Mumbai Bomb Blasts...The City Refuses To Die

Terrorist… what does it take to become one? Is it the cause (like fight for one’s land – right or wrong is debatable) that one believes in? Is it the religious fanaticism (irrespective of it being Islamic, Sikh or Hindu) that pushes one beyond all lines of control? Or, is it the urge to scare the wits out of your enemies and make them cower & bend down in front of your supreme, naked power (as some countries of the world are used to demonstrating)? I guess it can be either, but mostly is a mix of all three, apart from many other things added to make a heady cocktail of anger, passion, spite, etc. that turns a man into a monster.

The cause for a land may be just – as was at the time that Bhagat Singh & his fellow-freedom-fighters decided to bomb the assembly in 1930s. That they did not intend to kill is another story – they intended to scare the British and bring public notice to their cause through newspapers writing about this act. Not much different from what the Lashkar-e-Taiba is busy doing today, except that Bhagat Singh’s fight was against another nation occupying ours by force, and this cannot be termed terrorism. Same is not the case with Kashmir, even though the terrorists may draw parallels here. The debate, though, will continue forever, as one man’s murderer is another man’s martyr.

The cause for religion may also be just – should a particular religion be at risk, as the Jews were during World War II. But does Islam really have to fear? They are, after all, now the largest religion in the world. And do Hindu fanatics have to retort every time like devils whenever a Godhra happens – is our religion at risk in India? With 80% of India’s 100 crore+ population being Hindus, not yet, I may say. Christianity appears tolerant today, but the world knows how their missionaries spread their religion by the sword for centuries. No; religion can never be the right excuse to kill millions.

The cause for crushing an enemy may also be just – but should it be left to armies to fight it out or should innocent civilians be subjected to whims of nations? And is the bombing of citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, howsoever noble it may have been to end the WW II, an act of war or an act of terror? Are Israel and Palestine right in what they are doing to each other’s denizens for decades? And is Pakistan right in being a sponsor of terror across our border? No, it is not – as no nation can ever be. Simple rule – even if your neighbour beats you black or blue, and then also grabs your house, you just cannot kill his wife or brothers or children to get it back, can you?

Terrorism, in all forms, is nothing but the wild expression of frustrated feelings of a set of humans (can we still call them that, or is ‘creatures’ a more appropriate word), who have their own agenda that is completely different from the world. And the only way they can make themselves heard or noticed, and remain powerful & dreaded (though they would like to call it ‘respected’), is by making a song and dance of it every time they can. The song of suffering and the dance of death.

This brings me to Mumbai, which was once again hit by terrorists yesterday. 7 blasts – inside of half an hour – in the railway network that carries teeming millions – at peak hour traffic – designed to deliver maximum impact – and to bring the city down to its knees – worked like clockwork. To my memory, only 9/11 NY, and 12/03/93 Mumbai were more horrific. The sheer panic that I saw on the faces of people yesterday was more horrifying than whatever I have ever witnessed.

What I saw was people running for their lives like I have never seen before. Office-going ladies crying like lost schoolgirls on the roadside, men in their 30s and 40s looking zombie-scared and clinging onto whatever transport they could get a hold of, old men & women pleading with everyone who would care to listen to help them reach their homes – the memories of the so many terrified faces I saw while trying to get back home yesterday will haunt me for a long time to come.

What I also saw were a lot of good Samaritans trying everything they could to help out – they were very, very few, but they were there – handing out water, biscuits, stopping private vehicles and requesting them to take some passengers with them. The city had suffered a great blow, but the city is resilient and was trying to stay alive & kicking. Today, at least for now, it has got back to its feet. And while the impact of yesterday’s terrorist attack on it is huge and loss of life suffered incomparable, the normal citizen on the road is ready to show the terrorists that they have largely been unsuccessful in trying to disrupt life. Makes me say, “Salaam Mumbai!”.