Normal Life is better off being Affected : Saurabh Deb
Delhi : As the world moved over another 9/11 anniversary, Delhi got its 9/13 to live with. The media went about in the exact predictable manner with Indian Express reporting “Blast toll rises to 21, normal life unaffected¶. In a bid to force normalcy as quickly as possible, it is a much repeated stunt to feed the people with bits of stories of how almost all others have gone about doing their business the following day. Such claims not only seem grossly superficial but they only seem to taunt the sentiments of the people who are struggling to come to terms with the tragedy and handle the fear!
There strong arguments in favor of such reports mostly hover around denying the terrorist their ulterior motif of spreading terror. But there can be no denying that every time a bomb goes off anywhere in the world – people (at least in vicinity) are terrorized. It is partly insane even to expect it of the public to ‘have no worries’ while going shopping when a bomb had gone off somewhere in similar surroundings a day before. And if the Govt. machinery can not recognize it, then they might take a page from the books of the terror outfits themselves who seems to be closer to the reality in recognizing the after-effects of such doings and hence repeat it.
People seek reassurance in such times and they deserve it as well. But having experienced decades of terrorism the Indian public can also by now see right through the loose ended normalcy reports and media bites claiming ‘vital leads and possible early break through by police’. Unfortunately the effect of such reports often is exactly in the opposite. People had seen this exact cycle of events last time around and yet again they are in the middle of the same crisis. So the false-claims of ‘unaltered resumption of public life’ does not even manage to evoke a momentary feel goof factor. Rather a sense of despondency sets in about any initiatives that are talked in the same breath as the normalcy claims.
In the luxuries of peace time I have often been amongst people criticizing the US over its righteousness of invading Afghanistan. The much repeated cliché in such discussions is ‘where is Bin Laden?’. But ironically in that question alone I see- is the answer and justification of US strategy. Wherever Bin Laden is today, he is not in the comforts of his headquarter instigating people in mass-rallies and urging Jehadis to bomb US. Neither is any one remotely associated with Al-Qaeda moving around freely flagging their loyalty badges. And in spite of the world wide criticism, not another act of terrorism has founds its way to US homeland. Are all Americans reassured of their safety now? May be not — largely because of the dramatic scale of the event and for a most parts of US it was their first exposure to terrorism. But there are hardly any doubts that most Americans believe that their Govt. have acted to pre-empt further happenings of such events. In London , any person who travels in the tubes often can tell you of the changed in Security surveillance every time there is any apprehension – from 7/7 to the checks carried out at tube stations a few days ago as measures curb knife crime
But it does not always need to wage a war to reassure your citizens. And there are very good examples in our own neighborhood. Even before the TV channels started to announce the locations of the blasts, many people had eliminated metro stations from their personal speculations. And it was easy to see why? The security of camera surveillance and the year-round police presence made it unlikely of the targets. And that’s what is reassuring about the DMRC. And it does not need a minister coming out of meetings on public security to tell the public –“Nobody should say or do anything which creates unnecessary apprehensions ¶.
But if nobody should talk of their apprehensions then they need to be convinced that their fears are somehow wrong or baseless. In 2005 Diwali bombings the Sarjoni nagar market and Chandi chowk market area bore the brunt of the attack besides a defused bomb in a bus. I have traveled in Delhi buses often thereafter and also been to those same markets and locations that were target of 2005 and current bombings. And I struggle to recall of anything that seemed to have changed since to make it even an ounce more secure. But even after Saturdays attack I am advised to not talk about “unnecessary apprehensions¶.
I am quite confident that myself and most Delhites and for that matter any one anywhere , would feel much more secure and apprehension free if he went to markets on Monday (or even a month, six month later) and found surveillance cameras installed and knew of active police monitoring of the feeds. And to position such forces and cameras does not need an IB assessment; just about any pedestrian will be able to inform our Govt. where in city they feel most insecure. Once such practices are brought in play people may initially be complaintive of the additional security checks and there may be media reports against it as well. But it is exactly these interactions with the Police and security officials on a regular year long basis that relaxes stressed nerves and puts fears to rest.
It is undeniable that surprise factor and ability to choose location and target gives militants an upper hand. But common people can not be left to either come to terms on with ham-fisted ness of Police and intelligence over such issues or be gullible enough to accept media bytes on normalcy. There is no reassurance as that of visible action on ground. The way to deny terror-outfits from achieving their motif of creating fear and panic is to first systematically plug the gaps that they once exploit. Increased police presence with active surveillance measures must become a regular feature and not ’26 Jan’ and ’15 Aug’ maneuvers. A responsible and credible media that neither sensationalizes tragedy nor announces pre-mature normalcy remains much desired. Also is needed its continuous and constructive role in informing people of the steps the Govt. machinery takes/o fails to takes to correct the security situations.
