Government and Negligence: Are they Synonyms?
On May 25, an explosion was reported outside the Delhi High Court in the scorching heat of the afternoon. It led to terror and fear among the people, and without delay, authorities set off high alert in the capital and tightened security at public places. This has been the scene after every blast. Fortunately, no one was injured. The May 25 blast was the second in the preceding eight months, on September 19, 2010. Many security measures were taken to ensure no further explosions occurred. People, luggage, automobiles etc were thoroughly checked to avoid such situations. However, the antics of the UPA-led government did not last long enough to prevent another blast. Again, on September 7, 2011, fright and horror-struck Delhi in the morning when 15 people (two succumbed in the hospital in the following weeks) were killed and 70 injured in the blast outside the High Court premises. It was crowded with visitors waiting to get entry passes. No one was injured in the previous blast, but fate doesn’t play the same role every time!
The Indian government was warned by US, UK, and Australian advisors of imminent terror attacks on Delhi, especially in the “vicinity of key government installations and tourist sites.” At that time, highly placed government sources said that the advisories were taken “seriously” and that Delhi Police had been on “full alert.” But the exhausted alertness of our Police system and the ruling government can be very well assessed after the recent explosion.
Immediately after the blast, many theories were formulated. The most debatable was among them all: on September 7th, the opposition was to take a stand against the cash-for-vote scam in the Parliament, and the BJP members were incredibly confident that they could take the UPA government in their hands. Therefore, the UPA government triggered the blast to change the course of attention and bring about a new problem to be dwelled upon. Our eminent leaders stood up and shunned this blast. The blame game again took off. Various dimensions and perspectives came in. But what exactly could be the reality? It would not be right to blame the security system altogether, as we cannot overlook the fact that it is, after all, under the nose of our government, which keeps on regulating it.
The government can discuss the security system at length. Still, specialized Agencies are needed to predict and eradicate such situations by following the patterns and networks of such occurrences. Immediately after the 26/11 case, the Multi-Agency Centre and the National Investigation Agency were formulated to investigate all terror-related cases. MAC was operationalised through an executive order, and NIA was cleared during an unscheduled cabinet meeting.
In our Home Ministry, there has been a long-pending proposal to set up the NCTC (National Counter Terrorism Centre) on the lines of the agency set up by the United States after the 9/11 attack. This so-called NCTC proposal has been with the government for 18 months. Along with it, NATGRID was also not paid any heed to. The proposal was made on December 09, and the project has now been allotted a 10-acre plot in New Delhi, and discussions regarding the powers and functioning are yet to be decided upon. Therefore, it can be clearly said that it will take another 2-3 years for this to be fully functional. Who knows, this project will take a steep fall if the present government goes out of power and the new government doesn’t think it worthwhile enough to set up an NCTC or NATGRID! The new government might come up with a new proposal that would be very effective and operative, but then it will take another five years to pass the approval for the project.
On the day of the blast, top UPA leaders like Manmohan Singh, P. Chidambaram, Rahul Gandhi and a few more ministers visited the injured admitted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. The next day, on September 08, RML (a government-owned hospital) was asking the families of the Delhi Blast victims to purchase white sheets to cover the dead people. This is the convenience and hypocrisy of our system and the government to take chances along with twists and turns according to their whims!
With every blast, the government and police force, along with security systems, are tightened to create a sense of security among the people. At that time, people regained their strength and moved around freely. Then, another strike takes place, and people are again assured of the same old failed measures. Is it that we people are bold to go out in the open despite these blasts, or are we compelled to go out? It is always said that there was a lapse in security. Have those people ever been charged for this so-called “lapse” in security? How is it that there’s always a lapse of security in every blow?
Today, the whole and sole responsibility lies on the shoulders of the citizens. It looks like we are paying our taxes to be paid to the government servants for the “lapse,” as they’re not competent enough to look into the matter. Despite so much technological advancement and prior security alarms, such incidents still occur, and then there is no answer to such slips. Regardless of so many agencies, the predicament is still there.
As a solution, everyone would say, the government should take strong steps and make the Agencies more efficient in tracking the problems beforehand. But we all know, at the end of the day, no such things will happen as the so-called “Big” people are filling their overflowing pockets instead of looking at the pathetic condition our nation is going through. Since these so-called big people are not directly affected, the common man is; therefore, it doesn’t matter to them! It is important to understand and realize that terrorism is an ideology propagated by certain heads. It is important to track them down to avoid such blasts in future. Of course, agencies like NCTC have to be formulated in a free-flowing process, and the actions within these institutions should be quick instead of traditional bureaucracy lagging. More importantly, as citizens, we must be careful enough to figure out the suspicious behaviour of the people around us and procure unidentified bags and luggage. Although we cannot evade such incidents as general mass, if we are careful enough to stop such fundamentalism in any manner, we should make sure to make better use of it. We need to keep our eyes and ears open to elude the challenge presented to us by such heads.