Right to Life

Every Indian is angry and asking for answers. How many more such deaths and destruction we need to go through? Nothing seems to help break this "Kumbhkarn" slumber of our people and politicians. Is it because we are utterly fatalistic and self-centered? Is it because we are too lazy to even bother to go out and make our voices heard and our ballots count? Is the constitution too weak to ensure accountability of our leaders? Is our country just too vast with too little autonomy at the states to manage a huge population and long border? Lots of easy questions but not so easy answers.

Terrorism is a modern menace that has no religion, no country and not even a specific ideology. It is almost like a occupation where there is recruitment, training and deployment to carry out a business. Of course, there are countries where it is easier to conduct such business and there will be always such islands where these businessmen are able to setup their camps. Few years back, Afghanistan, Sudan, Indonesia were the safe havens. Now, it may be Pakistan, Bangladesh and Somalia. So, blaming a government or a religion alone does not suffice. We need to prepare ourselves to protect our people and society from being soft targets. There are some steps that to be taken internally and there are tasks to be carried out in other countries, including hot pursuit, diplomatic pressures and multi-lateral cooperation with countries facing similar threats. Countries and societies must have infrastructure and systems that make it difficult to carry out such crimes against humanity.

Right to life is more fundamental than any other rights. If it is the lack of funds that is preventing the government from taking necessary steps, what about creating a security cess in the line of education cess? Our primary and secondary layers of security are outdated and stretched to the limits. Would the businesses and people mind paying a little extra to see a more sophisticated police force and a more pro-active intelligence? As long as the government can maintain some accountability and transparency with regards to the security cess, this may be the only way to upgrade our security. With prayers on my lips and hope in my heart...towards a more secured society!