Terror is no stranger in this metropolis. Ever since the device secreted under a rear seat of the half-full bus on the routine trip between Ghatkopar and Andheri exploded into human agony and fire on Monday night, familiarity has alternated with horror in Mumbai. The fifth such blast since the explosion on December 2, 2002, near the same place, in the same suburb. Another blast, leaving innocents dead and injured. Another blast, puncturing official claims that the government has vanquished all extremist groups in the state. Another blast, generating faux theories and genuine panic. To be followed in days to come by sloppy policing and worse politics?Some lessons should have been learnt by now in Mumbai. Some lessons obviously haven’t been learnt. In the aftermath, political VIPs and senior police officials have rushed to the site of the tragedy, and each has said his piece to the camera. Authoritative fingers have already been pointed at Pakistan’s ISI, the banned SIMI, Lashkar-e-Toiba, take your pick. The ‘motive’ varies from the police dragnet closing over those involved in the previous blasts to anger over the communal rioting in Gujarat, the latter being the chief minister’s favoured theory. Meanwhile, the opposition Shiv Sena-BJP combine has called a ‘Mumbai bandh’, paralysing normal life, with Shiv Sainiks even attempting to burst into the BSE. After the tragic loss of life and confidence brought on by the blast, Mumbaikars must now deal with disruptions in the name of expressing ‘‘public anguish’’.Give the people a break. Both government and opposition must make a pact to act with responsibility and restraint. The city does not need more provocative rhetoric from the state leaders. Or the politically motivated despatch of a central team of busybodies from New Delhi. What Mumbai needs is a leadership it can look up to for reassurance. A police machinery that gets down to meticulous investigations and the promise of a more vigilant administration henceforth.
