Mumbai residents voice helplessness

Mumbai: A city under the grip of terror has finally lost that spirit which has stood by it in the worst situations in the past. There is only anger and helplessness among the people and none of the fortitude of the days past is evident.

Banks were open yesterday but employees refused to report for duty, school and colleges shut for the day even as exams, including the final year MBBS exams were postponed. Some offices braved the tense situation to work but here, too, most of the staff stayed home.

Trains and buses plied as usual but only few commuters travelled. The ever-clogged roads of Mumbai were eerily bereft of traffic.

"Seventy per cent of taxis are off the road because everyone is frightened," Taximen's Union chief A L Quadros told Gulf News.

"Two taxis were blown up last night and we have instructed all drivers as well as owners to be very careful and check if passengers leave behind any package."

Mohammad Umer Shaikh, 24, a father of three little children, and Phulchand Bhind, 35, were blown to pieces along with their passengers, one in each taxi, near the Vile Parle East flyover and Dock Yard Road respectively.

"The passengers have not been identified but we learnt about the drivers by tracing the owners of the vehicles through the number plates," said Quadros.

Film-maker Ashok Pandit, who often raises civic issues in the public fora, remarked that "it has been proved for the first time that we don't have to go to the border to fight our enemies. They are inside our homes."

Angered and frustrated by the unstoppable terror attacks in Mumbai and the country, he says, "it is high time the political system realised that the victims of terror belong to a family.

Anti-terror Squad chief Hemant Karkare and police officer Vijay Salaskar who were killed by the gunmen belong to a family as much as the ordinary railway commuters who were gunned down in Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. Pandit wants politicians to get rid of the security surrounding them and feel the anguish and pain of the common man or woman.

He also wonders how an operation of this kind, which would have required precision and preparation for at least six months, was not detected by the intelligence.

In contrast to Pandit's ire, Aruna Rub, a resident of Colaba, notes that "we cannot blame the government for everything. How much can the government do?," she asks.

"The city's top officers themselves have lost their lives." However, she believes "there are no two ways about tackling terror. You have to be tough on terror."

"I always boasted that South Mumbai has been safe even when there were problems in nearby Bhendi Bazaar. But now we feel fear gripping us." Like citizens across Mumbai, she, too, is angry and "this is because innocent persons have lost their lives. I feel miserable watching TV."

Expressing complete shock and disgust, Priya R., a bank manager, says, "There is an overwhelming feeling of helplessness amongst us."

Not sparing the authorities, she remarks, "Our administration and opposition seems to be concerned only with furthering their own political interests and not really safeguarding the Indian citizen. We have heard only rhetoric from the politicians - no strong action."

In a strongly worded statement, Governor of Maharashtra S.C. Jamir said, "This is the worst ever attack on the city of Mumbai which is the financial capital of India. Mumbai has a cosmopolitan character and is one of the most peaceful cities in the country."

Describing the attacks as "cowardly", Jamir said, "My heart goes out for the innocent people and the brave police officers who became martyrs while discharging their duty."