Corruption and Terror - A connection?
I have been reading and watching with deep consternation the repeated assaults on the innocent public by terrorists who are out to kill for whatever cause they support. Terrorists basically are brain-washed robots who have been suckered into an ideology and are used by their controllers to achieve their so called ambitions. That may be a bit simplistic as some of the terrorists are in it for the money and the adrenaline high it gives, but killing people randomly is too cowardly an act to be justified or condoned.
Where is the connection between terror and corruption you may well ask! After Mumbai was held spell bound by the antics of the half dozen terrorists from across the border that attacked VT and the Taj and Oberoi hotels, the Maharashtra Government immediately ordered 28 high speed patrol boats for the coast guard at a cost of Rs. 250 crores over and above 20 boats allotted by the Central Government of a total sanction for 58 boats. Of these boats as of date only 8 boats are operational to patrol a 700 km coastline. Why you may well ask! You know when the government purchased the boat they forgot to check whether they had the skilled manpower to operate these boats, so instead of training the required number of people and getting the boats operational, the government decides to keep the boats rotting in the docks! Now after investing so much money in the boats, how does one milk more money for the party/politician coffers? Well you have maintenance and repair contracts for brand new boats which are rotting in the docks!
Take the case of blasts in Delhi and Mumbai, the government has time and again said that they will have CCTV’s installed and the monitoring mechanism in place to deter or at least use them to identify potential terrorists. What happens the whole plan goes into limbo because of red tape or some greedy bureaucrat / politician not sanctioning it as he is not getting his cut! Till the next bomb blast happens!
I think as the citizens have taken to the streets against corruption, so they should again come out to make these moronic politicians see the light of day and force them to implement strong measures to tackle or deter terrorist attacks. We are now so used to these attacks that we do not bother at all, because the day to day struggle to meet two ends meet in these times of high inflation is too much. The government terrorizes the citizens through high costs while those in government enrich themselves and protect themselves with Z-Class security. They should forego security and try to provide security to the citizens rather than massage their egos at public cost.
Each preventive measure against terror gets marred and blocked in red tape and corruption. Why should the public bear this with fortitude all the time? None of the terrorists have been punished so far, all this encourages the adversary to attack again as the perception is India is a soft state! The person who killed a prime minister is still in jail, and asking for mercy. We have justice delivered but no action taken by the government in that case. We have the attacker to Parliament still not hanged, Mr. Kasab is the guest of the state, and crores are being spent to keep him alive whereas farmers are committing suicide because of their desperate situation. So where is the justice? I am of the philosophy that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, but in extreme situations where national integrity and security is at stake, then don’t you think one should execute the perpetrators of cowardly crimes against humanity and send a strong message to these cowards that we will not take things lying down!
If we cannot do that, then at least let’s make an example of all those who delay or block acquisition of equipment to prevent or monitor and track or protect the nation and making operational such equipment with trained manpower to handle the same. Let’s hang these bureaucrats / politicians as they are the guys who are safe and steal public money while the aam aadmi dies on the streets!
Where is the connection between terror and corruption you may well ask! After Mumbai was held spell bound by the antics of the half dozen terrorists from across the border that attacked VT and the Taj and Oberoi hotels, the Maharashtra Government immediately ordered 28 high speed patrol boats for the coast guard at a cost of Rs. 250 crores over and above 20 boats allotted by the Central Government of a total sanction for 58 boats. Of these boats as of date only 8 boats are operational to patrol a 700 km coastline. Why you may well ask! You know when the government purchased the boat they forgot to check whether they had the skilled manpower to operate these boats, so instead of training the required number of people and getting the boats operational, the government decides to keep the boats rotting in the docks! Now after investing so much money in the boats, how does one milk more money for the party/politician coffers? Well you have maintenance and repair contracts for brand new boats which are rotting in the docks!
Take the case of blasts in Delhi and Mumbai, the government has time and again said that they will have CCTV’s installed and the monitoring mechanism in place to deter or at least use them to identify potential terrorists. What happens the whole plan goes into limbo because of red tape or some greedy bureaucrat / politician not sanctioning it as he is not getting his cut! Till the next bomb blast happens!
I think as the citizens have taken to the streets against corruption, so they should again come out to make these moronic politicians see the light of day and force them to implement strong measures to tackle or deter terrorist attacks. We are now so used to these attacks that we do not bother at all, because the day to day struggle to meet two ends meet in these times of high inflation is too much. The government terrorizes the citizens through high costs while those in government enrich themselves and protect themselves with Z-Class security. They should forego security and try to provide security to the citizens rather than massage their egos at public cost.
Each preventive measure against terror gets marred and blocked in red tape and corruption. Why should the public bear this with fortitude all the time? None of the terrorists have been punished so far, all this encourages the adversary to attack again as the perception is India is a soft state! The person who killed a prime minister is still in jail, and asking for mercy. We have justice delivered but no action taken by the government in that case. We have the attacker to Parliament still not hanged, Mr. Kasab is the guest of the state, and crores are being spent to keep him alive whereas farmers are committing suicide because of their desperate situation. So where is the justice? I am of the philosophy that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, but in extreme situations where national integrity and security is at stake, then don’t you think one should execute the perpetrators of cowardly crimes against humanity and send a strong message to these cowards that we will not take things lying down!
If we cannot do that, then at least let’s make an example of all those who delay or block acquisition of equipment to prevent or monitor and track or protect the nation and making operational such equipment with trained manpower to handle the same. Let’s hang these bureaucrats / politicians as they are the guys who are safe and steal public money while the aam aadmi dies on the streets!
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