We Can Bring the Change

Today we observe the first anniversary of that fateful day which has gone down in our history as "26/11", the name given to that three day trauma suffered by Bombay city in particular and by the country as a whole, which is also called Mumbai carnage. It's name as 26/11 (date/month) became more popular because it sounded like the US 's 9/11 (month/date). (We are in the habit of copying names from the west, for example, our film industries in various cities end with "wood" e.g., Bollywood, Tollywood, Mollywood etc. after Hollywood and we also try to call our scams as 'gates' after 'Watergate" of Nixon era).

Though, previously we also had 7/11 (the serial bomb blasts in the local trains of Bombay on 11th July 2006 which took away 200 lives of innocent travellers of Bombay suburban trains) as well as series of bomb blasts in different cities during 2008 itself, but somehow the world was not much convinced, may be because in the 26/11 attacks the targets were the elite crowd, including the foreigners, the Five Star hotels and the elite restaurant with the only exception of the attack on Bombay VT station where the causalities were common passengers.

9/11 changed the way the world looked at terrorism before the twin towers of World Trade Center in New York came down crashing after the attack by the terrorists.

Did 26/11 produce same kind of response and result ? Well it did but only briefly when large scale public outrage was exhibited not only against the terrorists and their handlers, sitting across the borders, but also against the political and administrative machinery of our own country who needed to be woken up from a deep slumber.

After one year of that event if we take stock of the situation, can we say that things have changed for better or are we just using good words to sound reassuring and are actually still struggling at square one ?

Frankly speaking, though, till today we have been lucky enough not to have experienced re occurrence of a terrorist attack of such a magnitude but it seems to be just co-incidence rather than our concerted efforts in averting the same.

Much has been said in the print and electronic media about apathy of our 'powers that be', regarding gearing up the security and administrative apparatus against such attacks in future, but let us ask ourselves that as common citizens, have we really contributed towards improving our security systems.

Security is a word which is very commonly used in our day today life. In today's environment where the threat to life and property is increasing day by day, this word 'security' has gained all the more importance. It has not remained limited to the security forces but has become part and parcel of our daily lives.

Security is not new to the man as it has been existing right since the inception of the human race. In fact the security is inbuilt in the Nature itself. Every object of Nature has its own security or defence system. A rose has its thorns. An insect has its sting. The plants have their sticky or smelly sap with which the enemy is either trapped or repelled, respectively. The animals have their claws, their teeth and their sharp horns etc, etc. As far as the human being is concerned the security has been part and parcel of his life right since Stone Age when he used to chisel arms and weapons out of stone to hunt as well, as to fight the danger lurking around him. He never forgot to keep a big bolder in front of the entrance of the cave where he lived, to ward off any wild animals that may come and eat away his family. As the world around us made economic and social progress, the threat to the life and property also developed and the need of security also increased in the same proportions.

Let us ask ourselves a few questions :

Do we remain aware of our surroundings ?

The first and foremost necessity to maintain secure environments around us is to remain aware of our surroundings. Be it our home, our office, our work place, a train or a bus or be it a market place, the awareness about our surroundings will help us to a great extent to give warning about any untoward incident which may take place. If we have kept an eye over the normal, we will definitely come to know if there is some thing abnormal around us. For example if you find any unattended object near your home or office, near your seat in a train or bus or even near a shop in the market, you must immediately bring it to the notice of others so that appropriate authorities can be informed about the presence of such object and preventive action can be taken before the damage is done. Same thing should be done if a stranger is observed loitering around in an area where he or she is not supposed to be. It has been the experience in the past that many a times the breach of security had been noticed by the members of the public in advance but since the same was not immediately reported to the appropriate authorities, no preventive action could be taken and the perpetrators of the crime succeeded in causing the damage and achieving their aim.

Do we Co-operate with the Security Staff ?

In our country the Security set up has been made so much subservient to the VIP culture that the security staff has become more used to saluting the persons entering a premises rather than checking and frisking them. The more luxurious the car or brighter the neck tie of the person entering an institution, the crisper the salute by the guard. I am sure Kasab and his friends, while entering the five star hotels, with their bags slung over their shoulders, must have been ushered in like VIPs and must have been saluted by the tall turbaned and moustached durwan at the gate of the five star hotels. And it is not durwan's fault. He has been conditioned into doing so because if he does not do that, the threat to get him transferred or suspended by the high and mighty hangs over his head like a Damocles' sword.

Therefore, it becomes imparative on our part to cooperate with the security staff in carrying out the security checks, regardless of our status as VIP (Very Important), LIP (Less Important) or UIP (Unimportant) personalities. The security guard is duty bound to do the same and is doing so in the interest of security and not out of his pleasure. And it should also be ensured that if the security staff is found lax then no hesitation should be shown in kicking him hard by ticking him off or reporting his laxity to the appropriate authority.

We are all responsible citizens of our country and it is our duty to make our society a safe place. As charity begins at home, let us start by making our own home and our work place safe by adhering to safety and security norms so laid down. This will go a long way in making our country and the whole world a safe place, which we owe to our children. And that will be the true homage to the victims of the carnage.