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20Question to Terror
QUESTIONING, IT is said, is the first step towards enlightenment.
Any sensible society welcomes it. Twenty pointed questions, which most
people of India wanted to ask but were afraid to, were listed by a bold
CJ recently. Maybe it was not ’original’ thinking; each one of them had
been asked by others earlier. But, no ‘professional’ journalist of
pliable mainstream media has had the guts to compile all of them in one
place.
Some of the questions
were admittedly hilarious and indicated a black-out of grey matter.
That is only to be expected in the wake of the magnitude of the
Fidayeen attack on Mumbai. That they did arise in people’s mind is
itself a welcome sign, indicating success of citizen journalism.
Indians have at last started to think with their own brains instead of
accepting as sacrosanct the ’establishment-speak’, which is spread by
the ‘accredited’ media for a fee.
Blunt
answers to these questions, not ‘original’ again, are compiled here
which different people have provided in different forums,. No one seems
to have collected them in one place yet. It is not necessary for
everyone to agree with these answers. But, a closed mind that dismisses
whatever little amount of logic, if at all any, behind them would only
bring ruin. An open-minded approach will slash the probability of a
repeat of such dreadful terrorist attacks. After all, wisdom lies in
forestalling such tragedies in future, rather than ‘India emerges
victorious’ over ten militants to ‘liberate’ hotel properties, after
letting them accomplish the task they came for. And after killing 200,
injuring 400 and damaging Rs 50,000 crore worth property!
These questions were posed in an earlier article (please see the link: http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=151094). The questions are in italics, while the answers to 20 questions are in normal type.
- [When on earth will we have a single, unified intelligence wing such that 9/11s of this kind can be averted? If this scale of attack requires months of planning as some experts suggest, why could Indian agencies not sniff and nip it in the bud?] Never! Indian intelligence agencies are not staffed by supermen. Moreover, even the FBI, with all its resources and sophistication, could not do that.
- [Why could Indian navy and the coast guards not detect such a movement on our waters? Was the navy too busy claiming brownie points for their attacks on Somali pirate vessels?] Despite all tall talk, the Indian Navy has just a ritual presence. To fund the capability suggested to be attained, every Indian should be prepared to forego all ’luxuries’ of life for decades. And contribute maybe 90 per cent of income to taxes, and assume that the money does not get siphoned off to unscrupulous crooks.
- [Why did the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) not know about it? Was it too busy investigating the Malegaon blasts on the behest of the progressive government hell bent on showing the opposition in poor light before the elections in the states?] ATS too cannot one-up FBI and doesn’t comprise of gods. A professional body is supposed to probe every angle, saffron or green or red to arrive at the plot.
- [Why could the police not detect their movement from the seashore to the sites of terror especially when they were carrying so much ammunition?] Nobody carries ammunition in transparent containers! And tonnes of different material have to flow around unhindered to keep everyone fed and clothed in such a crowded and unwieldy country.
- [Why did National Security Guard (NSG) commandos reach the terror sites in the morning when the first strikes were reported a little after 10:00 pm the previous night? Why is our reaction time slow always?] You need time to free the commandos from their all-important duties of protecting Indian VIPs, who cannot move without Z class!
- [Is it because the Mumbai Police could not comprehend the scale of attacks – ones that require not the 303-bearing constables of their hafta collecting brigade but the skilled commandos of NSG?] Just having ’skilled commandos’ can only expedite razing down of structures and killing of scores; the counter-terrorism establishment, costing a fortune to maintain to ordinary people, could not stop ten unpaid Fidayeen from doing that.
- [How were the terrorists so well versed with the floor plans of the hotels? Were they staying as guests in the hotel and did a thorough reconnaissance? Did they actually set up control rooms in the hotel as reported? Did they place some of their men as hotel staff months before - as a part of a well planned strategy? And did this ‘staff’ aid in clandestinely storing large amounts of ammunition in the hotel for use by ‘friends’ on the appointed day?] It must be remembered that the ’accomplices’, if any, may not have needed to ’come’ for the job from elsewhere. They may have been kids, even newborns, witnessing worse treatment meted out to their parents due to perverted righteousness of others. And there may be thousands more, wanting to do the same, due to singular absence of remorse or reining in.
- [Why were the terrorists asking for British and the United States passports from the hostages in particular? Did they have any sinister agenda of an international kind on their minds? Did they make any demands?] These are all hearsay. Maybe true. If true, might even have been a ploy to mislead. Don’t expect answers to all questions, which may not be relevant to avert a repeat.
- [Where is Raj Thackeray – the self proclaimed ‘Marathi Maanus’ thekedaar– when so many of innocent Mumbaikars have been shot at?] Heroes making dramatic appearance in the climax – proving his hero-quality, by showing the bare chest before AK 47s – happen only in Bollywood.
- [Where is Shivraj Patil, our honorable home minister? Has been quarantined because every time he blabs his mouth off to the media, it becomes extremely embarrassing for party high command to face the aftermath? Why has his deputy Prakash Jaiswal been deputed to face the cameras?] You cannot expect all the senile septuagenarians and octogenarians (destined to die in a few years) who run the country to keep perfect health to formulate policies for those who have to live much longer. Patil is now preparing to enjoy life as an unemployed dignitary spending millions of rupees of public money and may get a state funeral after a few years.
- [Why did the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) issue an advertisement carrying Atal ji’s message to Delhiites that condemned this terror attack and urged them to vote for a change – vote for his party, when Advani and Rajnath had publicly expressed their solidarity with the Prime Minister in this grave hour? Was it because they wanted to shout their lungs out and reap electoral benefit out of it but could not for the fear of being labelled as insensitive and irresponsible?] This is what must be expected when the ’democracy’ is mistaken for universal suffrage and multiple-party circuses; letting gullible, illiterate and pseudo-literate masses to put sikka on symbols; where a clever politco -- who cunningly anointed the choice of his sponsors to usurp power shed by colonists -- is literally worshipped, and believed to have driven them out ‘fighting for freedom’.
- [Why did the BJP-led government that condemns terror and blames United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for it now doesn’t follow the current government’s ‘no-talks’ policy? Why did they not order NSG to attack the terrorists while the ill-fated IC-814 aircraft was well within Indian borders? Why had the army and naval commandos, Maharashtra Police, NSG and Air Force been pressed into combat when we still had hostages at the mercy of the terrorists in the hotels and at Nariman House? Are these hostages less important than those who boarded the Air India plane?] Don’t be silly to equate the lives of a few hundred foreigners and ordinary Indian guys to that of a daughter of an ’honourable’ minister, in the type of democracy celebrated here. Had the ‘first daughter’ (or son-in-law) of the country been present at the Taj or Trident that day, the senile nominee of the ’dynasty’ would have behaved just as his illustrious predecessor at Kandahar.
- [Why did Sheila Dixit cancel all her election advertisements in the media – expressing her condolences to Mumbai victims? Did she ever fathom that the turn of events could actually make her ‘progressive’ advertisements look like a rude joke and affect her electoral prospects?] There are many other ways to buy the pliable mainstream media.
- [If US can bomb suspect areas in Pakistan’s territory through drone planes, those near the Afghan border, what stops India from bombing the training camps that breed such brutal enemies of mankind?] The US may have credible information that the ’training camps’ are not located within its own boundaries. It is ruthless enough not to hesitate bombing and destroying Indian schools and hospitals, if it comes to know that the coordinators are holed up in India.
- [Why was media allowed to telecast just about every detail from the site when it could be used by terrorists holed up in the hotels and Nariman House or their bosses in Pakistan to plot their answer?] You can’t black out the whole city, are try to light up the region to 24x7 with an artificial moon, like the US tried in Vietnam, based on such silly phobia.
- [If a cell phone with call records from Pakistan, arrested terrorist hailing from Faridkot in Pakistan and a hand grenade with Pakistan Ordinance factory stamp have been found, then what stops Indian authorities from blaming Pakistan – the rogue state – for these dastardly acts?] If such preconceived notions of some people are given any weight, UK could easily have blamed India for any number of acts in Ireland. No idiot would advise reprisals against China, for ‘supplying’ deadly pistons and bullets to the Fidayeen. That would be sure Hara-kiri.
- [Why can’t we have an international judicial system wherein a country – without waging a war - can file a legal suit against another for disturbing its peace and attacking its territory and win a claim that in some way form or manner compensates for the colossal monetary and material loss if not the human suffering, that such acts of terror cause? Why can’t international authorities – like United Nation – actually sanction economic/financial, political, social and other embargoes of every kind against the countries perpetrating or supporting terror?] Too far-fetched a thought for a virtual non-entity in international arena almost at the bottom of the table. Moreover, every one of India’s neighbours can accuse it of ’disturbing its peace’.
- [Why can’t the Indian lobby effectively polarise the world against Pakistan’s blatant involvement in terror not just on their soil but globally?] It can. But it may take a few decades of constructive work without empty jingoism to create an effective lobby. In any case, either provoking or inviting US to play havoc could prove to be the most idiotic folly. See what happened in Pearl Harbour, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan!
- [Much to our delightful imagination, why can’t US support India and bomb Pakistan, the way it did in case of Kuwait and Iraq – like a self proclaimed global police? Is it because India has no oil to offer?] With such perverted thinking around, India should ‘delightfully’ be prepared to let New Delhi get bombed by US. That’s what it may do if it suspects that the masterminds who killed its six citizens are holed up somewhere in the city. Even otherwise, it should not be forgotten that a high functionary of Indian government did deals with Iraqi junta in the food for oil scam. With that sort of booty, this worthy and his son are being wooed by the ‘nationalistic’ opposition circus. Hopefully, US can’t be foolish to bomb a country for punishing such characters when it has nothing to gain from such operation.
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