FRONT PAGE | Sunday, November 30, 2008 | Email | Print | 
Terrorise the terrorists: Use fear as the key
Chandan Mitra
India is groping in the dark. This country of 1.1 billion people feels helpless, frustrated and angry. And finally there is that sinking feeling of impotence. Why can't we stop their macabre death dance? How many innocents and valiant security personnel have to sacrifice their lives before their insane bloodlust is satiated? How come America hasn't had a single terror attack since 9/11 more than seven years ago?
Even a relatively lax Britain or Spain haven't suffered since the 7/7 London Underground and Madrid train bombings. Think of it, Israel, supposedly the jihadis' first target, has not had a similar attack for more than 30 months. Comparing us to Pakistan doesn't help because our neighbour is globally regarded as a failed State at best and rogue State at the worst. Are we to reconcile ourselves to the possibility that India too is headed in the same direction?
It was an eerily sullen Mumbai that I visited for a few hours last Thursday while commando operations were still in progress. The media makes a huge show of "the spirit of Mumbai", which allegedly bounces back irrespective of the scale of terrorist depredations - be they the 1993 bombings or the 2007 train blasts. However, the notion of Mumbaikars shrugging off repeated assaults on their life and dignity is insulting to the city, and this time people are openly saying so. This image nurtured by sections of the media only stereotypes its residents as crass money makers, driven by glamour and personal aggrandisement. They forget Mumbai has a soul, and this time it is bleeding profusely.
When we visited the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (VT) that evening, relatives of the 60-plus innocent commuters senselessly gunned down could be seen, trying to retrieve personal belongings. In their agony, they turned to us for succour, and answers. When will this stop? When will we be safe again, they asked in unison. Their tale may have been sidelined by the more dramatic events at Trident Oberoi, the landmark Taj Palace and Jewish spiritual refuge at Nariman House. But the story of sorrow and trauma, loss of lives and livelihoods was common to all.
At the JJ Hospital we met Police Constable Nivritt Sawant, sprawled on a lonely bed, injured but still sporting a wry smile. He showed us the metal buckle of his belt perforated by three bullets that caused the holes, one of them injuring his stomach. Reminiscent of Deewar's Billa No 786, this was the story of a dutiful, but poorly armed policeman's miraculous escape. He was sorry that some of his colleagues had been mercilessly felled, but reaffirmed his resolve to be back on duty as soon as he was released.
When we called on Assistant Commissioner of Police Sadanand Date, nursing an eye injury from a grenade splinter besides two bullet wounds at KGM Hospital, his determination was equally firm. He was an eyewitness to the tragic killing of ATS Chief Hemant Karkare at Cama Hospital. As we took his leave, he smiled generously and declared: "Don't worry Sir, we'll get them: Each one of them".
They are brave men, men of raw courage, who fight and risk death all the time so that we can lead normal lives. The Karkares, Kamtes, Salaskars, Unnikrishnans and their comrades, stand between order and destruction. But have we equipped them adequately to make it an equal fight with diabolical terror groups, foreign and homegrown?
Had we detected fishing trawlers when they were hijacked, intercepted the inflated dinghies that ferried terrorists to the shore, weeded out traitors from the staff of five-star hotels who provided the logistic support to imported jihadis, maybe so many lives would not have been lost. The police, NSG, Army and other fighting forces did the job assigned to them and emerged with flying colours. But terror cannot be combated by guns alone, the brain is even more important. So are requisite laws, logistic support and adequate modern weaponry including genuinely bulletproof jackets.
Bolstering security and building firewalls is important to ensure security. But even more important is creating a psychological environment of zero tolerance. For years the pursuit of shameless vote bank politics has turned India into a pathetically soft State. We cannot hope to overcome the terrorist challenge to Indian civilisation unless we reverse this trend.
Terrorists, whether sponsored by al-Qaeda or its homegrown cohorts must begin to fear the State. They must know that for every innocent life they consume, the Indian State will hit back with all the fury at its command. In other words, we have to terrorise the terrorists. And for that, fear holds the key. Terrorists and their treasonable helpers must be exposed to the might of the State and receive exemplary punishment as and when we lay our hands on them. India must make it too costly for terror merchants to peddle death and destruction in this country. We cannot allow them to wreak havoc in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and other targeted cities any more.
The people of India are ready to support the sternest measures the authorities take, for this is not just occasional depredations but a full-scale war. If some niceties have to be abandoned till the demons of devilry are vanquished, so be it. We have only one Motherland. To defend its honour every true Indian has to don the mantle of a warrior.
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