Tuesday, November 24, 2009

26/11……time to grieve or celebrate




With the happening around me and the hype created all around the 26/11 attacks it seems to me this is not an event to grieve but an event to celebrate. Business has continued as usual in Mumbai but making a business out of 26/11 in the name of showing solidarity is a little too much.
TV channels, newspapers and above all the Government is all gung ho suddenly remembering the 26/11 attacks. There are films that have been made, there is a music video made, news channels are doing special programmes surrounding the dreadful event.
Why? Why hasn’t there been continuous follow up by either of these agencies on what has happened to the families of the dead, what has happened to the ones who have survived, have they got compensation, have they got what they have been promised? No authority or media has gone about covering this incident way after the attacks happened. Like always everybody wakes up to the event when the anniversary is closing in on us….
Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and Home Minster R R Patil run away from a press conference evading questions on what has been done so far by the Government ……R R Patil made a blunder then during the attacks and was forced to resign from his post and today again he is no good ….but sits firm in his chair as the Home Minister….
What the government has certainly done is come out with a fancy booklet called ‘Mumbai Shapath’ to commemorate the event. I still have no idea what’s the purpose of this booklet. The booklet is glossy with excellent printing quality… by far the best and very good for Government standards
The attacks have been made in to a ‘Tamasha’ to cash in on. I wonder if so much hype was created when the serial train blasts took place in Mumbai where more people died. The so called Mumbaiites never came out and protested on the streets .. did not point fingers at authorities concerned…
I did not see the spirit of Mumbai while I covered the attacks and I do not see any spirit even now. Life is continuing for each one of us as usual… nothing has changed in this city…. And nothing will…..

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