Where do we go from here? What next? What happens after all the speeches are over and all the press conferences have ended? What happens after the microphones have been turned off (Haemorrhage..., Dec 8)? I see a mother crying every time she looks at the garlanded picture of her son. I see a wife shed silent tears each time she sees the empty chair on the dining table. I see a father put up a brave front, whenever he sees his son’s motorbike. I see a hotel waiter shudder each time he hears a loud noise. Then I see the neta give another public speech, promising to punish the murderers. Then I see the corporate ceo announce another sponsorship for another cricketer.
Anu Aggarwal, Dubai
When Abhinav Bindra and a couple of others won medals at the Beijing Olypmics in August, the state governments tripped over each other to award them. Cut to the present, post Mumbai, the irony is so thick it chokes, to see that the real ace shooters (the nsg and others) will get a minuscule fraction, if anything at all.
Bharath Gopalakrishnan, on e-mail
Thank you Mr Patil for gracefully moving on...though it’s three months too late.
Sam Paul, Hyderabad
I sometimes think the biggest curse of our nation is our democracy, in which many of our so-called rights remain only on paper, while terrorists exploit those very rights to get away with their horrendous acts. The other curse is our politicians, who are unaccountable to anyone.
Prem, on e-mail
The current mass hysteria against politicians must be tempered. The country is passing through a grave international crisis following the Mumbai attacks. We are a nuclear-armed state and we face another nation that is similarly armed but politically unstable. A single mistake at the top may result in the wiping out of both Mumbai and Karachi. Thank God we have leaders like Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Pranab Mukherjee, who are calm and cool. We must not add to their considerable burden with rabid jingoism or religious bigotry. This is a time for restraint.
J.S. Bandukwala, Vadodara
Listening to Indian news channels (At the Edges of Restraint, Dec 15), one would think it is these verbose anchors who know how best to handle internal security and the governance of our country. Their patronising attitude is sickening.
Rita Panicker, New Delhi
26/11 may be in a category different from the ’93 blasts as far as the methodology goes, but can anyone believe such an operation was carried out by 10 jehadis without local help?
K.C. Sharma, Delhi
We have no choice but to wage a full-fledged battle against terrorism, the way the US did after the 9/11 attacks. Without harbouring any second thoughts, we should set up an all-party government and launch hot pursuit of terrorists, wherever they may be.
S.M. Acharya, Pune
An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind. If that’s true, I prefer to be blind (and retain an iota of self-respect) rather than hang my head in shame, feel humiliated and tamely get back to the daily grind.
Sanjeev Mohanty, on e-mail
Even as you were doing an exclusive on the ats investigation into the Malegaon blasts, fate was arranging a November 26 rendezvous for its chief Hemant Karkare and others (Steel in the Driftwood). The Sangh parivar and its voluble PM-designate should really be ashamed for at one time challenging Karkare’s credibility. His death at the hands of terrorists is a straight slap on the face of these leaders.
Kanwal N.S. Chadha, Mohali
As some well-meaning people keep saying, "terrorists have no religion". So there’s no need to stick to religious niceties as regards their bodies. Cremate them, for it leaves no possibility for them to turn martyrs at a later date. Also, their jannat aspirations will also go on hold.
Bharat B. Prashar, Southend-on-Sea, UK
Could we know how the ats, under the late Hemant Karkare, an upright and able officer, was unable to get a whiff of the Mumbai attacks? Could it be that this officer was told by the powers that be to concentrate only on the Malegaon blasts, because it served a certain political purpose?
K.V. Sharma, on e-mail
Now that Hemant Karkare is dead, can the knickerwalas in the US, UK, Denmark and wherever stop sullying him so?
V.N. Venugopal, New Delhi
It appears that many of our agencies had prior information about the attacks but did not act to prevent them. This is analogous to what happened when the tsunami struck. The government will now pretend to take some action to save itself from criticism and then it will be back to normal. The only way to avoid such attacks, I think, is to make available to the public all the information our agencies obtain so that they decide on what safety precautions to take or not take.
M. Raj Kumar, Varagur, Tamil Nadu
With all due credit to our security forces for battling the terrorists in Mumbai, I must say their action seemed more like a mock battle. What our commandos should have done was to set off something like a large explosion to distract the terrorists and then taken them out, like the Israelis did in Entebbe. Such action sends a loud and clear message. Similarly, we can’t make do with weak statements from our prime minister. What we need is the sort of message Indira Gandhi sent out to Pakistan before the 1971 war. Politics apart, the only person who seems capable of that sort of strong posturing is Narendra Modi.
M.V.S. Rao, Secunderabad
As a young and outraged citizen, I am afraid of the direction our anger is taking. I can feel the violence in the visceral reaction whenever Pakistan is named. But knowing the country is often at war with itself, it is irresponsible to speak of it as a coherent, unified whole. Our news media seems to forget how sensitive Pakistan as an issue is, why fire up the embers? Here, I do recognise that in some twisted way this serves their interest for revenues today are dependent on the increased heart rates. And isn’t it all a little too convenient? We have cultivated a special skill that allows us to turn a blind eye to the violence committed by Indian extremist groups—Muslim and Hindu—against fellow citizens. It’s easy to ignore our hypocrisy when our emotions are volatile and our wounds throbbing.
Devika Narayan, Mumbai
When Parliament was attacked by terrorists, people said that if a few politicians had been killed, it would have been better for the country as security preparedness would immediately go up. Predictably, there has been no improvement in security since then. The Mumbai attacks have shown that if we want protection, we the people will have to take the initiative. Much like the families of the Uphaar tragedy victims who waged a fight for justice.
Nikhil Kapur, on e-mail
Hundreds gathered to raise their voice against terrorism at the Gateway of India in Mumbai and Jantar Mantar in Delhi on December 3. Will the same unity continue among the people of this country in ensuring our elected MPs/ ministers go beyond petty politics and discharge th eir duties honestly?
Lakshmi Venkatraman, Chennai
I attended the citizen’s gathering at the Gateway on Dec 3 and was overwhelmed by the numbers who came there to express grief, solidarity and anger. While there are a million questions, the silver lining to this black cloud is the fact that common people have come together like never before. As an immediate result, heads have rolled. But I think the very minimum has been done. Shivraj Patil, RR and Vilasrao have been sacrificed for the government to show that it’s done ‘something’. This is hardly sufficient. A complete overhaul of the system is required. It is important that we channelise this popular movement into an impetus for change. We cannot let the momentum subside or else we will be as guilty as the establishment and the politicians that could not prevent this attack. As a start, we should change the name of the city back to bombay. Ever since it was changed to mumbai around 1993, we’ve had bomb blasts, riots, floods, terrorist attacks. Even numerologists agree that ‘mumbai’ adds up to disaster while ‘bombay’ brings peace, prosperity.
Sanjeev S. Mehta, Mumbai
Farzana Contractor asks "Why Us?" (The Band Stopped Playing). Mumbai is no exception, such things happen all over India. She should have asked "Why India?" By publishing these narrow-minded articles you seem to suggest that terrorist attacks are OK for the rest of India, but not so for Mumbai!
Dinesh Kumar, Chandigarh
Since when did we have to get Rahul Bose (No Curfew on Bombay, Please) to wax eloquent on national security matters? He said on TV that citizens’ liberties shouldn’t be taken away the way they were in the US after 9/11. I live in the US, have travelled around the country, and have, in the years since 9/11, moved in and out of that country many times. Not once did I, an Indian who can easily be mistaken for a Pakistani or someone from West Asia, feel discriminated against. You should seek opinion from more sensible people.
Alap, on e-mail
I am a BJP upporter. Equally, I am a fan of VM and Outlook. Even so, I must say that the magazine disappointed me in publishing Rahul Bose’s views in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks. What does he mean when he says, "But there’s something we can do: be extremely vigilant that these random acts of terror are not used by the government to bolt the stable after the horses have fled." Does he mean that we should die to terrorists’ bullets rather than submit to security checks?
Dheeraj, on e-mail
I opened the last page of the December 8 issue of Outlook, expecting a piece from Vinod Mehta. Sure, he had a diary but it wasn’t on the Mumbai attack. Instead, Mr Mehta gleefully continued on the ‘saffronisation of the armed forces’ theme his magazine has been singing. I flipped to the cover story, and sure he was there, unmistakable mug and all, lamenting Ah, Bombay.... What he advocated was not any stern measure or action against the perpetrators. Instead, we were forced to read about his unsuccessful attempts to woo the female hippies at the Leopold Cafe! Still pursuing the Congress policy of appeasing the Muslim minority, Mr Mehta? You haven’t given up hope of an RS seat yet or perhaps a ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, have you? This government’s reaction/response was expected but Outlook could have shown some spine. Or is Mr Mehta still doing penance for publishing Francois Gautier’s Hindu Rate of Wrath?
Samir Desai, Ahmedabad
Vinod Mehta in his edit asks if Mumbai will ever be the same again. I sure hope not. Mumbai and India can and should never go back. We must remember 26/11 forever, so that we never forget the lessons we learnt from it. Unlike most TV headlines that read ‘Mumbai under attack’, we should be very clear it was ‘India under attack’. And each and every Indian today sheds tears and feels horror at what happened in one of our cities. The question is, what now? Where do we go from here and what do we do to ensure our nation is not held to ransom again?
Anita Sangwan, Jaipur
Mr Mehta, no offence meant, but you are totally wrong from beginning to end. We need vigour and patriotism to fight this terror, not harmony, unity and other such sweet nothings.
H. Rao, Vadodara
Isn’t it ironic that nothing unites us more than the bullet of a terrorist who doesn’t distinguish between caste, region or religion? If we have to channelise our anger, we must do it against the injustice that is meted out to fellow Indians irrespective of whether they are Christians, Muslims or Hindus of any caste and against the politicians, whoever they may be, who create these differences to win elections. Good governance must become the only criterion for our vote, and if that happens, believe me, politicians too will start thinking about good governance. And we would have won the war against terror without firing a single bullet.
S.M. Shervani, New Delhi
Once the initial outrage over Mumbai dies down, I won’t be surprised if the families of slain heroes like Karkare, Unnikrishnan et al are made to run from pillar to post for their death benefits and if bribes are demanded from them for settlement. Politicians must already be drooling at the prospect of commissions they can make on the increased demand for weaponry, armour etc. After all, didn’t they make money out of coffins post-Kargil? My greatest dread now, however: a 10-page piece from Arundhati!
Rajan, Chennai
I must protest the attitude towards Indian intelligence. It is derogatory to say "Our intelligence-gathering network is in a shambles. The tragedy is that everyone, even Ramu the cook, knows how rundown IB and r aw are." Do you, Mr Mehta, know how to run intelligence services ? I wouldn’t even bother asking your cook.
Hemant K. Chitale, Singapore
We, as Indians, probably deserve this, because:
While Pt Bhimsen Joshi no doubt deserves the highest recognition for his art, I have a serious problem with the government deciding who to "honour" and when (Bhimsen Joshi Hazir Ho, Dec 8). Politicisation, ideological biases and corruption play a bigger role than actual artistic criteria. There is an element of sham in such honour and we can do without it. Pt Joshi certainly doesn’t need the government to certify his greatness.
Adi, on e-mail
Sunil Menon’s beautiful tribute reminds me of an incident that irradiates the sensibilities of our classical music greats. Kishori Amonkar was performing at the Gulmarg Golf Club, Kashmir, where Dr Farooq Abdullah too was present. Someone brought pears and started passing them around the select audience. So incensed was Amonkar that she refused to perform any further!
Rajiv Chopra, Jammu
Your investigative report on the Assam blasts (Powder Burns, Dec 8) showed only the tip of the iceberg, not what lies beneath. The question is, who is funding all these terrorist activities? Everybody knows about the presence of an Islamic outfit, but authorities keep denying the obvious facts. What else can you expect when a sold-out Congress government, which protects the actual offenders, can’t see beyond polls, power and money.
Krishanoo Shrimayee, Dergaon, Assam
The Somali pirates were fools, that’s why they were hovering around the well-protected Gulf of Aden (A Brigand’s Eyl View Of The Sea, Dec 8). Had they been wandering around the Indian coast, nobody would have found them. Because, to paraphrase the deputy CM of Maharashtra, it is a long coast and one can expect such people to roam around doing business.
Ganesan, New Jersey
In the article on K’wood stars supporting Lankan Tamils (Stars & Stripes, Dec 8), Outlook has unwittingly given a one-sided, Brahminical view, which can only stoke caste sentiments in Tamil Nadu. If you really want to know the facts, please publish the other point of view. Otherwise, you will be perpetuating your traditional image of being a north Indian magazine.
S. Gandhi, on e-mail
Mahatma Gandhi honed his skills in fighting injustice by adopting methods of non-violence and satyagraha in the fledgling movement against apartheid in South Africa (The Unending Struggle of Memory Against Injustice, Dec 1). In his own country, though, it seems violence and non-tolerance are increasing at an alarming rate. Can’t we follow the South African constitutional court and also incorporate memorials that act as reminders of our freedom struggle?
R.K. Mahajan, New Shimla
Your Polscape of Nov 24 mentions that Rahul Gandhi wants to "draw inspiration from his grandfather" at Teen Murti House. As far as I know, Rahul’s grandfathers were Feroz Gandhi on his father’s side, and Stefano Maino on his mother’s—neither of whom spent any appreciable length of time in tmh. I certainly hope you don’t think Chacha Nehru was Rahul’s grandpa (especially with the rose in the buttonhole cartoon!)
Pradosh Ghosh, Renusagar
Technological advances have certainly made our lives more open and vulnerable to people bent on misusing them (Someone Watching Over You, Dec 1). There is nothing personal in the world of internet. In the excitement of discovering the world and enmeshing themselves in the thick of technology, people are sacrificing their privacy.
K. Chidanand Kumar, Bangalore
A concept picture of the Sony PSP 3000 was carried in our Technology Special issue (Beware, A Storm is Brewing, Dec 1). Here’s what the portable game machine actually looks like.
When I read Vinod Mehta saying in his Delhi Diary (Dec 8), "I don’t have much of an education", I wondered whether, as a reader, I was in safe hands. But as I turned the pages (it’s back to front for me) and read the self-same personage proclaiming in the essay Ah, Bombay... that he was reared intellectually (leaving aside the physical) in a cafe, I breathed easy. Cheers to the Editor!
C.G. Rishikesh, Chennai
It seems misty-eyed nostalgia has indeed got the better of Vinod Mehta! I too was a student around that time, and while I did learn some lessons at La Martiniere—such as how to eat a toothpaste sandwich—the art of enduring public humiliation as well as valuing the enormous role of sports and humour in Anglo-Saxon culture (of possible value in negotiating one’s way in the US) has stood me in good stead. Possibly, these lessons outweigh the scars of school. But I’m afraid I did not develop any love of learning or compassion for fellow beings. Tellingly, none of those prefects we all looked up to achieved much outside the ‘hothouse’ and inbred atmosphere at La Martiniere. The teachers were middling, the one exception being Mr Sidney Lewis, a gentleman and a coach extraordinaire.
Sumant Rawat, Pueblo, US
