26/11 is a date that shall now be etched in the memory of every Indian who was alive and witnessed that brazen act of terrorism, yes no coward or foolish act of terrorism as this was particularly marked by flagrant and insolent audacity. Today, almost one month later, India celebrated the re-opening of the Taj and the Oberoi which were dubbed as symbol's of India's resurgence. So do many people say, that India's anger at being hurt is yet again going to be a matter of a few weeks or at the maximum a month and nothing more than that completely ignorant of the underlying fire in India's belly that has surfaced finally and is demanding responses off the bureaucracy and holding the men who must be accountable, accountable for their callousness and inability to capitalize and act upon necessary leads. We might finally shrug off that soft to terrorism tag and demand of our honorable neighbors to finally act and take concrete steps.

This much water has already traversed under the bridge and there is action being taken here and there. Today, as I was watching the classic Jaws II again, I saw Chief Broody being fired by the Amity Town Council for raising an apparently false alarm about a shark that could put the security of the township in jeopardy and what I could relate it to was the sparse news articles in recent days that have cried foul against the extensive media coverage and thus the word witnessed italicized earlier.

There were minute to minute updates and live coverage, exemplified by the 36 hour marathon streaming of live news inspite of impending exams by Darya managing to turn his laptop upside down in the process. Every move of the police and the commandos were put forth to the viewing public. The nation grieved as people fell to indiscriminate firing and wanton bullets took away the lives of innocent people. Reporters crouched in competition to the commandos and captured the movements of the terrorists in the corridors of the Taj, Recorded horrifying narrations of the victims who managed to flee the holocaust in two of India's most luxurious hotels and the Nariman House. Some segments of intellectuals and general public have cried hoarse asking for the media to exercise some self restraint while covering events like this. 

The Broadcaster's Association issued a clarion call for the media houses to exercise self restraint in the process of coverage of the turn of events and not create unwanted fear in the society and throw open a shadow of uncertainty on the society but to little or no avail. It is indeed an issue that everybody ought to be worried about. Continuous live relay of every action of the emergency commando groups etc who had come to combat the terrorists could have done more damage than not. It could even have resulted in people connected with the terrorists giving them information as to how the counter-terrorist force is moving and only helping the already sophisticated terrorists in implementing this systematic destruction of Indian self-confidence with this ruthless blow. 

Didn't the world see a 7/7 or a 9/11. Did we have the BBC or the CNN giving a minute by minute or blow by blow detail of the operations that are being undertaken. The police and the emergency forces cordoned off the site to a particular limit and no media troop were allowed to come close to the site of destruction. This definitely wasn't the case in India and at some points the media had greater and more comfortable access to certain locations than the police or NSG Commandos. Agreed no terror attack on the face of this world has involved such audacity and struck people with so much terror but that is indeed case for more restraint and not more recklessness on part of the Fourth Estate of every society. It is this that the Government also should look to regulate in India more effectively. An announcement by the Association is of no avail, as the regulations are neither binding nor punitive for breaches. Never did we see a professional video of the 9/11 attack and never do we ever want to see a professional video of any other terror attack on India let alone videos of a terror attack. Grow Up Media! Grow Up Security Forces! Be Accountable and make our fort more Secure...

Srini