First it was 9/11 in 2001. Then it was 7/11 in 2006. Then it was 26/11 in 2008. I can't remember the others. Sooner than you know, THEY start propagating messages saying that people should show spunk and walk around as if nothing has changed. This is branded as the resilience of the city/nation. THEY claim that the terrorists have not managed to do anything. And THEY say that we have won.
Bullshit!
Are you kidding us? Not in India at least. THEY have so much of security everywhere these days. Near important buildings, in railway stations, at malls - everywhere there are security men/women with loaded guns behind sacks of sand. And trust me, these barricades et al. don't exactly fit in well with the 'Incredible !ndia' theme! For heaven's sake, it doesn't feel like a free country anymore.
Two days with Danny have taught me how unreasonable these apparent security upgrades are. A terrorist can still walk in to a station with a gun under his jacket and shoot at people. However, a well-meaning photographer who wants to show the face of modern developing India, or 'Incredible !ndia' is denied access to photograph good things about our country.
The explanations are the same everywhere. Photographs can be used to plan more attacks. Give me a break! No terrorist or an accomplice would walk around sporting a Canon with a gigantic lens and take pictures of buildings and 'key-security areas' in broad daylight. Terrorists aren't that stupid. That's why they achieved all this mass hysteria in the first place.
The truth is that THEY and we have fallen into the trap set for us. The terrorists have succeeded not in wiping democracy off from the face of planet and not by instilling religious fanaticism in our lives. They have managed to drain out, little by little, the fun and freedom that we have. THEY are playing into the terrorists hands by ushering in all these restrictions!
Doesn't anybody feel like protesting? Don't we want our freedom back. From the terrorist and THEM?
