By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: “Whatever happened was very unfortunate but can you please tell me, should we expect our sons to be picked up and branded ‘terrorists’ by the police as part of the investigations of this firing on the two foreign nationals?” asked Md. Salahuddin to this correspondent when he was there to talk to the general public of Jama Masjid area immediately after an incident of firing on two Taiwanese nationals earlier in the day today.
Firing at Bab Abdul Ghafoor injured two Taiwanese tourists.
As it appears from the question posed above, it was not a comfortable experience to talk to the residents of delhi-6. Actually Mr. Salahuddin was reacting to an incident in Jama Masjid area where two men had earlier in the day fired at a visiting five-member Taiwanese media crew, injuring two of them. The injured Cesewein (27) and Cinglo (28) — were rushed to the nearby state-run Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Narayan Hospital and are reportedly in stable condition.
He further asked, “The national media has reported about Indian Mujahideen, claiming responsibility of this attack which the security agencies are soon going to investigate. But are you sure that it won’t be followed by communal witch hunting of Muslims living in this area by the investigative agencies?”
‘For God sake, don’t sensationalize”
Imran Ahmad, a chemist in the vicinity of Jama Masjid was not as brooding in tone but he had just one request to the national television media. “For God sake, please don’t sensationalize this incident as some thing much bigger than what it is.”
Mr. Ahmad, old resident of the Purani Dilli, as he called it, was quite disturbed at the way it was being covered by the television media.
Pointing towards the TV screen in his shop, he further said, “We should not jump to any conclusion when it comes to who did it? A through investigation will make things clear. But I am afraid this is the last thing that is part of the coverage as you can see it yourself. The sense of panic and fear is quite evident.”
It might also be a handiwork of some disgruntled group of people who want to create panic ahead of the Commonwealth Games which is just two weeks away, said Mr. Imran.
Complete failure of the government machinery
Md. Najmuddin considered the incident of firing in broad day light, a complete failure of security apparatus. Ironically, this hawker of dates and vermicelli made it a point to say that he was not surprised at the failure of the security machinery.
It is important to mention here that the site of firing is hardly 100 meters away from the Jama Masjid police station.
“Aren’t we your priority?”
“The government might be very concerned about security for the Commonwealth games but doesn’t the security of general public like us equally important?” Tahir Mohammad might not be highly educated but this question by this owner of a chiken shop made sense.
Mr. Tahir further questioned the elitist approach of the government towards safety and security, saying, “After this firing, entire national media has gone berserk and talked only about its implication on the Commonwealth Games which are just two weeks away from today, but can’t they see that even the common man is not safe any longer? Are they shouting just because two foreigners have been affected and not we poor people? Aren’t we on the agenda of the government any more?”