Thursday, November 26, 2009

26/11 - Just another Chapter?

Picture this –Two things… One is amongst country’s favourite monuments…. another is a group of brave uniformed men, amongst country’s esteemed soldiers.


You might wonder “So, what about them?”. Well, read on to understand their relationship.


What would you think of people, who drive nails into our national monument… hang their clothes on it, enjoy their supper sitting in the monument and stretch themselves while snoring away to glory under the most coveted landmark of aamchi Mumbai ??? Callous…. Annihilator… Anti-social….


Today, it is exactly one year after the fateful day of 26/11 last year, when the tragic attack on the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai took place…an attack which shook the spirit of the country and it’s defense mechanism and left many lives broken and shattered forever.


Indian police officers and jawans who are posted to protect the Taj Mahal hotel, a gracious landmark of the city of Mumbai, are offered no home, no shelter and no support to motivate them to risk their lives for the safety of the hotel and millions of thankless citizen of their own country. A monument, which has been the crown of the commercial capital of India for decades, is now serving as the home for these brave but homeless police officers – The Gateway of India. Now would you still call them Callous and Annihilator? Think again!




Our heart moves with wrenching pain when we see pictures of the carnage, which was driven, by Ajmal Kasab and his accomplices. But why are we not moved by the plights of those who are ensuring that history does not gets re-lived by their city, our city?



Nails driven in walls to hang clothes (Counrtesy: IBNLive)



No resting place for these cops (Courtesy: IBNLive)



Lunch Time (Courtesy: IBNLive)


Of course we are doing our part by tagging them as heroes, thanking them verbally, but what next? Is that sufficient to assuage the everyday discomfort, which is lived by these brave men of India? These are just few of the questions, which would haunt the humanity of this nation. Like it is said about our nation, India needs an attack, a blast to wake up… and it looks like we have become so heavily dependent on these attacks and blasts that we need few doses of violence and bloodshed each time to realize our own responsibilities!


Just yesterday, the television channels and newspapers in India were replete with the news headlines like “26/11 anniversary….”, “Pay your tribute to the martyrs…”, “Saluting Mumbai…” and what not. We have always lived in the glory of the past and the agonies gone by. Little do we think about those who live in present. A tribute to those, who laid their lives on that tragic day, is a way to show our homage and solidarity as a nation. However their souls would be happy only when they see that the cause, for which they died, is taken care of.


Nothing in our country stays untouched by politics and bureaucracy. While one lot of politicians is busy in mud slinging over the compensation payments to the martyrs of 26/11, the other lot has turned a deaf ear towards the needs of those who are alive and surviving in the lap of Gateway of India. What a shame!


Maybe, we need another blast to wake our government from its Rip Van Winkle slumber!
I hope it’s not too late by then…

8 comments:

  1. Really the callous attitude of authorities towards our Armed Forces is appalling and it pains me a lot.

    My Brother is in the Army and I have seen him ranting about the lack of support from the Authorities they receive be it the late implementation of the Pay Commission Norms or the outdated Arms they get to handle.

    Its time we wake up from our deep slumber and provide the best of support to our saviours...

    BTW long live Sundeep Unnikrishnan...I had the pleasure of enjoying a beer session with him long back and I hail his act of bravery and pray that he is resting in peace somewhere enjoying another beer...

    "Tell them when you get back home that for your tomorrow we gave our today..."

    Jai Hind...

    Cheers...
    Che...

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  3. I remember calling you from Gateway of India, once when I was at Mumbai.
    The biggest problem with our country is that in spite of having seen or experienced mistake we Indian do repeate it, and this is true for me, all of us and also our government.
    Defense may be a major expenditure in nation’s budget but we still buy crap covers for our forces, shit fighter jet, etc. You said it right "nothing in our country stays untouched by politics and bureaucracy", but u forgot CORRUPTION.

    Compensation has been given to 26/11 victims, 21 crore per year is spent to keep Kasab alive.

    Now that we see the way Gateway of India is used more as home (bedroom, dinning area, also Bathroom too)for Mumbai Policemen. I am sure that tomorrow government will spend 50 crore for upkeep of this monument.

    Toall taxpayers…. Cheers!!
    This is what happens to our hard earned money.

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  4. @ Nishant ....

    Totally agree with you...especially loved these lines "Tell them when you get back home that for your tomorrow we gave our today..."

    Don't know how many more brave lives would have to go waste on behest of bureaucratic cynicism!

    Thanks for sharing your opinion

    Cheers!
    Madhumita


    @Ankur,

    21 crores or 31 crores! ...and we complaint of lack of funds..atrocious!

    Just saw an article in ToI, on how a policeman's(who died on 26/11) daughter returned the comp money with a note saying that " Had the money, which is being donated to us by many, been used to purchase modern arms and ammunitions, lives of a few policemen could have been saved today".

    Hope our government listens some day.. till then keep your fingers crossed...

    Cheers!
    Madhumita

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  5. Awesome one Madhu... I truly support your thots.....

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  6. Nice post.. i believe that no amount of tragedy will wake up the morons ruling our country, unless someone takes some of those guys to hostage, filmy style. After the last years attack, there were too many statements that the policemen will be given sophisticated weapons and special training to handle these kinda emergencies, security will be tightened, the accused will be dealt with iron hand. But, one year on, nothing has changed but for the last digit in the date.

    If this attack of such a magnitude, doesnt wake them up, nothing will. Hope the next attack on the parliament succeeds.

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  7. Hey Maddy,

    I totally agree with your thoughts...While the Government is spending crores of money on Ajmal Kasabs safety from God knows what little to we care about our policemen or people who have lost their lives for this country!

    Its really sad to know that all we do is March or light candles on the 1st anniversary of any tragic incident and then just forget....Its high time that Government and the citizens like us ensure the safety of our country by taking necessary actions to protect our country rather than debating and lighting candles on the streets...

    Just my thoughts...

    Karishma

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  8. Madhu, very succinctly put. It is all about priorities for our government and obviously once an issue has no media attention, there is no monetary attention. I hope someday we generate a better breed of leaders (and not politicians).

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