Time for a repost.
At this writing, yesterday's coordinated attacks in Mumbai resulted in at least 100 dead, many more injured, and an undetermined number of hostages being held by the perpetrators.
This letter appeared two years ago (July 15, 2006) following another terrorist attack in Mumbai.
I am leaving the comments as they came in at the time, some of which did not resonate with the message, reflecting an undercurrent of conflict and frustration that apparently continues. On this Thanksgiving Day we have much to be thankful for in America. Our prayers and thoughts are with the people of Mumbai today.
§§§§§§§§§§§§§§
This great letter [Caution: pop-ups at the link] was in the Times of India last week following the terrorist attacks on the rail system. Very much worth reading and keeping.
Dear Terrorist,
Even if you are not reading this we don't care. Time and again you tried to disturb us and disrupt our life -- killing innocent civilians by planting bombs in trains, buses and cars. You have tried hard to bring death and destruction, cause panic and fear and create communal disharmony but every time you were disgustingly unsuccessful. Do you know how we pass our life in Mumbai? How much it takes for us to earn that single rupee? If you wanted to give us a shock then we are sorry to say that you failed miserably in your ulterior motives. Better look elsewhere, not here.
We are not Hindus and Muslims or Gujaratis and Marathis or Punjabis and Bengalis. Nor do we distinguish ourselves as owners or workers, government employees or private employees. WE ARE MUMBAIKERS (Bombay-ites, if you like). We will not allow you to disrupt our life like this. On the last few occasions when you struck (including the 11 deadly blasts in a single day killing over 250 people and injuring 500 plus in 1993), we went to work the next day in full strength. This time too we cleared everything within a few hours and were back to normal - the vendors serving their next order, businessmen finalizing the next deals and the office workers rushing to catch the next train. Yes, the same train you targeted.
Fathom this: Within three hours of the blasts, long queues of blood-donating volunteers were seen outside various hospitals, where most of the injured were admitted. By midnight, the hospital had to issue a notification that blood banks were full and they didn't require any more blood. The next day, attendance at schools and offices is close to 100%, trains & buses are packed to the brim, the crowds are back. The city has simply dusted itself off and moved on - perhaps with greater vigour.
We are Mumbaikars and we live like brothers in times like this. So, do not dare to threaten us with your crackers. The spirit of Mumbai is very strong and can not be harmed. (Please forward this to others. U never know, by chance it may come to hands of a terrorist in Afghanistan, Pakistan or Iraq and he can then read this message which is especially meant for him!!!)
With Love,
From the people of Mumbai
5 comments:
This cannot go on forever. It is time to finish the business of Partition. Let Kashmir become part of Islam by joining Pakistan and also let all Muslims go to the countries created exclusively for them (Pak and Bangladesh), so that all others can live peacefully in India.
I take it you have no confidence in the notion that people in conflict should simply conduct themselves in a civilized manner while continuing to work toward a resolution of the conflict.
From what I have observed in life a good many people would agree with you. Those of us who work toward peaceful conflict resolution are never very popular.
Oddly, when conflict resolve those who contributed non-violently are usually forgotten while those who died or killed others are memorialized.
In the case of the train attacks I admire those who simply returned to their hormal lives. That's why I posted that wonderful letter.
Some effective suggestions for the everyday citizens of Mumbai post blasts:
1. Socially boycott Sanjay Dutt movies. He is one of the accused in the devastating 1993 serial bomb blasts to hit Mumbai. Let us not treat these guys as stars.
2. Mahesh Bhatt, Shabana Azmi, Teesta Setalvad, Arundhati Roy, Dilip D'Souza and other pseudo-intellectuals who allowed slums to proliferate in Mumbai - a perfect base for jehadis – penalize them too by socially ostracizing these termites of Mumbai.
3. Stop reading Outlook magazine. Vinod Mehta, brother of the cashiered and disgraced Maj Gen Ashok Mehta (for stealing the affection of brother officers' wives), has constantly demoralized our Army and defends Pakistan as it was his own country. (Ask Army HQ if you feel like checking facts.)
3. No more cricket matches with Pakistan. If our spineless government goes ahead, quit watching it on TV and in stadiums.
4. Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is more concerned with his son's film career. Penalize his inept behavior by boycotting Ritesh Deshmukh films (the sins of the fathers are visited on the sons). Ditto with SIMI sympathizer Abu Azmi whose junkie son runs Basilico Restaurant in Colaba and Bandra.
5. TV channels that glorify Dawood and his cronies should be switched off.
6. Enough of film news. It's making our youth stupid and unaware. They have lost the fighting spirit due to this mindless entertainment-based news.
7. Start a petition to take the Z Security away from our beloved politicians (be it Congress, BJP, Shiv Sena, RSS, SP or any other party) and give it to the common man. Only when they feel the danger will these inept politicians take action.
8. Boycott SIMI lover Mulyam Singh Yadav, his Samajwadi Party, his cronies Amar Singh, Subroto Sahara Roy and his companies and their social functions.
9. It is apparent the Gujarati community is being targeted post Godhra. They can use their money power to fund citizen vigiliante groups and cut off money supply to those who associate with unsavoury underworld sorts.
Interesting. Published twelve hours ago and already this post leads the list of hits according to the Site Meter stats. Lots of people searching for "Mumbai."
This last comment has a lot of names and references that I know nothing about. Anonymous 5:56 seems to be an isolationist from Mumbai, but I don't want to be too quick to judge or throw stones. The glass house we call America has its own share of Luddites, book-banners, and other arch-conservatives.
He and Anonymous 1:06 should get along famously...unless, of course, they happen to be the same individual. Just wondering...
Open letter to Mumbaikars:
How about you learn to fix your storm water drains before you tackle more challenging tasks, such as trying to effectively communicate with Islamic fundamentalists.
Post a Comment