Is this how it feels to be in Iraq ?

Melbourne, someday in August '07 -- Yours truly happened to be 'onsite'... I was having a chat with one of my Oz colleagues there who happened to be a Business Analyst working in the same project as me. Don’t remember exactly how the conversation started but it gradually drifted to we chatting about terrorism with she telling me how scared the people in Aus were after the 9/11. Co-incidentally, The Collins place, where my office was, happens to be the only 38-storey Twin Tower in Melbourne and everytime they saw a plane far away with its nose towards them they would get panicky. Being an Indian (and from Mumbai) I too had immense events to talk about starting from '92 bombings, the '96 riots (Yes, that was terrorism too!!), the Ghatkopar bus blast, the Mulund train blast, the Serial train blasts (7/11) .. Hell the list just goes on!! … It went up to the extent where she commented "So what is it like staying there, it must be like Iraq eh!!"

To be Honest, my immediate reaction was to behead her!! … But mine and my country's pride was at stake so I politely went on to explain that it aint that bad… We Indians are normal people who have a normal happy life and generalized that for the entire country not just Urban India. About how beautiful India and how good the people are blaah blaah…

Today, when I sit back and watch the events unfold on television , her comment instantly comes back to my mind and then I end up retrospecting. Was I actually right in even trying to convince her how "good" my country is or is that I was being defensive??

Lets see,

Almost every second day in the past month, we have seen a group of nasty 'rebels' killing security personnel at-will. They kill villagers by brandishing them as "spies", railway tracks passing through the forest areas in Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh, AP, Maharashtra, Orissa, WB are being blown up at will risking lives of millions.. Common sense and the Oxford dictionary will tell us that these are clear-cut examples of "terrorism"..Why exactly are these bunch of assholes called Maoists "Rebels" and NOT terrorists is something that I ll perhaps never understand and to be honest I give a flying rat's stinking arse to what you call them. But if there is something that I need to understand is what exactly is the government waiting for to take action against them. Are'nt 76 CRPF personnels' lives + 34 (including 8 CRPF jawans') + 150(speculative) people who died in the Gyaaneshwari express not evidence enough to start an action against them ??

One of my closest friends (Well, 1 of the 2 who reads this blog) had recently forwarded a very interesting article from the Times which mentioned about these naxalites supporters being present in Delhi called as Jholawalas. The statistic that alarmed me was that these 'rebels' have killed 6000 people over the past few years. Am not even counting the loss bore by the destruction of schools, tracks, dispensaries, roads and bridges and everything that I am unaware of !!

The Dantewada attack happened on the same day as Sania - Shoaib got married (wasn’t it ?!). How many people can tell me, which was given more coverage ?? ... Wake up you educated qualified journos, wake up Mr. Chidambram … ..If I can see it why cant you ??...I (still) hold the current home minister in a higher regard as compared to say a Lalu Prasad Yadav…For those who don’t know…He was asked on TV what reaction does he have to give for the terror attacks, the great joker of the circus called the Indian Parliament replies "Hum kya kahein!, ab agar log police ke paas jaakar unki khabar denge to aise hi hoga na"

To you Mr. PC …. Rogues with guns do not talk!! … They shoot and that’s exactly what they are doing…. These people are Cockroaches and deserve exactly the same treatment… You do not foster them and try to make them something nice. You just kill and get rid of them.. That’s exactly what needs to be done. With them, some more people also need to be dealt with. Yes, am referring to these Jholawalas who give their blind support to these people, they are as much to be blamed, as rightly pointed out by Tarun Vijay.

I fear if this continues, the people of this country will one day become very passive in their reactions and emotions, passive to the extent of becoming insensitive. News of death, destruction, tragedy will become passe. If this continues, ours will be a country that will have more than a billion sitting ducks waiting to be shot and why ??

Media and our politicians call us (Indians) resilient which I guess means people who get on with life under all forms of adversity… the fact is..Its compulsion. Compulsion of the head of the family to earn square meals for himself and his loved ones !! Cos if he starts worrying about some Kasab roaming on the streets of the city … then he and his children will die anyway !!... The defence personnel are hacked down like a pack of cards with no action taken (instead being blamed for negligience) and then at the same time we have Afzal "son-of-the-soil" Guru YET to be hanged. That’s how criminals who attack the sovereignity of our country are treated here.

If events like these arent quickly addressed then I don’t think we would be too far away from doom. All the development will go down the drain. So, answering the question of "Are we better than Iraq?" ….Yes, we are for sure! … Not we are not very far from being one TILL the system changes!!

So, Is this how it feels to be in Iraq ?!!

Brought to you by:
1. Shame!!..on the leaders and the system of this country. I know it includes myself.
2. My new Android phone which i must admit is VERY expensive and hence I promise to write about it too! :-)