After I sent out that e-mail yesterday, I got to hear a variety of comments, some enthusiastic, some cynical.
Why I feel that we could make a difference:
1. We all have the right to live peacefully in our homeland, and it is our duty to make sure we do our bit to make it a peaceful place.
2. I have seen numerous instances of security breaches in public places, and I feel that if we start by trying to fix those, we would have made a stride in the right direction.
How I feel we could go about this:
1. We could talk to the security personnel in our own campuses (I work at a tech park here in Bangalore, and the security is very "average"); let's try to find out what are the obstacles in their line of work, and if it is because of the non-cooperation of individuals like us, let us try to increase awareness among the people.
2. To increase awareness, we could try the media (like Diptarko suggested); I was thinking in terms of those evening dailys like "Bangalore Bias" to start off with. If anyone has any contacts in any of these places, let's try that possibility.
3. When we travel by trains, we hear general announcements that caution passengers about unattended luggage, fellow pasengers etc. Does anyone think it is feasible to include something like that in our malls/other public places? The charm of this system is, we who are so used to rote learning, would get this drilled into our sub conscious minds (maybe that would make a difference!)
The key thing now, is to find out how to kick start the whole thing...any pointers would be highly appreciated.
Thanks,
Sumitha
6 comments:
First update on this front...
A few of us spoke to the security officers at one of the tech parks and apprised them of the situation here. They say that the security checks are very stringent here, but apparently that happens only during "rush hour". Also, the vehicles that come in are not checked, and they feel that it is not possible to check all of those. Another general assumption is that if a vehicle has the company logo, it is beyond suspicion.
The loopholes in this strategy are as follows:
1. Anyone can acquire/duplicate a company logo, or for that matter, terrorise a cabbie into accomodating him/her into the cab. And they can escape the security checks that happen, because those happen only at the building lobbies (they could get off somewhere inside the campus).
2. Who takes care of the non-rush hour cases?
The general impression from their end was "Folks, we are doing our job; appreciate your concern, but you needn't interfere".
Things need to change!
Change is must. Both on the human as well as the infrastructure front.
~ Manoj
This is what lahar has to say:
ve been trying to get a project off the ground wherein we build something like silobreaker (silobreaker.com) that allows people to input, track and analyse terrorism related information. One of my friends made a start, but really, we need a small team of good people to spend time and energy to make it happen. The idea is to create a resource that could be a comprehensive public database related to terrorism and violent crime.
What good will it do? Well, the police station in Jayanagar 4th block doesn't know if the chap they arrested is an ordinary thug or a terrorist. There's only so much space on the rogues gallery. The immigration officer, the railway station cops, the sales tax checkpost guy etc...if they have computers and a net connection, they could access it. Sure, the next question is "do they have computers?". I don't know. But should we wait until they do?
Another idea from a friend:
What I think citizens can do is try to make their start at the community level. Basically I think what will be the effective is a kind of neighborhood watch. As a grassroots thing, people need to be aware of everyone on their apartment floor, then their building, and then the next building. Also realize that these terrorists are often youngsters in their 20s, so college level participation is essential. Also because of the increasing affluence of the middle class, there is growing resentment in people in the old jobs. So not only we need to be able to vouch for our neighbors but our maid, maids husband, the grocer, the milkman etc...
I am at this moment listening to someone exulting on TV about how quickly and 'wonderfully' Mumbai is getting back to its usual workaday routine, even while the mopping-up operations are still underway. The fool (and I'm sure there are millions like him) doesn't realise that this is precisely why no change ever happens. Our netas know that the people will forget the worst horrors soon enough, so why should they bother to make lasting and useful changes to the status quo?
I know, I've seen that kind of attitude in some of the people around me today (and the worst bit was when the security officer in charge told me that his security guards perform their duty very well during rush hours; and that early morning security checks are minimal...if that isn't callousness, what is!?!)
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