I have been giving it a lot of thought about the episode where the end was tragic! With 11 people having "officially" died in a supposedly quiet town 200 Kms to the east of Mumbai .....PUNE! Why would anyone plant a bomb in a town that has barely 10% population of Mumbai, where shops remain closed from 1 to 4 pm so that the vendors can enjoy their afternoon siesta?
Answer lies in "development". Pune though small is quite a rich place! It stands for all the good things a Marathi person* can offer...Good educational institutions, peace , health care , eat outs , culture..... .Obviously there are bad aspects as well the uncontrolled growth in the name of development. The big so-called IT companies hiring people like herds of sheep, rising prices, the nexus between politicians and multinational corporations...what not. This makes pune important. Still relatively virgin compared to Mumbai, it remains a soft target for millitants. Few years back it was unimaginable that there could be a blast in Pune...even terrorists would not have thought of that! But money changes all.
The specific spot was chosen ..A Bakery that was popular hangout for many foreign tourists. Indians are often minority there. Caucasians , Mongoloids, Black all races could be seen assimilated there. They would come here often for spiritual quest in the form of marijuana, sex and meditation. The Osho ashram, where it takes Rs 500 ($10..not too much by American standards but it could be a weeks salary for many Indians) just to meditate, is very popular amongst foreign tourists. The German Bakery is a target! Why?? We need to come to terms with admitting that a white life costs more than a black life or a brown life.Is an American or a German killed equivalent to 10 or more Indians killed? We may deny this with all our heart but it is a fact! This is the economics of terror.
This is the Terror which makes us realize this difference. Why didn't the terrorists plant a bomb in much richer areas like J.M. road, F.C. road or even Camp ? Answer..lack of Caucasians. The psyche is simple . How can we cause maximum damage with minimum investment? I am sure our so called Hindi or English media would not have covered the incident if there would have been a blast in Wadia college or Rasta Peth and 20 Indians would have died! It would have been printed on 2nd or third page even in Maharashtra Times or Lokmat. The terrorists got maximum coverage by killing 2-3 foreigners!
Aftermath of Blast: Pune is still insecure as ever. No amount of security can stop the terrorists. Terrorists are like mosquitoes. You cant go after individual mosquito but a mosquito net keeps them away. Our government should invest in border security like US.
Life will be a hell for pune residents and it will still go on as usual which is NOTHING TO BE PROUD OF! Terrorists will surely strike again while political parties like SS will threaten jesters like SRK and karan Johar who dole out crap in the name of movies. The already overburdened corrupt police will provide security to the malls to wardoff goons while terrorists make a good use of it!
While the biggest criminals in this drama THE MEDIA ( including journalists like Sardesai ) will have a gala time with their TRPs!
*Marathi Person : Person who understands marathi.
