City under attack
People of Ahmadabad will never forget yet another dreadful evening of 26th July 2008, after the Akshar Dham temple attack in 2002. Saturday morning started on a usual vibrant note for Gujartis but no one knew what is there in stock for them in the future as the Sun sets in the evening. The so far calm and peaceful spell of Gujarat came under heavy attacks at the hand of terrorists when within a spell of hardly 70 minutes 17 bomb blasts rattle the city. All these attacks were in the congested areas of the city and were meant for causing maximum damages to the life and property and they succeeded in their heinous act of terrorism as in all 49 innocent people lost their lives and over 100 injured , some of them seriously.
When I heard the news first time I was in a Reliance Fresh stores on a routine purchase along with my wife and daughter after getting darshan of SHANI DEV being Saturday. It was about 19.05 when my daughter told me “Papa there are bomb blasts in Ahmadabad “ I was shocked to listen this and immediately asked one of staffers of the stores if they have TV as I want to see news ? She said “no sir” but she confirmed about the blasts and said that even she has heard of 6 blasts. Within next 5 minutes I received a call from my brother-in-law from Nagpur; he was worried about our wellbeing and asked us to reach home as early as possible. When I asked why he is saying this? He said it is not safe to be out in such a situation and more such incidents may occur. It was then only that I realized the magnitude of the problem and hurriedly asked the man on cash counter to relieve us fast and within a minute or two there was an announcement in the stores that it is being closed immediately.
When I came out of the stores. There was sudden increase in flow of rush on the roads and it looked like that every one is under a threat of heaven being fallen on his or her head. It took double the time to get a rickshaw then on usual days. The rickshaw driver was also panicked and said there is one more blast at Civil Hospital.
The first work I did on reaching home was to switch on the news channel and there it was the complete story of horrifying scenes from all across the city. By now it was 19.30 and the news being aired was that 8 serial bomb blasts in the city have claimed 4 lives and left 32 injured. The TV channels were showing the pictures of blasts sights and as the time went by the number of blasts kept swelling so was the number of death and injured and by the time 23.15 when I was feeling sleepy the score board was showing 18 deaths and 50 injured.
Out of the natural anxiety and to know further the prevailing situation when I switched on the TV the next Sunday morning, the death toll was increased to 45 and injured more than 100. In all 17 serial bombs blasted in the various areas of the city on a time when these areas are congested due to thick crowed.
Most affected was the Civil Hospital it self where two blasts occurred one in the Trauma centre and the other out of the trauma centre and there were the maximum deaths 20, one more Hospital i.e. LG hospital was also attacked where 3 persons lost their life. One blast shattered one of city bus in which a Tiffin bomb was said to have been planted. Bodies of passengers on the bus ruptured into pieces and parts were flung out it, blood soaked bodies were seen lying on the road waiting to be removed to the hospitals.
If you look at the numbers of death and injured in proportionate to the number of blasts that shook the city, you can easily derive that the bombs planted were of much low intensity and must have been raw, but that’s not the point what I want to emphasize is that the persons who were successful in planting low intensity raw bombs could have easily planted high intensity and sophisticated improvised explosive devices and what could have been the result is open to guess by any body. The number of deaths and injuries must have been multiplied by tens and hundreds respectively. Scenes of people running in panic and crying for their loved ones were flooded on the news channels.
Indian Mujahideen have claimed the responsibility of these for these heinous attacks claiming lives of innocent people. I notice a sense of fun/adventure being enjoyed by the terrorists in carrying out heinous acts and it is indeed a very dangerous signal when some one starts enjoying killings. They openly challenged our intelligence and security system and set the ball rolling and by the time some action is taken it’s a BANG.
Look at the mastermind planning. First hit the crowded area to ensure maximum damages and when the victims are brought to hospitals go on exploding the hospital itself there by rendering the whole medical assistance paralyzed which in turn send strong fear currents among the Doctors and the Medico staff.
The administrative machinery is always seen at a total loss of words except playing stereos which I think even a lay man would have learnt by heart by now. The game of mud slinging starts immediately after following all such incidents which often sidelined the main issue.
Once again the security arrangements will be tighten up a number of worried heads will join together to appeal to masses to maintain peace and harmony, not to lose their cool and calm. The problem lies in our thinking. Look at one of the statement from the administration “Insurgents are always one step ahead of our security agencies because they have more time to plan their operations. They can use better technology and they are more motivated” These words should not be true but if they are then whom to blame? What message it will send in the masses? won’t it shake the already dying confidence? The public in general will also have to act with even more responsibility on their part. No one should think if one is sitting safe and unhurt in ones home. No one is safe if one thinks so it is gross misunderstanding as it is not because you are under a safety cover but because of the facts that splinters coming out of explosion did not travel enough to reach you.
There is no question of safety of aam aadmi any one can be killed or injured at any time any where it makes no difference whether you are in Gujarat, UP, MP, Andhra, Karnataka, TN, Bihar, Rajasthan, Delhi or J & K. If you have lived so far it is your sheer luck that you did not fit in to the schemes of terrorists attack and also that they have started killing masses without reference to a particular person.
One can observe that terrorists have made sea changes in their planning and ideology and started explosion in public places like Hospitals, Cinema Halls, Shopping Malls, Trains, Buses, and places of religious interests and tourist’s spots. This change in their action can be mainly attributed to following some reasons
(A) It is very difficult, almost a Herculean task to reach any where near to a person who is always under strong safety cover, leave aside to kill or even inflict any injury to him.
(B) Often to carry out such an operation it requires not less than a suicide bomber which may not be preferred by them or find difficult to have a one.
(C) Even if they succeed in harming or killing a particular person who is under strong safety cover, by risking their own lives, the quantum of terror generated will be far low as compared to mass killings
(D) Often mass killings do not cast them any immediate life threat and it can be carried out much easily without any problem.
(E) In killing a secured person they have to lose their own life even without accomplishing the tasks where as in mass killings if at all they are brought to books, a long legal battle can be fought.
The public of Gujarat or of any other state for that matter, will definitely respond to the need of the hour by maintaining the peace and harmony and will not fall prey to bad intentions of rupturing the unity of the country, but the question is “will there be any end to all these and if the security arrangement are put in the top gears then where we miss the bus?, remain unanswered. Look at the news papers full of commitments when ever such incidents occur regarding measures announced to check repetition of terrorists activities may it be after Mumbai Train blasts in July 2006 or Blats in Varanasi temple or Blasts in Masque in south India or Jaipur Blasts in May this year and just a day before of Ahmadabad, on Friday at Bangalore. People at large have started feeling that the common man is at the mercy of terrorists and they are striking at their will, when ever and wherever they want even sending e-mail in advance and resorted to serial bomb blasts.
It is not that our security and intelligence system is relaxed and lacking anywhere, rather they work overtime and always stood by the safety of the nation and it’s public but they also require full support and co-operation from the general public because it is that common man who move around so frequently and such a wide range covering each and every inch of the land in the near by area and therefore he can be of immense help in fighting terrorism. In the present incidents also one common man has informed about an un-defused bomb in one of the city area and because of him the bomb defusing squad defused the bomb there by saving many lives. Our police and security personnel did their duties even by risking their own lives and example is not far away when they made the highest sacrifice when they saved our parliament and Akshar Dham Temple.
The need of the hour is that they should be given latest technology and best environment to work where no constraints are there in fighting terrorism.