Like drought is a good opportunity for officers and netas to make money, a bomb blast in India is a political opportunity to score over rivals, says Tarun Vijay
Barack Obama inspires confidence. Not only among those he represents, but to all of us who feel that the American spirit of freedom and justice so powerfully represented by Jefferson, Martin Luther King, Lincoln and Kennedy will not go in vain. And this Earth will soon see the elimination of the terror streams.
We may be dithering and fumbling in expressing our resolve to end terror. But the dark night is soon to be ended here too, see the seething anger in the eyes of the common man. It can’t go waste here too. But as India has always been, the good and the noble resolve, wherever spoken and by whoever, must be applauded and the leader thanked for it.
See how these words pump power into your heart.
‘Boston, you're my home," Obama said. "For millions of us what happened on Monday is personal.’
He added, ‘We come together to pray and mourn and measure our loss. But we also come together today to reclaim that state of grace -- to reaffirm that the spirit of this city is undaunted and the spirit of this country shall remain undimmed.’
Other dignitaries attending the service included the first lady Michelle Obama; the president's former election rival, Mitt Romney; Massachusetts Gov Deval Patrick; and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.
How petty and dwarfed we look when a bomb injures and kills Indians! It’s taken so lightly. Somebody said the Bangalore blast would help the Bharatiya Janata Party, and nothing happens. The lives of Indians are weighed against their political affiliations, their religion and their caste. Political parties never come together to mourn the death of innocent Indians, and never have we seen ruling and Opposition leaders jointly visiting the blast site or issuing a joint statement or joining a shraddhanjali sabha for the dead.
Like drought is a good opportunity for officers and netas to make money, a blast in India is a political opportunity to score over rivals. The Godhra carnage was blamed on Hindus, leaders said that Hindus of the saffron hue killed themselves to help the killings of Muslims. An inquiry was commissioned which echoed the views of the political masters against the opposition.
No one treated the dead of Godhra as Indians. No, they were not. They simply belonged to the saffron side, had some tiff with a girl at a station belonging to the Muslim community, did a pilgrimage to Ayodhya and hence justifiably invited their killings. That was the chorus of the secular media and the leaders.
The Gujarat killings too saw that no one treated the dead as Indians. They were either Hindus or Muslims. There were advocacy organisations that took up the cause of the dead seeing what colour they were wearing.
Have you ever heard the words of the man who rules India, that come what may, we ought to not rest till the culprits are caught and punished severely? Or taking direct action to send a spine-chilling message to the Pakistan government that enough is enough, we will not hesitate to act ferociously if Islamabad doesn’t hand over the criminal terrorists hiding there?
Every single secular politician and media-person takes the utmost care not to pay homage to the dead of Sabarmati express at Godhra but speak only the M word while condemning the Gujarat episode. Because they never thought that both Godhra and elsewhere saw Indians being killed.
President Obama speaks sincerely. His second term was in doubt, yet he won on the sheer strength of his honesty and transparency. His words echo the heartbeat of his nation. And he means every bit of it. He ensured that Osama will not remain alive, and he will soon have the culprits of the Boston blast sent to the holes they deserve. That’s the confidence he transfers to everyone on this planet who wants terror to end.
The leadership against terror was naturally to be India’s. But the steel chose the other man.
Tarun Vijay is a member of the Rajya Sabha; is national spokesperson of the BJP; is member, Parliamentary Standing Committe on External Affairs; member, Parliamentary Group on India China Friendship; and Honorary Director, Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation
