Rana Nayar, Prof. of English, Punjabi University
Though terrorist strikes are always unpredictable, our response to these has become egregiously, hideously predictable. Every time such an incident rocks Bangalore, Ahmedabad or Delhi, leaving a few scores or a few hundred dead and many more
injured, the respective state governments immediately go on the backfoot. The opposition suddenly turns offensive and starts making well rehearsed noises. Of course, the victims and their families are not even left alone to stitch together their tattered lives or absorb the daily growing influence of violence. After the Delhi blasts, the politicians (we have no statesmen left!) were, as usual, back to their games. Ironically, it was Narendra Modi who, having failed to contain terrorism in his own state, made a claim that he had forewarned the Central government. Rather than act, our former Home Minister Shivraj Patil was busy showing off his sartorial elegance and scoring brownie points by claiming that he had prior information on it, much before Modi chose to communicate it to him. No one seems to have thought it to be worthwhile to ask the Home Minister as to what he really did with the information he claims to have had.
Later in the day, when the Cabinet met to discuss the situation, the usual shibboleths were trotted off about how terrorism is a threat to the unity and integrity of our nation; how it is a law and order problem that demands more stringent vigilance on part of the security forces, but definitely no stringent laws to back them up in their fight against it. Of course, there was nothing startlingly new or refreshing about the response of the government. Over the years, our politicians have repeatedly been saying that terrorism is a ‘law and order problem’ or a ‘global phenomenon.’
Whenever our political leaders or decision-makers are either not able to deal with something or just want to shrug it off peremptorily, they often label it as ‘global.’ It sure is a refusal on their part to recognise the specifically local and national character of ‘terrorism’.....Continue
Though terrorist strikes are always unpredictable, our response to these has become egregiously, hideously predictable. Every time such an incident rocks Bangalore, Ahmedabad or Delhi, leaving a few scores or a few hundred dead and many more
injured, the respective state governments immediately go on the backfoot. The opposition suddenly turns offensive and starts making well rehearsed noises. Of course, the victims and their families are not even left alone to stitch together their tattered lives or absorb the daily growing influence of violence. After the Delhi blasts, the politicians (we have no statesmen left!) were, as usual, back to their games. Ironically, it was Narendra Modi who, having failed to contain terrorism in his own state, made a claim that he had forewarned the Central government. Rather than act, our former Home Minister Shivraj Patil was busy showing off his sartorial elegance and scoring brownie points by claiming that he had prior information on it, much before Modi chose to communicate it to him. No one seems to have thought it to be worthwhile to ask the Home Minister as to what he really did with the information he claims to have had.Later in the day, when the Cabinet met to discuss the situation, the usual shibboleths were trotted off about how terrorism is a threat to the unity and integrity of our nation; how it is a law and order problem that demands more stringent vigilance on part of the security forces, but definitely no stringent laws to back them up in their fight against it. Of course, there was nothing startlingly new or refreshing about the response of the government. Over the years, our politicians have repeatedly been saying that terrorism is a ‘law and order problem’ or a ‘global phenomenon.’
Whenever our political leaders or decision-makers are either not able to deal with something or just want to shrug it off peremptorily, they often label it as ‘global.’ It sure is a refusal on their part to recognise the specifically local and national character of ‘terrorism’.....Continue
