2nd Anniversary of 26/11

Another anniversary of 26/11, another day of remembrance, another day to relive the tragedy, another day to light candles and lay flowers at the sites of the tragedy, another day for the khadi-clad to spit rhetoric, but 730 days of loss for the kith and kin of the dead. 

This was the day, when ten outsiders played havoc with our country and all of us watched helplessly hoping that the casualty figures would be wrong and there would be less people dead, or maimed. This was the day, when gun-wielding people from outside the country came in and created mayhem, but made heroes and martyrs out of some ordinary people. Where have they gone – the unnamed policeman, the doctor, the nurse, the waiter, the ambulance driver, the porter, the passenger, etc? Where have their contributions gone?

On this day, besides others, the lone killer alive is resting in the jail. His well-being is enquired, his comfort is taken care of, and his needs are catered to. After all, our legal system is so unbiased. Prior to the trial, we said, no person is guilty till proven and gave the killer a fair trial. After the trial, he has been proven guilty, but we still need to give him a fair chance to avoid the gallows. I am not an advocate of the theory of ‘an eye for an eye’, but aren’t we overdoing this business of fairness and that too to a cold-blooded murderer, who has till date not regretted his actions, or displayed even a false sense of remorse? Rather has been making demands on the system.

For once, let me ask – why are we being fair or rather, let me reframe the question, why are being so fair? After all, we are not bombing a foreign nation for an internal tragedy? But when we catch a rat and a few moles, then let us deal with them in a manner that the world realises that we mean business. If we are not a rogue-state then we are not a soft-nation too. If we don’t mess up with others, we don’t let others mess up with us too. This needs to be shown in action and not in poetic speeches in international forums.

For the powers-that-be, it’s time to show that India cares for her citizens and to the outsiders that India can dare. Don’t mess, have teeth, will bite!