By IANS,
Mumbai : Exactly a week after their city was rocked by triple blasts, Mumbaikars Wednesday seemed resigned to living under the shadow of terror. India’s financial capital has been repeatedly attacked in the past 18 years, with 12 major strikes leaving nearly 700 dead and several thousand injured.
“Mumbai was shocked only the first time in the March 1993 blasts. It was unprecedented. But after so many terror attacks, now there is no shock or anger. There is regret at how the rulers of the city, state and country continue to exploit Mumbaikars for their ability to make money and drive the country’s economic engines,” Rajeev Jain, a businessman from Juhu, told IANS.
In all instances, the attacks have been carried out with precision – targeting Mumbai’s transport lifeline or its business hubs where transactions worth billions of rupees are carried out daily.
Besides providing a living to several millions of citizens, they spell huge income by way of taxes and levies to the exchequer.
Terror attacks have occurred in other places in Maharashtra like Thane, Nashik, Malegaon and Pune in the past five to six years. The latest serial bombings July 13 have left 20 dead and at least 128 in hospitals with injuries.
Like in the past, this time too, Mumbai, almost by force of habit, went back to normalcy within hours.
But J.P. Purohit, a corporate tax advisor from Versova, feels the impression created by politicians that Mumbaikars are tough or stoic is a misnomer.
“It is just a lollipop of praise for the helpless citizens given by everybody, from the prime minister to the local leaders. Let them speak these words before those persons who have actually suffered the loss of their near and dear ones in terror attacks,” Purohit told IANS.
A week after the triple blasts at Zaveri Bazar, Opera House and Dadar West, Mumbai was its usual bustling self Wednesday.
“Barring the casual odd reference, it has gone practically unnoticed, like a bad dream,” said Kiran S.V., an executive and mother of three who works with a private company in Worli, who travels by suburban trains daily.
However, she agreed that now Mumbaikars were more cautious and careful.
“In case of anything unusual, the best option is to get away and not crowd around. Keep your family informed of your physical whereabouts on a regular basis, just in case…” Kiran trailed off, conveying the obvious.