Terror Encore

The last time Mumbai was attacked, I wrote in anger. Today, four days after the worst terrorist seige India has ever seen, I write in confusion.

Yes, there are questions to be asked. But what exactly should they be?

Should we ask ourselves 'why Mumbai again'?

Should we ask 'why again'?

Should we question the motives the perpetrators have behind these heinous attacks?
Should we question our government's poor handling of the situation when even the mightiest country on the planet was reduced to rubble in 9/11?

When I asked myself these questions, I realised how perverse our own logic has become. If as a citizen, I cannot question the ability of my goverment to mitigate my city's vulnerability, then my thinking has fundamentally and successfully been flawed by the powers that be.

'The spirit of Mumbai' that every polititician alludes to in the aftermath of a killing spree has never left me feeling more cheapened as it has today. It is the unity and grit of the people of this city that helps us pick up the pieces and reconstruct life. It cannot be taken for granted. Just because we've always looked ahead in hope, doesn't mean we've forgotten to look bck for answers.

This attack has convinced me about the irrelevance of our politicians.
They really didn't matter when the nerve-racking flushing out operations ensued at the Taj, Oberoi and Nariman House.
Their presence was not wanted and in fact compromised the safety of the citizens.
Their speeches in the middle of all the hellish drama were an intrusion rather than a reassurance.
And their dramatic resignations post this nightmare seem to lack perspective in the wake of this enormous loss. We face the horror, we pick up the pieces and we live another day, while their presence in our lives is simply a well-rehearsed insipid speech on the media.

As a citizen, I fail to understand the role they play in our lives. And that is something no citizen should have to feel about the men and women they have put their trust into.

And this is the question we need to ask ourselves. Have we as a people become so habituated to ineptitude that we fail to bring our politicians to book? And really, what does our government actually do?
In the four days that Mumbai stood hostage, it seemed to me and to most of the city's people that the times we live in are akin to having no political system in place at all. Since clearly, whether they're in office or not, life goes on. And in Mumbai's case, terror goes on.