Thursday, April 8, 2010

And a few more die :(

So what if a few more people died today? Thousands die everyday. But then it is different went they don't die, they are killed. Its further more painful if its not their fault and when these people are sole bread-winners for their families. Agonizing still, is the fact that they were made pawns of a political game. I'm talking about the 75 CRPF men who lost their lives in the Maoist attack on the 6th of April 2010. All that would remain of these 75 men would be condolences from Chidambaram hailing them as brave men, their widowed wives and orphaned children with no means of livelihood, and a timeless struggle for their families for survival. No doubt, these people were brave men who were willing to protect their countries from threats, both internal and external, but they were hardly given any chance to showcase their bravery. Rather they were left at the mouth of minefields (literally), much like a rabbit in front of a beaming flashlight. In spite of the precise intelligence inputs about Naxal/Maoist plan of an attack, Chidambaram was busy giving sound-bytes about how he had a plan of finishing Naxals in so and so time, so and so manner. Instead of garnering popularity in the media, had he spent more time in devising a strategy for a counter offensive, so many lives could have been saved. And to hear that the CRPF personnel fell into a trap laid by the insurgents was even more shocking. These killers don't use bows and arrows. They are armed with highly sophisticated military equipment and should be dealt with accordingly. No points for guessing where they are acquiring their armory from. But the current government has failed to deliver on all fronts. These people are more inclined towards caste politics than safety of people and national integration at large. It took blasts in 6 different cities (and a 26/11) for Shivraj Patil, the then Home Minister, to resign, just because he was a Gandhi family loyalist. I don't know what else do these people want to happen before they actually wake up.

Chiddu, please do something. You dont need to look far for inspiration. We are the people who fought militancy in Punjab. We are the people who have won fierce battles. Don't make us a race of cowards. Don't try to calm people by using phrases like "spirit of mumbai" or "those were brave men we lost" after each debacle. If you dont act, the very "spirit of mumbai" (and the entire nation) will die along with the "brave men".