Monday, Dec 15, 2008
We are a nation in waiting
- Shaili ChopraShaili Chopra is a TV journalist with NDTV in Mumbai, India
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Terrorists came and they have gone but we haven't yet heard from our leaders. We are still waiting.
Our Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, after his first customary speech, has not yet addressed the nation after the terror attacks. We all were in the face of terrorism, but we don't know why. Don't we deserve a reassurance that this won't happen again? What's stopping our leaders? We all agree, they owe us an address– our right to know, our right to learn about what happened and why.
In the United States, as 9/11 happened, George Bush was on live television within hours of the attack, reassuring his people, apprising them of security and intelligence developments. Time and again during the days after the attack, George Bush addressed his nation. During the WTC attacks, new developments meant a new address, everyday, sometimes even twice a day. And even now, despite being a lame duck president, as United States faces its worst economic crisis ever, George Bush comes online almost everyday to update the country on the bailout.
Winston Churchill went down in history for fighting from the trenches. The world's super power – then the United Kingdom- saw their Prime Minister shoulder to shoulder with soldiers, fighting in the Battle of Britain in Second World War. Television or not, Churchill kept in touch. The communications machinery was at work and the English knew their Prime Minister was a true leader. The world remembers Churchill for this. How Golda Maria led Israel after the black Friday in Munich. How Charles de Gaulle led France and rebuilt froms the pits. All examples of great leaders in troubled times.
Where are our leaders? I was among the first few journalists to reach Taj Mahal hotel to cover it live. Hours passed by and there was no word from the State, no word from the Centre. There was just no one. The police in Mumbai had lost a few key senior personnel but there was no handholding from the politicians, no one appeared to be in control. Presumably, one thought then, these leaders were busy acting but we later learnt, only to our dismay that our confused unsure leaders were slow to react.
And what about the bureaucracy? Could they have made up for the slow response of polititians? Cou;ld not the home secretary have taken charge since the home minister didn't. If there was indeed a war-room like meeting in Delhi, we all as citizens should have been apprised of it, most certainly not the game plan but just the knowledge of a meeting like that can go miles to reassure a nervous nation. It was also a time to tell the world that this nation is in full charge.
The four-day ordeal didn't see a single national leader come down to the site of the attacks. Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, not even Sharad Pawar. Were they scared? Or are our leaders getting immune to terror attacks in India? Or were the election rallies playing on their minds. As a citizen I do wonder why the PM visited Mumbai hospitals only few days after the attacks and left the city-struck-with-terror, with no address. Should we all then question if his security is a bigger concern than the rest of our billion people.
The political drama that followed the attacks can only deem our nation petty in the eyes of the world. Ministers were sacked after they made inappropriate comments about the scale of the tragedy. Patil became a bad word in the week of the attacks. Statements by Kerela Chief Minister, by Naqvi, and RR Patil just showed the insenstivity and lack of maturity of some of our politicians who can easily be classified as poor leaders. It was then time to fire a few ministers to show concern to the nation. It was left to the reluctant new home minister P Chidambaram to address the country on the terror attacks, who finally and forthrightly admitted a complete failure at the intelligence bureau.
It's also worth asking why our young leaders were missing? South Mumbai, where majority of the terror attacks is the constituency of young MP Milind Deora, and though he made sure he was around on all channels, he did not waste a moment to gain political mileage by criticizing the existing government. Petty politics was at work everywhere. Where were people like Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, Supriya Sule, all of who stand tall in public discussion forums as the leaders of new India, as the leaders of tomorrow, shouldn't they all have united and worked as a team for the country?
We have been exposed. We look like a nation of weak leaders and strong citizens. Of commited soldiers who are willingly became canon fodder on the behest of some toothless leaders. the guys who are only looking for votes had know clues about the boats. I hope the people of this great country have seen through them and we hope that the power of votes in future will now reflect this and may be new, real leaders, emerge
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