Daughter Of The East : Done In

Time : 6:16 pm
Place : Rawalpindi
Benazir Bhutto : Dead
Another killing of a public figure. I don't know why but I find them so unreal. A few years ago when Pramod Mahajan was shot by his brother and he died in the hospital after some days. I didn't think that could happen! Public figures live for the public and continue to do so as long as the public exists. Not long after, Saddam Hussain was captured. His trial went on for a long time and finally it was announced that he would be executed. That couldn't possibly happen could it? It did. On New Year's Day. And with New Year's Day around the corner, another one is deprived of the chance of seeing it.
Terrorist attacks have become so commonplace now. I wonder what's it going to be like in the future. What kind of stories am I going to tell my kids about my childhood? I know I didn't spend it like all those people during the World Wars but I will have a bagful of gruesome stories for them
BABRI MASJID DEMOLITION
I was only 2 years old at that time, so I really don't know much about it, but what I gather from my father's diary account is that it stirred up a hornet's nest. Old City was rocked by riots and violence. My 2nd birthday was a low profile affair as the incident did happen on December 6th. I can make out by looking at the photos. Word has it that the BJP demolished a mosque in Ayodhya to construct a Ram temple instead as you know, its Ayodhya. May I ask was it the only piece of land available? Vaastu theek nahi tha kya? Secular country, indeed
RAJIV GANDHI'S ASSASINATION
6 years old and still not a clue about current affairs. I don't remember a single thing
WTC ATTACK
All wised up now, followed up on every article about the fateful day a hijacked flight was flown straight into the WTC towers while another one smashed into the Pentagon. Heard the name Osama Bin Laden for the first time and saw terror and its far reaching effects for the first time. A series of disasters followed. I vaguely remember some trouble at the JFK airport after 9/11. America was on high alert. I don't know if the Iraq War is a consequence of all these events. But Mr. bin Laden got what he wanted - global strife. Could it reach such a state that I could say one day I saw a World War too? World War 3? The cat-mouse game between him and the US continues even today. No one knows where he is today. But was puzzled me was how we saw interviews and tapes of him. It dawned on me perhaps the mediapersons were taken to their hideouts blindfolded so that even if they wanted to squeal later they couldn't as they don't know the place. Otherwise they would have ended up as Wall Street journalist Daniel Pearl.
LONDON BLASTS
Seemed like a little brother of the WTC attacks but shocked everyone all the same
MUMBAI BLASTS
But these were global incidents. Surely it wouldn't happen in India right? I forgot that India was a part of the globe too. 7/7 and scores of local trains in Mumbai went up in flames, reminescent of the Godhra massacre. But what can you say? The eternal love affair between Mumbai and the underworld still continues....
HYDERABAD BLASTS
Something closer to home and a stone's throw from my college. The Laser Auditorium in Lumbini Park exploded at around 7:30pm along with Gokul Chat centre in Koti. High alert everywhere and of course some finger pointing seeing that this had come only 2 months after the Mecca Masjid blast.
Heights of stupidity : A motorist hands an unidentified black bag in the hands of a policeman hours before the blast saying it wasn't his and sped off. Right after news of the blasts spread, the bag was opened..to reveal what? A bomb.
And oh, how do you amuse yourself after such morbid events occur? Make bomb hoax calls of course! Like the one to my college where all the teachers told us to vacate the campus immediately in deathly quiet voices which tried to supress the mad urgency
And now Bhutto. She survived a suicide attack just 2 months ago but she wasn't so lucky this time. Had 5 bullets pumped into her with an AK-47 and...you should really admire their meticulous planning...a suicide bomber just in case that failed. You know, I really don't understand suicide bombers. You get a raw deal anyways don't you? Kill loads of people and kill yourself too. Don't they have families who care for them? Or would their families rather have them dead by "doing a service to God"? Who are you kidding anyways? When is this going to stop? We don't need any real life murder mysteries for our entertainment , thank you!