Minutes before I started writing this post, thundering splashes of "Breaking News" sprayed across all Indian news channels. The Chief Minister and Home Minister of Maharashtra, the state where Mumbai is located, had both resigned. Funnily, the reasons for their resignation had less to do with accountability and more to do with their 'lack of sensitivity'. Let me explain.
A day after the siege ended, the Chief Minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, visited the scarred and devastated remains of the two hotels with his actor-son Ritesh Deshmukh and a Bollywood film-director Ram Gopal Varma. The media picked the term 'disaster tourism' and flayed the minister's insensitivity of such an act. "How dare he visit such a place in an official position with his son and friends?" asked angry citizens (and the media).
The sad truth is had it been a B-grade director instead of the realistic film-maker Mr. Varma, half of the media's antics wouldn't have erupted. Mr. Varma's own reputation of making films grounded in authenticity and realism made the media speculate that he was visiting the hotels with the intent of making a movie on it. When Mr. Varma replied via text message that he was only casually accompanying Mr. Ritesh Deshmukh and didn't even know the Chief Minister personally, none of the media channels did a backturn that their speculation was ill-founded. They rather went forward with the story that it was indeed very insensitive on the Minister's part as well as the film-maker's part to visit such a place at such a time.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Mumbai blasts: I'm angry and a bit incoherent
As TV journalists attempt to gauge the public opinion in the streets of India, one emotion rings out greater than the rest. Anger. Anger at politicians at the state and central level. Anger at the politicians in the opposition. Anger at a 'system' that has failed us.
After 18 long and painful hours since the first acts of violence were reported in Mumbai, the Prime Minister finally addressed the nation. What should have been a moment to inspire the nation and the people, to bind us in unison, was wasted in a most lackluster speech. As Thursday, November 27th unfolded and people woke up to the horror that had gripped the nation, people stared helplessly into their television screens and clenched their fists. They could do nothing to help.
The last four days have been extremely harrowing for me. Far from home, as news trickled down from tens of news websites I waited and prayed and cried. Yes, I felt helpless too. Helpless, sad and angry. Helpless because at this time of grief and despair, my country and my people have not one person to look upto. Not one man or woman who can lead us out of this misery ... who can offer compassion to those affected and hope to the helpless. A country of more than a billion people stands leaderless. Those few people whom we depended on, our dear politicians, were busy. Sadly not at fixing what was happening but sharpening their knives to launch their political attacks. Or am I being too harsh on them? Maybe I am. After all elections are only months away.
As turbulent emotions flare in the hearts and minds of the Indian people and certain ignorant groups of Hindus and Muslims find themselves insecure and threatened by each other, I continue to pray. If anybody sees this act as an act by the Muslims in India, it would be a wretched thought indeed. When somebody has decided to act this inhumanely, he has lost what in essence makes him human. These terrorists cannot have any identity of country, religion or faith to define them. They cannot be Pakistanis or Muslims or be ascribed any such label. They are not human at all. So let not our anger be channeled to a country or group of people but to a cause. A cause that has affected and will affect all of us.
As dangerous terrorism has become over the last few months and must be dealt with and rooted out, we must also look at accountability. We must look at our leadership and tell them they are no leaders at all and that enough is enough. As much as we intend to purge our country of such inhuman elements, the catharsis must also include our incompetent politicians. As helpless, leaderless and sad we Indians stand today, let us at least hope that our anger does not cloud our judgment. And yes, forgive my incoherence. Anger seems to have clouded my grammatical and rhetorical sensibilities, for now at least.
After 18 long and painful hours since the first acts of violence were reported in Mumbai, the Prime Minister finally addressed the nation. What should have been a moment to inspire the nation and the people, to bind us in unison, was wasted in a most lackluster speech. As Thursday, November 27th unfolded and people woke up to the horror that had gripped the nation, people stared helplessly into their television screens and clenched their fists. They could do nothing to help.
The last four days have been extremely harrowing for me. Far from home, as news trickled down from tens of news websites I waited and prayed and cried. Yes, I felt helpless too. Helpless, sad and angry. Helpless because at this time of grief and despair, my country and my people have not one person to look upto. Not one man or woman who can lead us out of this misery ... who can offer compassion to those affected and hope to the helpless. A country of more than a billion people stands leaderless. Those few people whom we depended on, our dear politicians, were busy. Sadly not at fixing what was happening but sharpening their knives to launch their political attacks. Or am I being too harsh on them? Maybe I am. After all elections are only months away.
As turbulent emotions flare in the hearts and minds of the Indian people and certain ignorant groups of Hindus and Muslims find themselves insecure and threatened by each other, I continue to pray. If anybody sees this act as an act by the Muslims in India, it would be a wretched thought indeed. When somebody has decided to act this inhumanely, he has lost what in essence makes him human. These terrorists cannot have any identity of country, religion or faith to define them. They cannot be Pakistanis or Muslims or be ascribed any such label. They are not human at all. So let not our anger be channeled to a country or group of people but to a cause. A cause that has affected and will affect all of us.
As dangerous terrorism has become over the last few months and must be dealt with and rooted out, we must also look at accountability. We must look at our leadership and tell them they are no leaders at all and that enough is enough. As much as we intend to purge our country of such inhuman elements, the catharsis must also include our incompetent politicians. As helpless, leaderless and sad we Indians stand today, let us at least hope that our anger does not cloud our judgment. And yes, forgive my incoherence. Anger seems to have clouded my grammatical and rhetorical sensibilities, for now at least.
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