Paris terror diary

Those of us living in Mumbai aren’t shocked by the attacks in Paris, we can only feel a sense of déjà vu. The 26/11 template was always going to be reproduced, it was a huge success for terrorists, it was only about where and when. Sadly for Parisians, they became the city of choice. And it will happen all over again. It’s so easy to do; arm a bunch of brainwashed, loser youngsters with automatic weapons, select targets, and they are ready to roll. A 9/11 is so much more difficult to plan and execute.

Some people used social media to express anger over Paris being given too much attention, when no one cares about regular terror attacks in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and other strife-torn places. Of course, they have a point. However, it’s not that we don’t care about these places, but there will be strife in strife-torn places, and so one gets numbed to the hard reality. Sad, but true. Also, such savagery in Paris rankles more because that city is the symbol of love, art, culture, wine and joie de vivre. It’s a place you associate with happiness, not misery.

Our PM likes to collect air miles, he likes to hangout with global leaders. I am not sure what really comes of these expensive jaunts, maybe we do benefit in some way, though we still have to discover what that is. But one hopes Modi is carefully observing the French government’s reaction to terror. They quickly mobilized support from other powerful nations, commenced air strikes on ISIS targets almost immediately, combed their homeland hard and tracked down/neutralized a bunch of terrorists within a few days. And have declared they will be harsher on refugees desiring to enter their country (democracy and humanitarianism be damned). Will this stop future terror attacks? Certainly not. But some quick hard measures do provide balm to injured souls. After 26/11, all we received was a barrage of insensitive, crappy remarks from our netas. Like, ‘bade bade shahron mein chhoti chhoti batein…’. And of course, Pakistan continued with life like nothing happened. The PM should watch France’s reaction from inside his living room, and pick up a few tips. Better than wasting air fuel to entertain NRIs at glitzy events.  

I also hope our policemen observed how quickly the venue of the showdown with terrorists was sanitized. Citizens and media personnel were parked a huge distance away. I still recall television journalists reporting directly from below the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, proudly holding up shattered pieces of glass, even though the operation hadn’t ended. This mistake has been repeatedly made during terror attacks, in fact I was allowed to enter the Gateway of India complex minutes after a bomb blast. We have to master the process of sanitization, no option in this matter.

On Syria, the new fountainhead of terror. That nation has spiralled out of control in the last four years, with various factions fighting each other, and as usual, the US and Russia have been waging a proxy war in troubled waters, rather than fighting with one objective. And this division has given the ISIS arms, legs and teeth. And bullets. Now is the time to act as one team against this new menace. The more the nations are divided, stronger is the threat.

Lastly, on France. They have to find a way to stop making Muslims feel like second class citizens. The goras need to find ways to welcome them into their lives, their culture and their financial success. An unhappy community creates disgruntled elements, and then there is a price to pay. On this aspect, the western nations can learn from India. Minorities do face odd acts of discrimination out here, but by and large they are considered equal citizens in every single way, they are fully integrated. Nations like France and the UK must get there quickly, for their own good.