Stop the blame game, let's take responsibility

By M H Ahssan

There is no shadow of doubt that the political establishment has been caught hopelessly unprepared. The political leadership needs to not merely demonstrate unity but act with a sense of responsibility and accountability.

As the nation comes to terms with the implications of the attack on Mumbai, several questions have been thrown up. The temptation to indulge in the “blame game” is ever so enticing. What should the terror strike on Mumbai alert us to? Will 26/11 be a ‘watershed’ in India’s response to terror in particular and the management of the nation in general? Or will the memories of 26/11 slowly fade away lulling us into one more phase of complacency?

Will the events of the last week vigorously shake up every conscientious Indian citizen? Do we want practical answers to deal with the challenges of tomorrow?

There is no shadow of doubt that the political establishment has been caught hopelessly unprepared. The political leadership needs to not merely demonstrate unity but act with a sense of responsibility and accountability. Earnestness of intention needs to be matched with alacrity in action. While we appreciate the statements of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, it does not seem to translate itself into action on the ground. The full page advertisements by the two major political parties in the Delhi newspapers on the eve of voting, is once again proof their not being able to resist the temptation of seeking political mileage of a national catastrophe. Can the top leaders of all major parties not pledge to lead their parties to crafting a national consensus on dealing with terrorism? We are not for a moment asking political parties to shed their political colours and create an all party government, that would be both artificial and undemocratic. Can the political leadership across parties redraw the political battle lines to exclude a matter of urgent focus — fighting terrorism, and create a national consensus on the same?


We also need to clearly establish systems of accountability at every level of government and for each agency of government. There is also news that the Home Minister has resigned. Will they become the ‘fall guys’ to deflect attention from the real issues? While the Cabinet works on the principle of collective responsibility, it should not be an excuse for palming off responsibility. The Prime Minister must clearly create a chain of accountability within the government. People in positions of responsibility need to be answerable for what they do or did not do.

The entire episode of the last week, once again brings home the fact that there is a clear lack of coordination between the different levels of government. The terror attacks should remind us that to deal with terror we need a unified specialised agency which tackles acts of terrorism. This agency would have to be equipped with the latest and most sophisticated facilities to deal with all forms of terror strikes. Specialised anti-terror units operating under the overall guidance of this unified agency need to be located across the country and be in a state of preparedness to deal with any potential terror strike. Creating such an agency would reduce the response time in dealing with terror strikes and would help in coordinating the activities of different agencies of government involved in anti-terror operations.

Discussions in both the print and electronic media have focussed on the archaic equipment that the Mumbai policeman handled as compared to the sophisticated weapons in the hands of the terrorists. It has been rightly pointed out that the job of the ordinary policeman is not to deal with terror strikes. It would be unfair to compare the equipment that police constables have as against the way the terrorists are armed. To deal with terrorists we would need an elite anti-terror strike force that is positioned at different locations and can reach any zone of terror strike in the quickest possible time.

The terror strikes at Mumbai also alert us to the fact that the responsibility of dealing with terror does not begin and end with the government. The role of common citizens in creating a safe environment that does not allow and encourage acts of terror to be perpetrated is crucial. It is becoming increasingly clear that some of those involved in the Mumbai strikes have been in the city for some time. Vigilance among citizens could have helped.

Can citizens create more active local resident associations? Can citizens do a more thorough cross check on who they employ rather than thinking it is the responsibility of the government to check on the antecedents of those in the city? As citizens can we be more accepting of legitimate limits to our personal freedom if the government where to impose certain restrictions on the same in order to ensure and promote greater security?

The Mumbai developments were one more wake up call — loud and clear. Can we get our act together as a nation in dealing with terror. Can we stop the blame game and begin taking responsibility?