Every time terror strikes, we claim that we have learnt what we need to do and we pretend to do it for some time - albeit a very short period of time. And then, guess what, we conveniently forget.....
We proudly say life goes on and has to go on.... and that we as a nation have to ability to bounce back.... And then it happens all over again.
Couple of incidents that I have seen have make me feel particularly vulnerable.... make me shit bricks....
Not very long ago, we had the 11/7 blasts on the Bombay local trains in 2006. In a panic reaction, metal detectors had been installed at Churchgate station. Cops were deployed and CCTVs installed to monitor the crowd movement. But I don't think, or dare I say, I am convinced that these detectors never work - they barely squeal when pass through them with a metal object - it could be a goddamn bomb. Cops, on the other hand, instead of keeping a hawk's eye on suspicious movement, either prefer ogling pretty girls or just don't care. I have myself walked through Churchgate carrying big bulky carrybags several times, without being questioned a single time.
You may blame that on indifferent attitude of Government staff.....
Now sample this.....
Yesterday, I flew on India's "finest international airline" (am trying to be politically correct here) from Bombay to Ahmedabad. Anticipating a stringent security check at the airport, I reach well in advance - a good 90 minutes before the scheduled departure. Sample this - the CISF at the entrance to the terminal barely at e-ticket printout and my id proof and waves me in. You need to be a tech-geek to forge an e-ticket, do you? It's a five minute job on MS Outlook, right?
Then, why don't we have a bag screening process prior to entering the terminal - the CISF cop at the terminal entrance, just checks the e-ticket and the id proof, without having any clue of what lies in your bag - it could theoretically have kilos of explosives and weaponry, which could wreck havoc in the terminal. Possible? Yes, very much.....
The newspapers yesterday spoke of ladder point checks and zero tolerance towards laxity in security checks. But, my friend, there was no ladder point check at all....
The story doesn't end there. I was assigned row 22 - common sense is that one should board from the rear ladder. But yesterday, the "finest international airline" had boarding pass checks only at the forward ladder point and not at the rear, which was being used by the janitors. Respecting the logic of safety and given that checks were taking place at the forward ladder point, all passengers moved towards there. However, when my turn came, the lady tore the stub of my boarding pass and smilingly asked me to use the rear ladder as it would be kind closer to my assigned row.
I did just that - but..... there was no one to check my boarding when climbed up the rear ladder, neither cabin crew at the rear find anything unusual. It is well known that Bombay airport has porous peripheries. Theoretically, anyone could have sneaked with a cache of arms and handed it over right? Now dare think of what could happen next.....
Landing at Bombay is a nightmare - given the proliferation of slums around, imagine how easy for a rogue to target a landing aircraft with a shoulder-based mini-Anti Aircraft missile - need I say, these are wholesaled in our neighbourhood - the famed arms markets of Peshawar! But the slums, they've got to stay, for Madam says so.... Great, right, what a free for all!!!!
7/11 was just last week, but have we forgotten it so soon? I must say this amnesia so damn shameful....
Let's look at the post 9/11 US on the other hand. No exceptions are made, no compromises are made. I still recall when George Fernandes, our then minister, who enjoyed diplomatic immunity, was stripped to the bone..... Moral of the story - giving up a few liberties is a small price to pay for national security.
There are two problems with us - one we start security initiatives with great fanfare, but lose it somewhere, two, we Indians don't like being checked. Voila, this results in a deadly cocktail.....
Bottomline, neither do we learn nor do we want to learn.....
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