Mumbai Needs a Guardian Like
Rudolph Giuliani
Do you remember Mr. Rudolph Giuliani? He was the mayor of New York City and had retired before 9/11. After the terrorist attack, he came, took the charge of the administration of the city, and did manage all the rescue works. He performed his duty so well that TIME declared him as the person of the year 2001.
Mumbai needs a man like him. Be it 1993-bomb blast, 2005 blast, 26/7 and 7/11. the Mumbaikars always wanted to see a man is in command. The one authoritative, assuring, accountable public figure. But alas, the same stories of investigation, promises which often prove false repeat and blame games start all the time.
After the serial blasts the BMC, the police, the hospital and railway administrations swung into action with commendable speed. But the growing sense of defenselessness in the eyes of the people and the angry outbursts told that this is not enough. The eyes were saying, ‘we need proper security, who will give us’.
The Municipal Commissioner, Johny Joseph, has done a good job. He personally coordinated the different civic battalions, moved forces to the embattled fronts, and confidently told the chief secretary, D Sankaran, to go on air and inform the public of all the arrangements that had been made.
But in a moment of such traumatizing crisis, the people needed the towering presence of one person, not a group of individuals doing their own thing, however effectively they were erasing their past lapses.
Someone credible has to stand up and tell us what, if anything, is being done to nail and get the real culprits. As distinct from merely rounding up the usual suspects. I am very much sure Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh is listening this.
