Right and wrong

It's ironic that hundreds of policemen guard Mumbai gunman Kasab to ensure his safety - the man responsible for the deadliest attacks on India's soil. Unfair that while the young man throws tantrums in court, disrespects the judge, has the audacity to smile when witnesses' statements are being recorded and demands perfurmes and a place to walk about freely, these policemen, many of whom lost their colleagues in November last year, have to make sure he stays alive. The security arrangments at the jail where he is lodged are unprecedented and his cell doesn't even have a fan lest he tries to hang himself.

Does it not affect you that the man who fired at inncocent people on a railway platform gets such tight security? A man, who by his clothes could have passed off for any ordinary person, could be sitting at a cafe, sipping coffee at a table next to you? If by chance, anything happens to this man, India's image would be tarnished across the world and all the human rights groups would be up in arms.

So what should we do? Is there anything we can do? The world we are living in has changed. It is not safe - yes, will the military always be able to prevent these attacks - I hope so, but no, it's not realistic. We spend all our energy in trying to fight terror but prevention seems a distant dream.

9/11 changed the world forever. The first impact, many young journalists felt, was the impact on work. Nothing could be taken lightly any more - any hoax, any threat, had to be taken seriously. No more jokes about security! And terror reports from across the world multiplied.

As I read the newspaper this morning, I fought back tears while reading the stories of the Mumbai attacks survivors. Ordinary people, doing their daily job, struck by bullets. Even a single terror attack has multiple effects

And so, what do we do. We strengthen security. Ordinary people like us sometimes even complain of delays and police high-handedness. Whereas, sometimes I feel, we still don't take security seriously at all. You are allowed to enter a mall without your bag being checked. Whereas, at another time, you are searched at least twice before being allowed into a cinema hall. Strange isn't it?

Life won't change - we probably have to live with these conditions. The terrorists are always going to be smarter and more innovative than the police. (God I hope I could be wrong)

So what do we do? How do we get rid of this negativity within them - which "inspires" them to kill? Should we become like Russia - releasing deadly gas into a theatre where hundreds have been taken hostage? The attackers die and so do the hostages. Or should we continue to provide security to Kasab - so that we can "bring him to justice", because the law says so. Sometimes the lines differentiating the right and wrong become blurred. And it's not easy to decide.