Delhi Blasts

About two days ago, there were bomb blasts in Delhi which left about 18 people dead and several injured. The bombs were planted in the busiest portion of the market and then denoted on a weekend so that maximum casualties may be incurred. Although such incidents are no longer news to the Indian public which has become used to its law and order being raped again and again by terrorists, it certainly does make them boil over. The only class of Indians which considers these blasts as normal are the politicians.

I was imagining myself taking an interview of Shivraj Patel, India’s home minister just after the blasts. Going by his actions, if he gave his interview truthfully, the interview would go off something like this:-

Me: Sir, thank you for giving us your time at such a crucial juncture.
Shivraj: What do you mean by thank you? You woke me up in the middle of my sleep and you are saying thank you. Don’t you have any manners. Why do you media persons have to blow everything out of proportion. Haven’t you people become used to the blasts by now. Can you count me the capital of one state which has not faced blasts in the past three years? Common, people..don’t kid me. Those people have attacked our parliament which has Z level security. What the hell is a market compared to that? Grow up and don’t make news everytime there are blasts.

Me: Sorry, sir. Is there any message you will like to give the country in this moment of grief?
Shivraj: I give the same message after every blast. I will repeat it now also. Please record it and next time, there are blasts don’t disturb me and just play it. “My dear countrymen, it is yet another attempt by the terrorists to disrupt our unity and harmony. It is our duty to exercise restraint at such a moment so that the terrorists are not successful in their mission. We condemn this incident with all our disdain and assure you that the perpetrators of this attack will not be spared.”

Me: Sir, why are the perpetrators of these attacks not brought to justice?
Shivraj: Because, my dear we have to remain in power. I cannot afford to make my votebank angry by enacting harsh laws. India is a soft state. It will remain like that. What do you want me to do? Start awarding death penalities to these terrorists. You saw how we came to power in Kerala by letting that terrorist go and remember that Kerala is the most literate state. No, we cannot do that otherwise BJP will come in power. Our fight is against communalism, not terrorism. Communalism is our No 1 enemy. Losing about 50 lives for a five year term is a very reasonable trade which we are ready to make.

Me: Sir, what will you do for the relatives of those who died?
Shivraj: They will all be awarded a handsome compensation package. I will make sure that they actually get the amount which is released to them. Not like the way it happens with military widows where they have to fight for years before they get their due. We are not that hard-hearted. Don’t worry about that.

Me: Sir, Israel is known for the way they combat terrorism. The last person who was responsible for Munich Games debacle was killed 25 years after that event. Why can’t we hunt the terrorists with the same zeal?
Shivraj: I know. We can do the same thing. Our police is very good. But we don’t want to spoil the relations we have with the terrorists. For example, take the case of Daud Ibrahim. His son-in-law is my very good friend. I am thinking about giving him a ticket for elections next time. Besides, Daud sir himself has so many friends in the film and political circles. We don’t want to spoil those relationships. Besides, the public also doesn’t like action to be taken against popular people. You followed the Sanajy Dutt case, didn’t you? How people were begging and writing letters to get him off the hook. Besides, we should be soft towards Pakistan. I cannot hurt my votebank.

Me: What efforts will you make so that things like these are not repeated in Future?
Shivraj: I will appear in 4-5 talk shows and tell people that there is nothing to worry. Mrs Sonia Gandhi will repeat the message which I just now gave to the public. We will also catch 4-5 miscreants who we were already keeping an eye on. Although, they are not involved in the blasts but they were members of the sleeping cell of a terrorist organization. But most importantly, I will do nothing. Nobody can afford to survive without going on their jobs. So, in two days in spite of the risks, they will go on their jobs and everything will be normal. Then, I will wait for the blasts to occur again. Hopefully, this will be somewhere other than Delhi. Then I can blame the state government.

Me: Thanks a lot,sir.
Shivraj: My pleasure.