The Race

 The Race

      

      Three years ago those who went to sleep early on 26^th November woke up to the horrors that night had been through and those who didn’t, experienced the nightmare without going to sleep. Six men carrying deadly weapons, grenades, guns, dead human spirit and above all a cold, senseless mind on shoulders, indoctrinated to mindless religious madness that had nothing to do with religion, entered the city already in the chaos, on uninterrupted run , at an instant when everybody was eager to go home. They unleashed bloodbath on the streets, in the hotels, in a religious place killing people, innocent men and women, not even sparing children. The blood was on the street, it was on their mind, some patriots braved the bullets, some escaped, some evaded. The brave men in uniform fought with the maniacs, some made supreme sacrifice. The frenzied  men were shot dead but not before leaving a pool of blood on the streets, on the corners, in hotel rooms and unstoppable tears down the eyes and a list of brave men who showed exceptional courage but embarked on the last journey.

      The whole India plunged into the patriotic fever that had a history of recurrence on 15^th August and 26^th January, dormancy rest of the year and a terrible tendency to wane faster after the attack from enemy. This time it sustained longer. The attack was shockingly unimaginable, unprecedented on the scale, presented a gruesome spectacle for two days in continuance, left behind the memories of disaster, dead bodies, shattered souls and a wounded spirit of an angry Indian. The world watched it, political parties discussed it; common man tried hard to come to terms with hurt self respect and mourned the loss of courageous.

      It was not the first terrorist attack on Mumbai and also we as Indians were not new to the terrorism. Mumbai faced multiple bomb blasts in 1992, one at Gate Way of India, series of blasts in local trains but this was undoubtedly special, unmatched in planning, horrific in details and extremely hurting in execution, a dent on the pride of the nation. We lost innocent lives, men in uniform, officers of exceptional caliber, but where it hurt most was the pride as a nation, an emerging superpower was taken for ride by six terrorists. The whole country watched helplessly when they took the financial capital of India hostage, roamed the city, firing at will, killing innocents and with every bullet fired insulting us.

    We again lost the race, race between the intelligence agencies and the terrorists and unfortunately it is not the first ever loss, some may say it’s a routine. We lost it when two of our prime ministers were assassinated, when Delhi experienced serial blasts, when Mumbai exploded….. The use of resources, some information gathering and figures can easily come out, telling us the number of time we lost the race, when terrorists were ahead of our agencies but the figures that we might find it hard to get is number when our agencies were ahead. Every terrorist organization wants to get ahead of agencies to strike a blow. This race unfortunately is a deadly race, in formula one we have speed and thrill; here we have sharp brains and blood.

     Those who are working against the humanity, the terrorists, their motivation to carry on is unambiguous. The world over the terrorists outfits always search for the uncharted, unimagined ways to strike, of course with maximum impact factors. They always have a purpose, requisite brainwash and goals to achieve. Their skills in searching for the route unimagined and agencies closely following them, have inspired numerous movies but the real life race is lethal, when we lose the race, the result is horrific, always a human tragedy.

   Who imagined, even in reel life, that planes carrying passengers will collide with Twin towers and explode, killing hundreds, nobody thought of radios can be used as bombs as happened in serial blasts in Delhi in 1985, highjacking of Air India plane to Kandahar, blasts in Landon metros….. the list is long,..even longer is the list of dead, wounded. The race otherwise is thrilling in movies but for reality. We usually live along the periphery and don’t experience the sound and fury till terrorists win.

   There always are attempts from the daredevils and brave hearts like Karkare, Kamte, Salaskar, Unnikrishnan in challenging them……. And courage never seen, thought about, shown by Tukaram Ombale in catching Kasab. Who would otherwise have believed that a constable from Police force which is notorious for taking bribes, have men like him who caught Kasab’s AK-47 by bare hands, allowed the chest to be riddled with bullets, saved the lives of not just colleagues but gave a face saving formula for the nation in the form of an alive terrorist….. cost…. his own life…. What had happened many times in Hindi movies, we all considered as reflection of writer’s imagination took place on that dreadful night of 26/11…. A little known constable rose to the occasion, elevated himself above all material aspirations, human fears and attained the iconic stature of a martyr ….so difficult to attain…won the highest gallantry award. Think of his sacrifice one realizes how small we lesser mortals are…and a mean life we live.

   In this race the triumph of terror has a global recognition but success of intelligence organizations has less news value, no glamour as show always belongs to terrorists, exactly opposite to life in movies where cops steal the thunder. In a country like ours the terrorists have ample opportunities and few good men only have chances. We don’t want competent men in uniform at key posts, we want to use intelligence units for gathering information to serve political interest, we want black cat commandos as status symbol, we are not afraid of using sectarian sentiments for political gains, we are witness to cases where honesty was the reason for departmental shunting, how are we going to win the race? Add to this, departmental incompetency, bureaucratic lethargy, societal apathy, sectarian empathy, political interference, lack of political will….any guesses!!! Who is going to win the race? They strike at their will and we dumbfounded search at dead ends.

     We only talk about committee reports, modernization plans, high quality weapons, new platoons, new force..but forget the man behind the machine, his training, his morale, his burden, his neglect,…. fatal time lapses, condoned intelligence inputs…..and they plan meticulously, execute resolutely, exploit flaws intelligently…..Result, they succeed ….We carry the unwanted baggage of perpetual loser. There might have been thwarted attempts, failed plots that never found light but the rate of success tells us the winner. There is no major attack on U.S. soil since 9/11. They remained alert, sealed the gateways, dried resources, aware citizens and vigilant police worked together and so far has winning lead in the race. It simply does not mean that there won’t be any attack in future but for this terrorists will require to stretch their imagination to defeat U.S. system in the race..a task not so easy. Can we ever get such a formidable set up?

     This race is most thrilling in movies, tragic in reality. This is the race between terrorists and intelligence men, between killers and saviors, between good and evil. Nobody can predict who will win for there is no ultimate loser or winner, it is going to continue in time without end. If we win at a moment we must prepare for another race immediately as they will now try to strike with vengeance. Their success will provide them enough impetus to maintain the lead. We the peripherals know only half the story but pay the highest price.

          Losing in sports is always taken in good spirit, not here in this race. We cannot afford to lose and cannot celebrate the win. Our loss is a human tragedy and celebration will be beginning of new race. This race is perpetual, unlikely to meet the last lap, it is the everlasting challenge to humanity. The race must we win…always. There is no line of finish. The ultimate truth is good and evil coexist.