Unloading my think tank...

...and this time it was on the Samjhauta Express. Hundreds of casualties, many injured, brethren coming from Pakistan to identify their loved ones. Can it get any worse? I really hope not. Can it get any good for the terror groups? Frankly, I dont know. It beats me to know that they are even attempting to send a message across in this manner. Beats me, really.

As I sit to think, I have two directions:

1. Blame the government for security lapses and preach why terrorism leads nowhere.

2. Blame the government for security lapses and give my 2 cents as to what can now be done to be prepared for the future.

Since the chances of terorrist groups reading my opinion on my blog is like expecting Bal Thackeray to wisen up, I will go with the latter.

Blame the government - Democracy in India is all about babu-dom. Else, why would this take so long? 5 years! There could have been 500 blasts by this time. The Railways sure did sit on their lazy rear since this is what usually happens in government offices. But, better late than never - the Railways, as the article points out, has now put forth the proposal so that it can be cleared in this year's budget. Well, we'll see how long it will take to get it implemented.

Meanwhile, here's my 2 cents:

- Know what else the government should not do? They should not give out details on how they plan to make the coach fire-retardant! Evil minds might start working right away on the loopholes or counter methods! There is no need to make public the information; sure it is not a top secret project, but unnecessary details should be kept away.

- The Railways should train people on how to detect various kinds of bombs. Imagine this, on the world's biggest railway network this would be a much-needed security act. And think about the number of the jobs it would create! (Person A: What do you do? Person B: I work as security inspector for railways. It would help, really.)

- Ditto for BEST buses and local trains in Mumbai. Think about the number of lives it would save.

- Introduce frisking of passengers on platforms, ensure luggages are passed through x-ray machines. Do it, dont postpone it anymore.

- Ensure tickets are checked before entering the platform (as against checking them after they board the train).

India has adequate manpower and intelligence to follow such security measures and come up with more. Remember terrorism in Punjab? It doesnt exist there anymore! So, we can make our country terrorism-free.

Also, cut down on media channels sensationalizing this. There is enough terror in our lives at the moment without you needing to shove mikes up our face and ask how do we feel at the loss of a loved one. How do you feel even asking such a question?? Curb the media I say, freedom of expression be damned. Its more of freedom of sensationlization of issues for some of them.