How equal are we.........?

Ironical as it may sound, but the terror attacks in Mumbai, have actually united this city and also the country to some extent, like never before. People are speaking in the same language; people are asking the same questions; people are showing solidarity; people, irrespective of class, creed, religion, economic status, are coming together and voicing their opinion. After a long time, we are witnessing a sense of oneness in this diversity, which is the strength of this dynamic country.

 

Adversity does bring out the best in us. And in an increasingly interconnected world, the woes of one nation are no longer, hers alone. These attacks have made no discrimination. The terrorists have ruthlessly murdered people. They have killed without mercy, reason or distinction. The line between the haves and the have-nots was blurred.

 

But let’s pause for a minute and think. Think about the double standards that we, as a society have so deeply entrenched within our psyche, that only a catastrophe is able to remove the blinkers that we have put on. A pavement dweller is overrun by a car of a moneyed class young man. A case is filed, litigation ensues and at the end of it, the criminal is scot free. A young woman is shot in cold blood for ignoring the overtures of a MP’s son. Nobody bats a eye-lid.

Hundreds died in a natural calamity because the same government didn’t take any precautionary measures to evacuate the people on time. We shrugged our shoulders. The same jawans and commandoes, who guard our borders, face the enemy from close quarters, risk their lives and win wars, are hailed as heroes, but only just. Nobody speaks about police reforms and the pittance that our security personnel earn as salaries, for putting their lives in the line of fire and ensuring our safety then. But when a terror attack happens in the heart of our city, the very same people are lauded for the efforts, they get glorified by the media, and rightly so, and the Government gets cornered into initiating (or at least talking about) police reforms.

 

Why, pray why, do we need a terror attack, to awaken our souls? Why are we selective in assessing all the wrong doings in the society, unless we are subjected to the same? Why is our righteous self come to fore, only if there is trouble in our own backyard?

 

I think the time is ripe for some soul-searching , even as we go about collecting the pieces of our lives, and rising together, to face the sinister side of humanity , among other things.