Mumbai Bombed Again - bomb blast in trains - 7/11

Why did it happen? What sort of people could even think of perpetrating such vile act of wanton violence on unknown and unconnected people? What can be done to ensure that such acts do not recur?

Well, these are the relevant questions which must be addressed to understand the reasons behind the vicious and most brutal attack on train passengers which happened yesterday i.e, 7/11. It left almost two hundred dead and several hundreds injured. Understanding the reasons is important as otherwise it will not be possible to understand the ways and means to avoid such atrocious mishaps which threaten to tear off the very fabric of the society.



We, as the people, must understand that alienation of a section of the society to the extent where that section feels that it has no legitimate channel for even voicing its concerns, let alone getting redressal, is always going to be a very difficult and dangerous situation. In a section of society, feelings of alienation and isolation results in generation of grievances both real as well as imagined, and then, lack of redressal goes a long way in developing a kind of vague but generalised persecution complex in almost the whole of that particular section of society. By alienation, I do not mean that it has to be necessarily real, even perceived alienation will be equally potent or in cases even more potent. Similarly grievances both real as well as imagined have to be taken into account. The problem arises because when the grievances are real at least something can be done (at least theoretically), but what do we do when the grievances are imagined. In such cases even the balm is not available and there lies the problem. What happens is that the section of the society suffering from such maladies becomes isolated and alienated to such an extent that it regresses in the infantile mode for expressing its needs and the result is for all to see.

The big question is whether the policy makers and decision takers in our country have the requisite intellectual capacity to comprehend the situation and then take preemptive action(s). I have a very profound doubt on this count. The only connotation of preemptive action that gets their attention is policing (by employing regular police or other better trained armed forces) and if that does not work then the option of even more intensive and brutal policing is always available to be exercised.

Last night while watching the most unfortunate mayhem on the TV, I could also sporadically hear some soundbytes from our worthy brethrens and it saddens me to say that except a couple of the high officials/politicians most others of their elk were only interested in the usual rhetorics.

In my opinion, the most important point is that our policy makers must be adequately trained to enable them to address such issues with some amount of finesse. They must have deep understanding of human psychology. Thereafter it is task of effective intelligence generating (and analyzing) machinery combined with sensible and effective policing to provide a kind of two tier insurance cover against violent outbursts. What needs to be done is as follows-
1. The policy makers both at the bureaucratic level, as well as, at the political level must be properly sensitized about the psychological factors. They must be made to realize that most of the cases of mob violence and terrorism are basically a primeval cry for help by a section of society which feels powerless, deeply aggrieved and bereft of all legitimate channels for communicating their grievances and seeking and hoping any affirmative action in their favour. The pertinent point is that the grievances need not necessarily be real. Hence the policy makers need to play the role of the Shrink to a whole group of people/ sections of society to manage such situations. They must have the perspicacity to judge when the situation has the potential for taking the turn for the worse and then they must have the requisite training to manage it in the manner that a psychoanalyst manages a psychotic patient.
2. The intelligence machinery needs to be proactive and must have the skills to decipher the dangerous trends and the fault lines in the society. Even if it is conceded that international terrorist organizations were the root cause, it goes without saying that it will be virtually impossible for such organizations to be so successful without support from local populace. In any case investigations into all such cases (in the past) have revealed involvement of a large number of local people who had provided the most crucial support.
3. The policing must improve and improve not only in its methods but also its image. At the moment the police force is viewed with utmost suspicion by all sections of society and this negative image must be changed. Secondly, scientific ways and means must be employed with sensibility as well as sensitivity. The paradigm must change and the man in the police uniform must understand that he is neither serving an imperial power nor is he a part of an occupying force; he must understand that he is there to serve the society which he is policing and he must also understand that he is an integral part of that very society.

The way the problems related to terrorism in general and Islamic terrorism in particular is being managed all over the world must change drastically. Unless, there is a decisive change in its management, there is no way it will ever stop being the most difficult, dangerous and unpredictable problem plaguing the modern era. We must understand that it is a kind of disease, a deep rooted psychological problem that, a segment of society is suffering from, and it has to be treated in proper manner. It requires special skills and temperament, and can not be left in the hands of rank amateurs. The people (read politicians and bureaucrats) dealing with such problems have only two options, either shape up or ship out or else the world will continue to remain a dangerous place.