The big difference

After the recent blasts in Bangalore and Ahmadabad I was wondering why there haven’t been major terrorist attacks in the USA after the 9/11 bombings, and why here in India we become targets on a routine basis? We have silly, fumbling ministers, but so do the Americans, so what’s the big difference? I think the big difference is the reaction, a bit of tact, continued surveillance, and of course, the scale of population.

Immediately after the 9/11 bombings America mounted a full-fledged attack on Afghanistan, the citadel of the Taliban at that time. It was a natural reaction; the attack originated from Afghanistan, and so Afghanistan had to bear the brunt (no, I’m not justifying it). Iraq met with the same crooked fate, and even Iran knows, no matter how many ululations its leaders throw at the world in general, that it can be attacked any time. All fundamentalist countries know that they are going to be attacked sooner or later due to their support and sympathy for various terrorist organizations. When you know your home can be hit too, you think twice before hitting another’s home. A single attack has turned Osama into a fugitive, about to die like a rat hiding in a hole. No matter how much they love their heavens and no matter how much they lust for the virgins, the jihadis too fear for their lives when they are chased.

Recently someone told me that the Americans are not allowing new Muslims to enter the country; they simply don’t give them visas. They haven’t made this public and don’t pursue this policy openly and in fact officially they deny this fact. I don’t know if it is true. This is unfortunate, but it does make an impact. I’m not saying that an entire community should be targeted, but the problem is when all major terrorist activities effervesce from a single community and when a significant segment of its population condones violence for religion, you cannot blame governments for following such draconian policies. After all every government needs to protect its citizens and property and cannot (shouldn’t) jeopardize its citizens lives’ just to gain some praises from clueless or politically motivated human rights and civil liberty groups.

In India the somnolent law and order machinery wakes up only when there are a few blasts or terrorist attacks, and after every attack things go back to normal and nobody gives a damn who comes and does what. Result: one blast after another.

India has daunting population and it is simply not possible for the police to monitor all the spots and every individual. As citizens we have to put up a united front and be vigilant at all times. This is because it’s we who have to pay when blasts happen. Scores of lives are lost and hundreds are maimed in a single instance. Just imagine yourself having a good time doing shopping or eating out in your favorite market and in a single second a few of your family members are gone forever and you have lost both your legs. Such tragedies can be averted if we are a little more aware of our surroundings.