Mumbai - Stop Think Proceed

The recent terror attacks on Mumbai, whether or not we had a loved one involved in the massacre, has impacted the lives of Indians across the globe. At a time like this it is natural for every Indian to feel enraged, outraged, helpless and look for someone to blame. It is also natural to feel more united and patriotic. Justifiably, emotions are running high.

Amid all the mixed feelings that Indians are experiencing right now, I write on this forum in the hope that we will remind ourselves, not to succumb to the temptation of expressing our shock, horror and resentment in almost random ways, that can adversely impact what needs to be the plan of action in this hour of national crisis.

I call it a national crisis because this is not a one-off incident but one in a string of several incidents, which has culminated to a point where it seems like we are having a terror attack almost every month now in some part of the country or another, but this time it went one step ahead and too far in terms of the specific agenda and targeted victims. It must be obvious by now that it is not just Mumbai, but the entire nation, and even humanity itself which is under attack, and this goes for people of all regions and religions.

We need to calm our nerves and follow some logical steps before we come up with judgment, reactions, hatred, and even solutions. At the very outset we should refrain from being divisive in our very thoughts as we analyze and take stock of the situation. We must (since our lives depend on it!!) unite at this time. Stop blaming and hating politicians, Muslims in general (many of whom got killed in the shootings), Pakistan (it is a disservice to ourselves to simply jump to conclusions that the Pakistani government has any influence whatsoever on organizations like LeT, etc.), media, the police and other officials and even ourselves!!

We have to make security a national priority, and we simply have to find the cracks and fix them! This involves a joint effort by citizens, NRIs, politicians, media, intelligence, police and law and order officials, and even our neighbours and international governments.

Assuming that we are mostly citizens on this forum, we can, at the least, remove our own regional and religious biases, keep our eyes and ears open, organize and put forward recommendations to the government (better still take part in govt), and instead of condemning the entire breed of politicians and police, do our bit to appreciate those officials who did their best given the circumstances and the constraints and lost their lives to save others.

At any rate, Shoot,Ready,Aim was never a good strategy and should not be ours!