My dad is a journalist, and he has never been so busy in his entire 35 years of tenure in the industry.
I remember – the editor of Indian Express and my dad’s erstwhile boss, cum close friend – told once over a dinner, that when a journalist finds it easy to get his stories, when he gets busy with having too much to cover, edit, report and telecast within no time, things tend to get a little eventful around us!!
While Shekhar was being a little subtle, politically correct and euphemistic in his statement, I d say things for sure get a little eventful, but more often than not they tend to get a little ugly, tragic and depressing!!
Journalists are a peculiar breed - intellectual, artsy, eloquent – non temperamental, erratic, moody, unpredictable – sincere, honest, sensitive – likewise to the juggled chronology of adjectives, they are contradictory but constitutional!!
A lot of good would happen to us – to the world, to not keep the tribe occupied, not let the ink spill - the cameras roll and not sensitize their job descriptions.
Alas!! Contemporarily, the demons have been maliciously busy, and the institutions have been found wanting amidst lethargy and ineffectiveness.
17 major terror attacks, all bomb blasts, across the length and breadth of the country in the last 4 years – causing irreparable damage to life, emotional depression across the country, a sense of insecurity amongst citizens and most importantly depreciating the value of a surviving a human life – doesn’t make a rosy headline, but believe me a lot of copies would sell on this.
To bomb and to explode was never difficult, but to kill in genocide has never been this easy!!!!
All through this, the one’s who have eaten their bread in peace are the one’s who are making and detonating the bombs – the one’s who have brainwashed the executioners and architected the venom - the one’s who have had their stories to ramble about – the one’s who have had no problems searching for prime time to advertise their products – and the one’s who pride in calling themselves the parliamentarian opposition and cash upon the tragedy to enact political opportunism.
While all these stakeholders are busy going through their motions religiously, there is another sect, equally a witness to this tragedy – busy making phone calls – some out of undoubted worry and some out of business like courtesy and artificial concern to folks of theirs, who if were victims of fate would have had a fractional chance to be one amongst the affected.
These calls are hung upon quite often breathing a sigh of relief and by paying thanksgiving obeisance’s to the lord for keeping their acquaintances alive and away from the tragedy.
Now that nothing about the tragedy is personal, this sample of mankind does not bother to dwell much into the mishap – it aint related to them anymore, it deserves no attention, no afterthought and no concern – they continue living life amidst ignorance and bliss until the next bomb explodes and the telephone calls are again answered in tune to their anticipation and prayers!!!
Before we miss them, there is another party – participant - to this chaotic and woeful calamity.
The 11 year old child, as humane as you and me and as anyone blindly picked up from that large chunk of mankind – who would start making calls – watch news channels – and forget about the incident with the passage of time – the moment this tiffin box, that he shall pick amidst kiddish anxiety and innocence - explodes, butchering the young body, skull and flesh apart in red, ending a promising life – abrupt and sudden!!
How I wish one of us could empathize – with the already dead child, with the now half living – half dead mother/father and the frustrated kith and kin. None of us would be able to empathize – None will, until it happens to us!!
Amidst trauma, shock and disbelief – as the family makes its attempts to seek justice for their dead child, the police turn’s a blind eye to their misery, claiming that a case has been lodged and that they are not the only ones who have got affected. They have many more to attend to !!!
The politicians visit the family and the victims showcasing articulated concern and man-made sympathy. Ensuring that they get media space and their political image gets an impetus, they give templated speeches which condemn the attack, blame a jehadi party that is on top of their mind and announce a baseless compensation figure for the killed and injured.
Courts log sessions for months, years and decades, only to add woes to the already grieving family. They have lost their child, they face the wrath of an insensitive investigation, await the judgment of an impassive judiciary and fall prey to the promises made by a corrupt, communal, villainous and opportunist leader.
All this while, they are being observed by miscreants who architect and breed terror!!!
They brainwash an already gullible and worn out mind, they sensationalize a heart already overwhelmed with emotions, they sow the seeds for revenge and in turn use them to architect terror, The mantra, The motif - kill more11 year old’s, they did it to u and u shall do it to them and keep the cycle alive!!!!
We need more sensitive and reactive systems – a proactive one would be even better. However, even a reactive one would be enough to clean up terror!!!!!
Terror can only thrive, until people start believing the system – and people shall only believe the system, when the system reacts in their favour. If in an encounter, the owner of that exploding tiffin box is killed the next day, we can jolly well stop another terrorist reproducing. If and only if, the system can react, transparently, intelligently and effectively!!
However, our case is even more severe, blatant and incurable.
The honorary leaders and managers of the system themselves are a primary cause for terror. Either through their communal ideologies or intolerant, insensible and barely scholastic and intellectual political wills and ambitions. Terror outfits fight for their creed and fanatic fundamentals, these are quite often cemented by the fall outs of a tragedy – an isolated tiffin box bomb explosion is less risky – but communal riots and massacres that have happened in our country – their scars are indelible and permanent!!
Jinnah, his desire for power coupled by a sense of insecurity amongst a hindu dominated country – desired for a different Muslim country, which fundamentally created animosity amongst the sects which is still bitter and alive. Riots followed the great partition, bitterness of which is still alive, hurting people’s conscience even today.
Indira Gandhi’s operation blue star, gave birth to the bhindranwala and the fundamental creed causing her own demise, which resulted the 1984 riots. The massacre had Sikhs butchered, orphaned and murdered. People still await justice for the same!!
L.K.Advani s rath yatra, triggered the babri masjid demolition, which in turn graduated the local Mumbai mafia to a jehadi Islamic fanatic outfit.
Narendra modi’s camouflaged kar sevaks attack on the godhra train let
With elected leaders such as these, what does a common man like me do, but write such briefs and record his impotency!!
To survive in a country, anesthetized by a useless system, one needs to either behave tolerant and paralyzed or take the reins by ones hand and bring about change.
Me and my dad were discussing things over a casual talk today, a Sunday – on how the world looks peaceful and less paranoid when the media takes a day off – he immediately retorted back saying - I wish I would get to cover a nasseruddin shah in reality someday!!
We d be busy for the right reasons, and not everyday will be another WEDNESDAY!!
