War on Mumbai- 2

Before beginning the article, I would like to state that even after 8 months of the attack, on the eve of Independence Day, three cities have been put on high alert which are Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad where LeT (Laskhar- e-Toiba) are suspected to carry out terrorist attack. The fact is that even after attacks on Mumbai of such a magnitude, the government still has no proper plan of action ready and neither the security system for the common people in place. It seems to me that we are still as vulnerable as ever.

Now, I am sure this won’t surprise most of you reading my blog. It didn’t me. So let me not pontificate and let me start telling you more things.

Couple of months back, I went down to the coastline and found a few obliging fishermen who took Riya, Danny (he is my journalist friend working with network 18) and me to shoot the unending ocean. A little chatter later, I broached the terror subject. Once they were sure that I was not implying that they had some prior knowledge of the event, they started telling us about the hapless state of coast security. To their credit and I kind of liked that personally, they were really defending the coast guard with some misguided patriotism, but they did admit that they didn’t really see the coastguard much at all. They don’t remember the last time they had been checked for documents.

Few days prior to our visit to the coast line, we went to Dharavi. The mood there was angry too and although no one from the world’s largest slum had been killed in the attacks, they were offended that this could happen in India. But when it came to the real world- had they even seen an extra policeman in the vicinity? They had not. But that didn’t worry them. They told me very proudly that they were such a tight community that even if a stranger walks in, immediately he/she was asked who-why-when-what. And then they added that we will protect ourselves. We’ll give our lives for each other. But they were all little worried about stepping outside- catching a train- but like everyone in the city, if they had to do it, they would just go right ahead and do it.

What I liked was that the children were well informed and very opinionated- and not like in the main stream media (how children are traumatized by the coverage of the attacks) but they spoke like little adults. That’s when I turned to Danny and said, “This is when you realize why India is such a successful democracy.” Why? Because you had expected them to be more concerned about their own economic struggle rather than national security- but was quite surprised to find out that it was not true.

And that brings me to the real point I wanted to make. We had an in depth interview with one of the top management of Mahindra Group. He was very smart, introspective and very articulate. I would like to briefly recap some of the things he said to me in the middle of a deeply emotional crisis.

Firstly, he hoped that the result of this unprecedented urban anger was not that we secure ourselves and leave out the poorer sections. The fishermen, the people in Dharavi. Them. He also told us why this attack has struck a chord among the world. It’s the ultimate urban nightmare, he said. Ten men running around the streets of a modern urban city with machine guns and hand grenades. Honestly, I was getting the visuals of The Dark Knight in my head when he was talking and it sent a chill down my spine. He also touched upon the fact that because we tried to inject democracy in every aspect of our laws and the Constitution, there is no single unified commander-in-chief in India, and that needs to change. I think many people are echoing these thoughts.

Another interesting observation he made was about the ‘Spirit of Mumbai’. He said that the very people who built this myth following the other attacks were the ones tearing it down right now and that both are extreme emotions, and the only way forward is to find a balance.

After the attacks, the gut reaction of many was that they were scared the fallout of the attack would lead to communal violence. Indians have shown great sense of maturity in distinguishing an attack on India by foreign terrorist and the attacks between Hindu/Muslim factions within the country. This is vital, because it allows us to examine the situation at hand without further endangering the country by having to deal with communal violence as well.

We then visited a village just outside Mumbai. It seemed people there had watched the attacks on TVs, but most of them did not really understand the enormity of the attack. A few of them understood from the news that Pakistan is implicated and still seemed far removed from any urgent emotions. The rest seemed unaffected by what they had seen.

In fact, our search for village was a challenge, because many farmers have sold their lands and concrete structures are replacing them. There is enough construction work in the area to bring the fact that little India is rapidly urbanizing. And that means that the distance between them and the events unfolding in big cities is shrinking with each passing day. What this means that the largely urban anger that we are seeing will slowly penetrate into hinterland. As yet, it is a work in progress but I personally believe that television will be a huge catalyst in changing attitudes as much as changing the landscapes.

But as news channels feed more Indians, what message do they wake up to? It is not just the news anchors I am referring to, because we all know that politicians use the media for their ends too- whether good or bad.

Once Narendra Modi was asked about his reaction to the news item that Modi’s frenzied speeches were used in training camps to charge up these young boys. Dead panned, Modi told him that he had no idea about any such news. Later he had turned to the journalist and asked him whether he had forgotten about Godhra as yet or not.

Modi also categorically stated that he was ready to help the government in its fight against the terror. “At a time of war, there is consensus,” he said.

But there was something he was not telling us? In highlighting security in his future campaign speeches will he be tempted to cut this “India problem” into little pieces of Hindu, Muslim, Sikhs and Christians.

What would allow this division is another factor- as yet a non-entity. If any proof emerges that there were any Indians complicit in planning the attacks- and those happen to be Muslims whose sympathies lay with the extremist factions- then the danger of using that knowledge to play politics will lead to very volatile and most certainly violent situations.

So I have to ask, do we have it in us to further distinguish extremist elements from the majority of the Indian Muslims as we have distinguished between extremist elements and the general population back home. Quite a mouthful, I know, but a question to ponder.

But you see, the moment you ask this question out loud- “will politicians use the Bombay attacks as a platform to incite communal violence”- you expose the hypocrisy of such an electoral strategy.

We talked to people along the way, quite literally. Stuffing ourselves in a local train, we proceeded to a village just on the outskirts of Bombay. While in the train we found people eyeing our camera equipment, and then quickly offering their analysis of the situation. I was heartened to find that within the confines of that compartment, many diverse voices came out. A young boy, studying MBA, told me that he did not link these attacks to religion at all. It’s all about economics, he told me, and these young boys’ who fall prey to terrorist dogma only do so because they are poor and this is a quick way to earn money for their family. It’s quite true- if reports are to be believed then the captured terrorist told the authorities that his family was promised Rs 1.5 lakhs (little under $3000) for his services. That is the extent of this poverty that breeds discontent, he told me. This is not the first time, it won’t be the last.

But we might just come out of this danger.

To be continued...

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely mine and not of anyone else. The views are based on the detailed reports from various news agencies and my own personal research.

Sources: Danny, my journalist friend, Riya, accompanying me to all the places right from the coast line to Dharavi to small villages, News reports from CNN-IBN, US News Week, People of Dharavi, the fishermen, Niyati in UK and last, but not the least, one of the top management of Mahindra Group whose views have formed the basis of my article.