By Shashank Saurav:
I have to contemplate a beginning to this article by admitting that the spate of controversies, news of corruption and issues with infrastructure weren’t enough to blacken the Commonwealth Games. What with the recent opening of fire in a public place. So far only the politicians and contractors were sharing the bulk of the blame for spoiling the Commonwealth Games. Now even the terrorists have come to the party.
Few days ago, two terrorists belonging to the Indian Mujahideen opened fire by spraying a round of bullets randomly on passers-by near Jama Masjid. This resulted in injuring two foreign tourists, one of them critically. However the worst part was that they managed to escape as easily as they entered. It was only later when the terrorist outfit laid claim to the incident that it was realized this was not a stray incident.
Nevertheless both the government and the police force are equally culpable. The police for failing to catch the guilty and not providing adequate security for a sensitive area like Jama Masjid. The government shares the blames for manifold reasons-:
1. There were CCTV installed in that area, however none seemed to be working or at least none of them recorded any footage.
2. Similarly there were metal detectors but none could trace the presence of weapons or cartridges primarily because again most of them were not working.
3. No effort had been made on the part of the government to hike up the security in crowded areas given the fact that commonwealth games are approaching.
4. The damaged CCTV’s and metal detectors should have been replaced or repaired to make them functional.
5. In spite of there being a previous terrorist attack on Jama Masjid, this one couldn’t be prevented. It is plausible to assume that the government does not learn from its mistakes.
Adopting an optimistic view, I can appreciate the stringent measures adopted by the government in the aftermath of this incident. All the sensitive areas including historical monuments, public places and tourist spots will now be monitored through CCTV footages. Besides no two wheelers will be allowed entry into sensitive areas. Also security will be beefed up so that the response to such incidents is immediate.
Its difficult to judge the impact of this incident on CWG. It does not matter much though because many star athletes have already withdrawn. The remaining are either Indian or belong to either middle east or African nations. However whether the athletes or spectators are present or absent, the CWG has to be conducted appropriately and safely and this incident has further blighted the chances of possible success of the already marred games.