26/11 and The Nation Which Failed!!!

No Indian would ever forget the image of that magnificent dome of Taj on fire. At that time it wasn’t just that age old structure burning but with it was burning our sense of security in our own country, precisely in our very own city. On the fire was our joy of freedom, we no more were feeling free even to take a walk down the street. Glued to their TV sets millions were watching the horrific dance of barbarous terrorism. A terrorism that was being carried by ten tutored youths, who have all thronged into our city from across the border and were mercilessly slaughtering its heart.

Their guns were firing aimlessly at VT station, killing everything that came its way irrespective of caste, creed or colour. Life may be biased death was so unilateral!!!

The hustle and bustle of Lenard cafe was silenced by an unexpected shower of bullets, adding more people to the clump of victims. It was a scene straight from some fictional action movie- even more heinous. We were bewildered; Leonard cafe wasn’t on any fight accustomed border, it was on the road leading to gateway of India, in the heart of the city, our city!!!

No place was out of their bounds, from a hospital to a place of worship, nothing stopped them from expanding their brutality to all the dimensions of our life. The reality was far more ferocious than we had ever thought.

It took just ten absent minded youths with sophisticated weapons in their hands to bring down a city of millions over its knees. Just ten miss users of power kept a nation in shock for three continuous days and in grief that would last eternity.

Like every good and bad thing, finally this trauma also ended. It took with it the lives of 166 people, 166 near and dear ones, who’s only fault was their presence at some place they thought to be their own. Wounded around 600 people physically and a billion plus others in a manner better to leave unexplained.

On the fourth day when the trauma ended, no one was celebrating anything. NSG commandoes that came out with their darkened eyes weren’t expressing any joy. Because we haven’t won, No one could win such battle, only humanity lost to humans.

Five years down the line did we learn anything? Yes we did, we learned to live with it. We learn to quietly bury the fear of insecurity in the deepest of our heart and live normally.

Nothing could be more enough to wash out the scars it left on our city, country and its people. But this nothing didn’t imply to do nothing. The brutal brain behind this crime of unmatched ferocity still lives under the same sky as we do. After captivating thoughts of a million people with fear, in-cultivating insecurities in their lives, he is still free and secure.

We have learned nothing, absolutely nothing. It may look harsh, but we are equally prone, equally obvious a target and equally incompetent.

On the name of principles we easily pass of everything as an ideal difference between them and us. It is good to follow the principles, it is viable to avoid bloodshed but it is equally adept to punish the offender. Our definitions need to be revised; Non-violence never amounted to being impotent.

The scars are green,

The wounds haven’t been clean,

The way we were before it,

After it we have never been.

Punishment is an imperative reward for doing things not meant to be done. Lest we forget.

Never Forgotten, Never Forgiven- 26/11- the martyrs and the victims would always be in our prayers. Peace of their souls could only nullify the guilt of a nation which failed its people.

Unknown

Author & Editor

An Engineer by qualification, a blogger by choice and an enterprenur by interest. Loves to read and write and explore new places and people.