Terror revisited

Human chains, candle marches, two-minute tributes and chaotic panel discussions marked 26/11 on television

Human chains, candle marches, two-minute tributes and chaotic panel discussions marked 26/11 on television. Images of those painful "60 hours" kept playing and replaying on news channels, while suitably worked-up news anchors and reporters gave breathless accounts of how better or worse off we are a year later, as far as safety and security measures in the city go.

Smart headlines like '26/11: Lest we forget' and somber lines like, 'The terrorists couldn't shake us then, can't shake us now' kept flashing the whole day. Words like 'solidarity', 'brave', 'we are one', 'they can't bring us down' were suitably bandied about, while scrollers reading 'relief cheque bounces' must have dashed hopes of the poor viewer soaking in the false bravado.



Barkha Dutt got us an interview with JK Dutt, the NSG Chief as they strolled around the Taj, Trident and Nariman House as he gave her a blow-by-blow account of how his commandos fought the terrorists. Particularly chilling and immensely moving was when he told how Major

Sandeep Unnikrishnan fell to the bullets. Elsewhere, Sheila Dikshit was part of a human chain, talking of the country being "one against terrorism". Yeah, the same woman who, a few days ago, had let Manu Yadav off on parole.

Ten steps away from her was Neelam Katara who said, "First we need to protect our country from our own terrorists and murderers then tackle the outsiders." A point, I'm sure, that didn't escape Dikshit.

Then it was the turn of Home Minister P Chidambaram talking about his government's achievements in the wake of the tragedy. He said, "That we have been able to avoid another 26/11 is an achievement in itself."

Yes, right, given the country we live in, we should really thank God every morning for keeping us alive because our government believes in taking each day as it comes instead of putting long term security plans in place.
Watching all this, I was reminded of Vivek Oberoi's line in a recent film, "Baaton ka waqt guzar gaya hai."

Absolutely, let's see some work happening, lest we forget!

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!