“Why the human chains, the painted walls, why the endless exhortations to stay angry, to stay sad, to ‘never forget’? These lines are from an article written by Mihir S Sharma titled The Vanished Moment published today in The Indian Express. He want us to carry on with our lives as if nothing had happened because this was neither the first attack nor is it the last one. He goes on to add- “How many attacks will we memorialize?” Frankly, this is becoming more and more sickening with each passing day. What I would like to ask Mr Mihir Sharma is- Would you have reacted in the same manner if your  own child  (God forbid) had died  in these attacks? I know it hurts badly to even think about it. And if you still feel that you would forget this incident in that case you are a saint and your place is not here in mainland India but in the Himalayas. And in case you would not forget you have no right to talk like that for others who have indeed lost their loved ones. Also, you don’t seem to realize that it is only because we have not forgotten it that this may well be the last attack on our soil. If we do ever forget this incident there will be many more such attacks to hurt us Indians including you, Mr Sharma.

This will not go waste

He goes on to say that people take wrong decisions when they are angry. May be, but it is this anger which has forced the Indian govt not to talk to Pakistan. If we forget this incident our politicians would be the first to reach out to them. It is this anger which has forced a nincompoop and inefficient Home Minister like Shivraj Patil to resign. It is this anger which has forced our govt to initiate stronger measures to prevent against such attacks in future. It is because of this shared grief and anger that today the entire country is united against these terrorists. The anger and frustration of people about these attacks is so palpable that you can possibly touch it with your bare hands. You may not have seen it in the eyes of Mumbai’s commuters, whom you talk of, but its because they have a family to feed and they are doing just that for the moment, which is understandable. They may not show their anger but prod them a bit and the words will come out. But if there were to be yet another attack this anger will be visible not just in the eyes of these people but you will see it in every street, every town and every village. Would that be acceptable to you? Would it be acceptable to you if this India versus Pakistan issue translates into a Hindu versus Muslim issue, which some political parties may like it to be? This may well happen if another terrorist attack takes place in India, although I hope I’m wrong on this one. The magnitude of this attack may not have been as big as 9/11, as you say, but do you want a 9/11 to happen in India just so that you can remember it because of the havoc it might create? Go ahead. Take your pick. You want another attack to happen to get angry or do you want this one to be the last.

And if you still can’t get angry even as hundreds of our innocent women, children and men have died or have been maimed for life I really don’t know what kind of an Indian you are? It is because of people like you that we are seen as a soft state all over the world. It is exactly because of this that they think they can keep us cowed down and are trying to push us into holding a dialogue with Pakistan. I was appalled yesterday to see a  western social worker here in Mumbai say on Times Now that we should unite with Pakistan to fight terrorists. He went on to add that though our grief is understandable but our anger should be directed against terrorists and not Pakistan. Thankfully, he was shot down by other panelists including the anchor, Arnab Goswami.

Fact is that there indeed seems to be a concerted effort from many western quarters to shape people’s opinion here in India as far as 26/11 is concerned. And Indian Express and Times of India seem to be working on their agenda.  Remember the article by Pierre Lavalle published in Times of India on 22nd Nov 09 which I spoke of in the post titled Pardon 26/11? Is there some kind of a coordinated campaign going on by these people or is it because of a exchange of money and favors? I can’t say for now but if we keep seeing these kind of write ups you and I will know for sure.

And before I sign off for today here are the few lines by Prasoon Joshi which have been recited by Amitabh Bachhan.………Is baar nahin…

Is baar jab woh choti si bachchi mere
paas apni kharonch le kar aayegi
Main use phoo phoo kar nahin behlaoonga
Panpaney doonga uski tees ko
Is baar nahin
Is baar jab main chehron par dard likha dekhoonga
Nahin gaoonga geet peeda bhula dene wale
Dard ko risney doonga’ utarney doonga andar gehrey
Is baar nahin
Is baar main na marham lagaoonga
Na hi uthaoonga ruee ke phohey
Aur na hi kahoonga ki tum aankhein band karlo,
gardan udhar kar lo main dawa lagata hoon
Dikhney doonga sabko, hum sabko khuley nangey ghaav
Is baar nahin
Is baar jab uljhaney dekhoonga, chatpatahat dekhoonga
Nahin daudoonga uljhee dor lapetney
Uljhaney doonga jab tak ulajh sake
Is baar nahin
Is baar karm ka hawala de kar nahin uthaoonga auzaar
Nahin karoonga phir se ek nayee shuruaat
Nahin banaoonga misaal ek karmyogi ki
Nahin aaney doonga zindagi ko aasani se patri par
Utarney doonga usey keechad main,
tedhey medhey raston pe
Nahin sookhney doonga deewaron par laga khoon
Halka nahin padneydoonga uska rang
Is baar nahin banney doonga usey itna laachaar
ki paan ki peek aur khoon ka fark hi khatm ho jaye
Is baar nahin
Is baar ghawon ko dekhna hai
Gaur se thoda lambe wakt tak
Kuch faisley
Aur uskey baad hausley
kahin toh shuruat karni hee hogi
Is baar yahi tay kiya hai…

Yes, not this time…Is baar nahin.

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Posted on November 27th, 2009 India calling • Tags: 26/11, Amitabh, Attacks, Big B, joshi, Mumbai, poem, prasoon, Terror. • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback