Terrorism - Evolution of Corruption

“They should shoot them at their legs first and injure them, so that they can be captured. Then we should prick their eyes with pins till they tell us who is behind these attacks. Had I been there, I will do this”.

These were the gruesome and fire-spewing words uttered by a person who watching the Mumbai terrorist attack report on the television. They were from a heart, fumigated to remove the last traces rationality or kindness.

It would be the interesting to note the real-life role of this person – a seedha sadha middle-class home maker, who wakes up her husband in the middle of a night to save her from a cockroach which had managed to get into the bedroom, quite popular amongst her colony peers for her sweet smiling face.

On the other hand, these words could be a representative sample of the unrepentant hatred expressed by most of the citizens of this country when they saw the television visuals of the Taj and Oberoi Hotel attack, quite haplessly. It is the helplessness than anything else which had caused the outburst and the clenching of the fingers in the drawing rooms of the Indians. We were angry at the ineptitude; shaken by our insecure living conditions; our heart bleeding for those innocent country-men who life had been changed course forever, for the worst.

But why did we expect this not to happen? Why is the turn of events so surprising to us now?

I remember a NDTV news report, telecast a few years after the Mumbai ‘93 blasts, on a covert operation they carried out much akin to the methodology adopted by the Mumbai blast terrorists. The NDTV crew tested the alertness of the city security system, by smuggling in some carton boxes (presumably the same size and weight which was brought in by the terrorists, laden with the RDX used for the blasts) and travelled the same sea, land and road route, as the terrorists. The television crew had practically no problem in transporting the empty cartons all the way long from the high seas to the center of the city of Mumbai!!!

Thank God that the NDTV’s cartons were empty but the operation slapped on the face of the administration exposing the interest and commitment of our elected political masters and the State in protecting its citizen.

In the aftermath of a terrorist strike, it is customary for the politicians and authorities in chorus, elucidating the findings of the investigations and the context would be mostly international terrorism. These sermons would discuss ramifications of international terrorism and most of the contextual cross-references will pass over the head of the commoners like us.

The tools of terrorism are perhaps imported; but not its doers or its enablers.

In all the terrorist strikes of the past, perhaps with the exception of the ones in Kashmir, there was always a local support received – directly or indirectly. No person could have smuggled such huge loads of the RDX without the blessings of those who control and use those points of sea or land entry for the various nefarious other activities. And none of these elements can thrive without the full blessings of the political masters of this country.

It is very difficult to believe that these shipments, movements and the subsequent doings can happen without blessings of the local unsocial elements who have deep connections with the politicians of this country. The chances are very remote that these anti-national anti-people actions are not known to those corrupt power centers in advance.

We have seen time and again the misuse of the position and privileges, the political class enjoys in this country and the ramifications of their over zeal to plunder the country and amass wealth for themselves. It is these elements in the high echelons of power which are the core reason for these terrorist strikes.

Corruption in public life is the root of all these evils this country continues to suffer for long time.

And terrorism is perhaps the highest evolution of this evil. Corruption is the fountainhead of terrorism.

Fighting corruption and its propagators would be the do-able part where each and every one of us can make a difference.