India has definitely earned the dubious distinction of becoming the favorite of terrorists. It was so painfully shameful to listen to the prime minister reeling out a long list of cities that fell to the evil of terrorism in recent time as though it is an achievement. What are we expecting? Sympathy? Will it bring back the dead? Heal the wounded? I think we should stop blaming “foreign hand” and “countries across the borders”. Let’s face it. Murderers have entered our house and massacred our people. Do we blame those who sent them or exterminate them?

Why are terrorists attracted to India? Well! It is so easy to enter the country, find local sympathizers, murder unarmed men, women and children, and gain worldwide publicity. If caught (rarely), comfortable jail sentences, human rights activists holding all-night candle vigils for their wellbeing till they die of old age or released ceremoniously with all honors in exchange of hostages! If not caught (most of the time), they literally walk away from a job well done. If killed (rarely), they attain “zennath”. It is really a good deal for all concerned except the poor innocent civilians who lost their lives or loved ones. Even the politicians appear to gain for they have much to talk about and very little to do. It is not their loved ones that are killed; they are quite happy to blame everybody and everything except themselves.

And everybody forgets the brave police and military officers who lay down their very lives so that we can breathe easy. They work against insurmountable odds and just bleed and die for us. They too are human; they too have families; they too have hopes of a better future. What they get is blame and more blame from ungrateful people.

If we have to blame anyone for this perversity of existence, it is only us. Yes, we the so called common men and women – for choosing such leaders to lead us; decrepit, tottering, egoistic fools with elastic back bones and untold greed in their eyes and hearts. All they want is to satiate their unquenchable thirst for power and possessions. God, religion, values, love are alien to them. And we deserve them because we chose them.

Today’s situation demands a holistic top level initiative, not knee-jerk reactions. We need central level ministerial department solely responsible for internal security. I don’t think today we have anything like that. We need to learn from countries like Israel, France and South Africa how they deal with such vermin. They have been very successful for decades. We should not shy away from learning from them. We should promulgate laws and institute special courts to try terrorists and their sympathizers. As a policy, we should not negotiate with such creatures but I know it is easier said than done. (I really admire that way Putin responded when Chechen terrorists took over a school with hundreds of kids as hostages. It takes guts to take decisions like that. Do you think the Chechens will ever try to pull off another stunt like that?)

Most important, involve the common man. Educate him. Today he thinks it is none of his business. Tell him it is his business, his life. What is the use of the massive media we have? Is it only to convince us to buy cell phones and cosmetics? Gain the confidence of the man on the street. Nothing misses his eye. You will have all the intelligence you need. Today he doesn’t trust the police. He thinks they harass him (and rightly so). Gain his trust and you will have one billion agents working for you 24×7.

Let’s Arise, Awake, And Stop Not Till We Vanquish

This Evil Called Terrorism. Jai Hind!