| Terror and Awakening... |
The month of May perhaps marked the beginning of the horrendous terror trail, which grew in fearfully magnanimous proportions as the year came to an end. Serial bomb blasts in Jaipur that killed nearly 68 people set off a new trend with smaller, unprotected cities becoming the targets.
Bangalore(July 25), Ahmedabad (July 26), Modasa (Sept 29), Malegaon (Sept 29) Kanpur (Oct 14), Imphal (Oct 21), Assam(Oct 30) followed. Not to mention the terrible Delhi blasts (Sept 13, 27) on two occasions and the horrendous Mumbai attacks (Nov 26) that seems to have changed so much.
The year also saw the rise of a new form of terror in shape of so-called ‘Hindu’ terrorism. The involvement of elements with an Army background in the Malegaon blasts raised new challenges before counter-terror operations.
While on the one hand questions on severe lapses on Indian security agencies were raised, the commitment of our government towards the protection of citizens also came under scanner. A Home Minister did not mind changing dinner suits even as reports of numerous deaths in terror attack kept pouring in, a government that had so severely opposed POTA was finally forced to come up with a similar law, in of course a new package.
As the terror attacks kept the police and the security agencies on their toes, it also kept the attention of the public engaged. A people who had so vehemently opposed the Batla house encounter after Delhi blasts, a handful of media that had slammed the singling out of Muslims and a nation which had shown indifference and unconcern suddenly metamorphosed.
Fearing the mood of the nation the Government adopted hasty measures to compensate for its lack of efficiency and heads began to roll. The Union Home Minister and Maharashtra CM and his deputy had to go. Another CM had to apologies for showing disrespect towards a martyr’s father and another Union Minister had to submit resignation for questioning a martyr’s death before eating his words and thus retaining his portfolio.
2008 changed India. Indian Mujhadeen, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish –e- Mohammad or Pakistan can do nothing if a nation awakens. And India has risen from its slumber.
Full Coverage: Mumbai Terror »
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