Author: Times News Network
Publication: The Times of India
Date: July 13, 2006
The blasts have blown the lid off Mumbai's
patience. It is an anger more palpable than merely the deflation of the city's
fabled spirit. The anger is directed at the authorities for being unable to
prevent the carnage, as well as at fellow-citizens for attempting to take
the crime in their stride by putting on a "spirit of Mumbai" face.
"This is the second set of serial blasts
that the city has suffered. Is anything going to change?" asked former
police commissioner A S Samra, who was in office when the 1993 blasts took
place. Samra's anger was also felt by many fellow Mumbaikars on Wednesday,
as the reality of Tuesday's blasts sunk in.
"I feel tremendous anger, but I also
feel impotent, unable to do anything," said right to information activist
Shailesh Gandhi. The civic and state administration and security agencies
have been too soft on terrorism, he said. "Apparently even when there
are heaps of evidence, justice cannot be delivered," he said of the 1993
blasts case. "People feel very angry that nothing has been done."
Civic activist Neera Punj of Citispace said
she received calls throughout Tuesday and Wednesday from frustrated citizens.
"People are angry. Why weren't the police better informed? Mumbai is
always a target, so why weren't the police and other security agencies more
vigilant?"
Gerson Da Cunha of AGNI said a "very
senior bureaucrat" had said to him, "God knows what intelligence-gathering
capacity the government actually has." Da Cunha added that since serial
blasts such as Tuesday's seemed to require months of planning, "maybe
we need to ask what is the quality of intelligence the government has".
Former chief secretary J B D'Souza, however,
said the fault was not of the police. "Even the Israelis, despite their
methods, are still suffering attacks. The government needs to address the
basic cause, which is resentment. What action has been taken after the Srikrishna
Commission report identified those responsible for the 1992 riots?" he
asked.
Not all the anger was directed towards the
authorities, but at fellow-citizens who a day later went about their daily
routines as if nothing had happened.
"It seems as if the entire population
suffers from a socially crippling condition caused due to long-time exposure
to a certain kind of life," said Nimish Dutta, a fund manager from Lokhandwala,
referring to the regimented existence whose most defining face is an hour-long
train journey in sub-human conditions. "It's scary that many react to
such incidents with such casual indifference." And therein lies one of
the biggest differences between 9/11 and 7/11. "Here, we don't demand
justice," said Shalini Sahni, a teacher.
Psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty diagnosed such
behaviour as 'chronic disaster syndrome'. "The resilience we talk of
is hyped. It's a method of coping. But, justice is an important aspect that
the healing process cannot do without. And in this city, not a single person
has been convicted for any of the blasts so far," Shetty said, adding
that when everyone goes to work the next day, it's a sign of denial.
