Ashadh Krushnapaksha 12, Kaliyug Varsha 5116
Now, the war may not be fought only on the borders but it could be fought anywhere; even at market, temple, hospital etc. It means that every person is an undeclared civic soldier. You feel that you are unarmed and innocent; but ‘jihadis’ do not feel the same way. According to them, ordinary citizen is also an enemy; therefore, he is bound to be attacked.
1. Insensitive Government and citizens towards terrorism !
Many countries are living under the shadow of jihadi terrorism; but compared to citizens from other countries, Indian citizens are weakest and inept. Neither the Government takes terrorism seriously; nor do the citizens pay attention, which is the main reason behind this. People are under the illusion that ‘terrorism is a matter of concern; but only in Jammu- Kashmir. Why should we worry ?’
2. Over-confidence of people and its glorification by mass media !
It is more important that what are we doing about terrorism than what are the Intelligence Agencies doing; or what does the police or army do ? People have not yet realized the nuisance value of terrorism. They feel over-confident that bomb blasts have occurred recently; therefore, it would not happen again. In one such incident of emergency, media showed that after bomb blast, within two hours, local trains were running from that place as usual with full crowd. It was a sign of insensitivity and irresponsible behavior.
3. People are imparted disaster management training in other countries !
Military training has been made compulsory for citizens of such countries which are under the shadow of terrorism. They are taught what should be done in case of sabotage. They have fair idea about what should be done after bomb blast as they are trained in such things. After an incident of bomb blast in one place, Maharashtra Home Minister R. R. Patil had said that when people learnt about blast in London tube railway, the citizens had first of all vacated all roads leading to the place of incident; because they had knowledge. People going in the direction of the place where the blast had occurred, had parked their vehicles on one side of the road so that ambulances, fire brigade vehicles and security agencies could reach that place.
4. Indian citizens have no knowledge about how to tackle terrorist attacks !
4A. Indian citizens have not been trained in these matters. They have no skill to fight against terrorist attack and they look at it as if it is a natural calamity. Like flock of sheep, they face terrorist attack without making any noise. They forget that many things are in their hand which they can do at such times of emergency.
4B. Lack of knowledge about what should be done in a disaster situation like bomb blast leads to traffic jam on roads. Everyone wants to go home immediately or wants to be just an onlooker at the place of sabotage. Crowd of such onlookers is a very disgusting matter in our country. Half of the police strength is wasted in controlling the crowd of mere onlookers. It is a general rule that place of disaster should not be crowded; still crowd gathers. Moreover, media persons also want to be there, everywhere. In such chaos, it becomes difficult to provide medical attention to injured persons in such attacks.
4C. Such crowd is full of over-enthusiasts and without any knowledge, and is responsible in increasing intensity of disaster and increase in number of casualties.
4D. Only imparting training on disaster management is, of course, not enough. Basically, what is international terrorism? Which are the terrorist groups active all over the world ? Who are their local relatives ? What are their objectives? We should have information on all the above points.
5. Presence of mind is important while extending help !
5A. It is a good quality to help others; but it is best to extend help keeping in mind the time and knowing own skills which can be used at such time. There are many examples of need to curb over-enthusiastic people during disaster management.
5. B. After a bomb blast in Mumbai, chief ward-boy of local KEM Hospital had asked people not to show enthusiasm in going for help if they had no knowledge of the subject. The reason behind it was wounds caused due to blast are different; a person may not have any wound on exterior side but he could have internal hemorrhage. In such cases, it is necessary to get first aid immediately at the place of incident, as it can save his life.
6. Persons trained in disaster management should take initiative !
After one such incident, people were just pushed in whatever vehicles available; like cars or auto-rickshaws. At such time, doctors can do nothing but to identify dead bodies brought to hospital. If there is any doctor, nurse or person trained in disaster management, he/ she should be allowed to take initiative. Some old people get disturbed on seeing blood and get scared. It can increase their blood pressure leading to serious consequences; therefore, disaster management training is most essential.
7. Are we fit to accept new war strategies ?
In terms of new common strategy, army of enemy is not totally killed; nor are they sent back without causing damage. They are made disabled before sending back to their own countries. It is the purpose of such strategy to make enemy country bear expenses of ‘pension’ till they are alive, including expenses towards their stay in hospital and other things. In Afghanistan, at least one handicapped person is found in every home due to this strategy. We will have to consider even these things while fighting against terrorists.
(Ref.: Shri. Parag Patil, ‘Lokprabha’, 8th August 2008)
Source : Dainik sanatan Prabhat
