May 15, 2006 12:55 PM
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(Updated May 15, 2006 12:57 PM)
Reading the book was a revelation to me, in terms of the events of 1993. I was quite unaffected then, sitting about 500 KM away from Mumbai. Perhaps it is my ignorance of the matter but the fact that an event of this kind happened in our lifetime itself is overwhelming. Perhaps the result would have been as devastating in other unfortunate events like the Godhra riots or natural calamities like the tsunami. But this book depicts one such event that can even today, after more than a decade, shake the reader as much as it did to the nation then.
The book describes in painful detail the scene on ground-zero - the BSE, the Air India basement, the RPo, Masjid Bunder and all the various locations. The fatalities - innocent people like the samosa and sandwich vendor...could have been just anyone like you and me. Who was to blame? While the hunt for the accused was and still is on, one cannot help but wonder where the root of the problem really was/is. Was it really necessary to go through the Babri Masjid demolition after all these years? Should the ones to be primarily arrested for instigating such an event include the RSS and Advani? This can materialize into a debate - I am not about to engage into one. As a reader, if you find clarity to the question, you're lucky.
The book describes in vivid detail the planning that went behind the organizing of the blasts. It also shows, at times, that the planners were by no means organized terrorists but were those simply out to fulfil what they thought was necessary - 'something' had to be done. Afterall, a lot of muslim sentiments were hurt with the demolition and the ensuing riots called for further damage to several. But in the rage and rush of blood, the planners failed to note that the victims of their plans would be people that have nothing to do with any of what appeared to be the reason for their plans. Such tactics, if I may call them, unfortunately still exist. Everyone is expendable - send your message across anyway. Was it yesterday that we read Pakistan indicating they would nuke India irrespective of whoever threatens to take their installations out? History repeats - sometimes very unfortunately.
The book describes how unsuspecting and intelligent people were brainwashed into performing the act of organizing the bomb blasts. These people were made to feel important and powerful while the fact was they were simply used as puppets. The string controllers were well beyond the reach of the Indian Government. This, too, has its echo in daily life. Each time we see a riot, there are miscreants of the same category. People who are generally intelligent but can easily be fooled into doing something that appears to be right.
The book describes how the bombay police began tackling the situation and made headway. While there are tales of dedicated inspectors and constables who controlled the situation and got the accused to confess, it brings the mechanisms available to question. To what extent can the police be allowed to use force and 'special treatment'? Does that depend on the crime or context? I talked to a few people about the book and that the police appeared to simply round up suspects and subject them to special treatment to get them to talk. Almost everyone I talked to agreed to this being right. I asked then about the situations where someone died in custody - was that justified albeit in a different context? Does the definition of human rights differ based on the context then?
The book describes what we have known for years - everything can be bought at a price. The collaborators in getting the explosives into India included customs officials and police. This is the system. Is there a bigger problem out there that is left to exist simply because we do not have a solution to it?
The book also described instances where ordinary citizens, again like you and me, have risen to the situation and helped those injured to the best of their ability. Believe me, taking a bleeding and injured person to a hospital is entirely different as a theory and actually doing it in practical. No one can ever be prepared for the latter in its various manifestations. And yet, it is encouraging to see that people do react and well, irrespective of whether they were prepared or not. This, to my mind, is the only silver lining.
The book is very involving - the only moments one would put it down would be when there are thoughts on the lines of what I've highlighted above. There are many more. The writer has obviously painstakingly collated the information and attempted to present it all in a coherent manner with complete honesty. I personally, however, did suspect that in certain areas the writer himself was under pressure of some sort and could not describe in further detail or had to present matter in a different manner altogether from what would have been otherwise. I guess it is a difficult matter to determine whether to say the people involved were ignorant of the implications and hence ''forgive them lord, for they know not what they do'' [who really would read this and agree it is reasonable?]. Or to clamp down on the methods and processes of the government and its various bodies including the police? The book leaves one very pensive - if you are a thoughtful person. I wonder - whatever happened after the blasts - is it adequate to prevent another such?
