Ex-rediff.com staffer and Bollywood film-maker Suparn Verma's blog post asking Mumbaikars to gather outside the Taj Mahal hotel on December 3 at 6 pm has set off a huge response and citizens fed up of the way their city is taken for granted have vowed to be there. We present Suparn's original post
I
'm sick and tired of being resilient, of living my life like the blood of my brethren spilt on the streets targeted by a bomb or a bullet will not make me stop my life!It's time to press the brakes NOW!
The whole world watches in horror as my city is held hostage for 60 hours as I write this. We have our brave men dying on the first day because they are fighting highly trained terrorists equipped with sophisticated weapons with lathis, 303 rifles, and flimsy body armour.
We have innocent men, women and children held hostage and killed because our ministers don't even know that the marine commando's are based in Maharashtra, or why would they be deployed the next day?
A home ministry who does not even have the blueprints of the Taj and Oberoi hotel organised when the NSG lands from Delhi, delaying their attack by several hours!
We don't have NSG in Mumbai because they are all in Delhi protecting the sweet asses of 'supposed' leaders and VIP's whose job it is to protect us!
Leaders who don't even have the sense NOT to come to this city when we need every security personnel deployed at the three fronts they are waging an attack on, instead of worrying about their safety!
Leaders whose security is paid for by our tax money!
In 1993 the arms came via the sea route! In 2008 they come via the sea route!
Lessons learned? ZERO
Bombay has had enough bomb blasts to have a crisis management infrastructure in place.
Lessons learned? ZERO
Politicians travel shamelessly across the country to give sound bytes when an incident occurs, not caring whether they impede the work of security and forensics.
Lessons learned? ZERO
The blood and sorrow of Indians is only to be capitalized by politicians to fight elections. My blood boils when the opposition takes out an advertisement in the newspaper using an ONGOING attack as their election propaganda!
My blood boils when Narendra Modi who bad mouthed ATS chief Karkare for his Malegaon investigation goes to his house and visits the fallen hero's dead body and makes a speech and offers him a cheque of a crore which is rejected by his wife.
Karkare, Salaskar, Kamte died in the line of duty so did NSG commandos and jawans and police constables, they were from every state of India, they weren't fighting a regional battle they were fighting for the country! And we have parties trying to create divisional lines trying to give terror a communal color!
I'm mad as hell and I won't take it anymore!
It is time we stopped being the silent majority and minding our own business.
Let us as citizens of the city, of this country get together.
Let us do SOMETHING!
Let us start a non co-operation movement.
Something to show that we won't take this lying down. Something that can tell these leaders protected by our brave commandos that we want safety of our family, our city, our country.
Let them see how many we are.
Let them see how angry and frustrated and tired we are.
Let us come together to ask for our right to live our life fearlessly.
Let us come together to remember the loss of our fellow beings.
Let us the people come together so that their loss is not in vain and lessons are learned.
I will be standing outside the Taj Hotel on Wednesday, December 3 at 6 pm.
Join me.
