EditorsEdit : India- staunch in adversity or the stench of insensitivity?
The Indian Cricket team is in Sri Lanka these days and were greeted by a bomb explosion, a few kms. from there hotel. Five years ago I had stayed in the same hotel when it was the peak season for Tiger terrorism in Lanka. The area where the hotel is situated is near the Presidential Palace. Naturally, the whole place is cordoned off amidst the strictest of security, with checkpoints and machine gun totting security men almost every few yards. So if the Tigers managed to breach that kind of security, I would be concerned if I were a team member or the BCCI.
Surprisingly, the Indian players are 'cool' in this situation, screamed the Times of India. The report says that the Sri Lankans too have taken it in their stride. When a lankan player,Jayewardane, was asked about the explosion, he is said to have 'coolly' replied- "these things happen...we have to take them in our stride". Cool dude, huh? In fact the whole TOI report made it seemed that this kind of attitude was something to be proud about. While the Indians and the Lankans were 'cool' and 'relaxed', the S.Africans were accused of being 'scared'.
Well maybe, the S.Africans have their heads in the right places, for starters. People like us and the Lankans have gotten so used to hearing about people being blown off that we have lost our sensitivity to such news and often tend to shrug off the danger. While it is natural for this to happen, we should never loose sight of the fact that this is NOT a natural state of being. Being afraid, outraged, angry IS the natural state of being. Since we cannot obviously be all of this ALL the time, our bodies are coping by being non chalent while INSIDE ourselves, we are all getting more and more angry and frustrated. I feel its important we should be aware of this. Because, come one day, we would not even know what to go BACK to! The media should also play this thing in perspective. Every time there is a bomb blast/shootout, the media shows us visuals and images which show how people are getting back to 'normal' very quickly. Is there a choice? This is not being brave- its just that people have to go on with their lives.
Talking about the media and terrorism, another thing which is quite disturbing is the fact that media is increasingly running stories which is giving people ideas as to how they can breach security. A few weeks back a news channel ran a sting and showed how easy it was to land on the Indian coastline with bombs, another one showed how the water supply stations were completely without security and can be easily poisoned. The channels made it sound as if the Government machinery was being inept, in that they could not guard every nook and cranny of this vast country. Is it realistic for anyone to expect the Government to guard every nook and cranny of our country? The B.B.C wasn't far behind in being stupid either. After the recent London episode where some people were nabbed for a plot to blow up airplanes, B.B.C ran stories repeatedly, on how easy it was to make liquid bombs "with stuff you can find in any corner shop". The dodos actually hired an explosives expert to give demonstrations of how it can be done easily! I am sure that the millions of people who watched the B.B.C didn't know of this earlier. Then why give people these ideas? The B.B.C has also gone on to give a detailed explanation of liquid explosives and how exactly they can harm airplanes on its web site. Is the B.B.C or any of these Indian channels helping security personnel by broadcasting such stories?
Creating awareness is one thing, but being irresponsible and stupid, quite another.
You can skip to the end and leave a response.
Surprisingly, the Indian players are 'cool' in this situation, screamed the Times of India. The report says that the Sri Lankans too have taken it in their stride. When a lankan player,Jayewardane, was asked about the explosion, he is said to have 'coolly' replied- "these things happen...we have to take them in our stride". Cool dude, huh? In fact the whole TOI report made it seemed that this kind of attitude was something to be proud about. While the Indians and the Lankans were 'cool' and 'relaxed', the S.Africans were accused of being 'scared'.
Well maybe, the S.Africans have their heads in the right places, for starters. People like us and the Lankans have gotten so used to hearing about people being blown off that we have lost our sensitivity to such news and often tend to shrug off the danger. While it is natural for this to happen, we should never loose sight of the fact that this is NOT a natural state of being. Being afraid, outraged, angry IS the natural state of being. Since we cannot obviously be all of this ALL the time, our bodies are coping by being non chalent while INSIDE ourselves, we are all getting more and more angry and frustrated. I feel its important we should be aware of this. Because, come one day, we would not even know what to go BACK to! The media should also play this thing in perspective. Every time there is a bomb blast/shootout, the media shows us visuals and images which show how people are getting back to 'normal' very quickly. Is there a choice? This is not being brave- its just that people have to go on with their lives.
Talking about the media and terrorism, another thing which is quite disturbing is the fact that media is increasingly running stories which is giving people ideas as to how they can breach security. A few weeks back a news channel ran a sting and showed how easy it was to land on the Indian coastline with bombs, another one showed how the water supply stations were completely without security and can be easily poisoned. The channels made it sound as if the Government machinery was being inept, in that they could not guard every nook and cranny of this vast country. Is it realistic for anyone to expect the Government to guard every nook and cranny of our country? The B.B.C wasn't far behind in being stupid either. After the recent London episode where some people were nabbed for a plot to blow up airplanes, B.B.C ran stories repeatedly, on how easy it was to make liquid bombs "with stuff you can find in any corner shop". The dodos actually hired an explosives expert to give demonstrations of how it can be done easily! I am sure that the millions of people who watched the B.B.C didn't know of this earlier. Then why give people these ideas? The B.B.C has also gone on to give a detailed explanation of liquid explosives and how exactly they can harm airplanes on its web site. Is the B.B.C or any of these Indian channels helping security personnel by broadcasting such stories?
Creating awareness is one thing, but being irresponsible and stupid, quite another.
