who had come to the court to seek justice. Wednesday designated as a Public Interest Litigation(PIL)day, the court premises, particularly, the entrance where the bomb was kept, was crowded. The same site had witnessed the first blast-a mild one-in May, four months ago. At that time, counter-terror experts and the media had warned that it could be a dress rehearsal-a dry run-for a bigger, deadlier blast next time. But, the police and the Union Home Ministry that oversees the Delhi police, obviously did not take it seriously. Some TV channels showed one youthful eye-witness who disclosed that he saw one man leaving a brief case near the gate; he immediately informed a nearby policeman about this suspicious small suitcase lying there, but no notice was taken! One High Court lawyer told a TV channel that at the time of the first blast in May, the police was alert and security conscious for two-three days; then, it was back to business as ususal:casual, indifferent and lax. He envisaged a similar attitude even this time.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh government's response was a replay of the earlier incident:condemnation of "cowardice" of the perpetrators, sympathy for the victims and their families as also an expression of hollow assertion that we will not succumb to the terrorists! There were VIP visits to the hospitals where the victims were being treated. However, the anger against the govt for its repeated failure to provide safety and security to the people against these horrible terrorist attacks was palpable. There were even slogans against Rahul Gandhi by relatives and friends of the injured and the dead, present in the RML hospital.
It is a bitter truth that all the noise that was made by the State and the Central govts following 26/11/08 Mumbai massacre, to strengthen anti-terror infrastructure in the country in order to minimise such terrorist attacks, is just that:a hollow, meaningless noise backed by no action to prevent such deadly incidents. All the promised counter-terrorist and efficient intelligence-gathering entities are no where in the picture. All the bloody terror assaults on our cities-a half dozen or more in which scores of innocents were killed or wounded, still remain unsolved; those involved in carrying out those ghastly acts as well as their master-minds and handlers sitting safely across the border, have not been apprehended and punished. Nor any heads have rolled in three years of P.Chidambaram's taking over the Home Ministry after 26/11. This clearly insensitive govt and the ruling Congress party, more concerned about vote-bank politics, have chosen not to own moral responsibility for all the killings and casualties that have resulted from these brutal incidents. Perhaps, another Anna Hazare-type movement is required to channelise the people's anger against terrorism to force the regime into taking strong anti-terrorist action, or ship it out in the next poll.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh government's response was a replay of the earlier incident:condemnation of "cowardice" of the perpetrators, sympathy for the victims and their families as also an expression of hollow assertion that we will not succumb to the terrorists! There were VIP visits to the hospitals where the victims were being treated. However, the anger against the govt for its repeated failure to provide safety and security to the people against these horrible terrorist attacks was palpable. There were even slogans against Rahul Gandhi by relatives and friends of the injured and the dead, present in the RML hospital.
It is a bitter truth that all the noise that was made by the State and the Central govts following 26/11/08 Mumbai massacre, to strengthen anti-terror infrastructure in the country in order to minimise such terrorist attacks, is just that:a hollow, meaningless noise backed by no action to prevent such deadly incidents. All the promised counter-terrorist and efficient intelligence-gathering entities are no where in the picture. All the bloody terror assaults on our cities-a half dozen or more in which scores of innocents were killed or wounded, still remain unsolved; those involved in carrying out those ghastly acts as well as their master-minds and handlers sitting safely across the border, have not been apprehended and punished. Nor any heads have rolled in three years of P.Chidambaram's taking over the Home Ministry after 26/11. This clearly insensitive govt and the ruling Congress party, more concerned about vote-bank politics, have chosen not to own moral responsibility for all the killings and casualties that have resulted from these brutal incidents. Perhaps, another Anna Hazare-type movement is required to channelise the people's anger against terrorism to force the regime into taking strong anti-terrorist action, or ship it out in the next poll.
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