'WE’ - THE PEOPLE: The Questions the Mumbai Blasts raise

This was sent to me by a friend in response to my post on the Seven Eleven blasts in Mumbai. Cutting away from the emotional post-mortem of the terror attack, she raises some very important fundamental questions which focus on the very root of our societal fabric.

And I quote:

When I go through the questions put up to the police force, the politicians, lawyers, and the diplomats of the country (which I agree is a question which should, more importantly, be put to the general public as well, since they are the ones who bear the brunt of these disasters, be it floods, monsoons or terrorist attacks) I feel and I know that each one has to not only have an opinion/ suggestion to make but also that each one has to actively engage in holding the powers that be responsible and not just passively bear and work their way painfully (a mild word) out of each catastrophe.

Before we go on to the specifics of the questions put up, let us look at the causal factors that make us, the common man/woman what we are:

• The question is not whether we ask for redressal, help, security, protection and compensation or not; the question is whether we, the common man on the street (perhaps more specifically, the less privileged members of society, who are the ones who get swatted like flies in each one of these mishaps and are forgotten) IS EVEN AWARE OF HIS/HER RIGHTS AS A HUMAN AND A CITIZEN OF THE COUNTRY.
• Does he know that the GOVT. (along with the machinery of the police, judiciary, civic authorities etc.) which he has brought to power is answerable to him, his well being, his safety, his welfare and that IT SHOULD BE DEEPLY and SINCERELY COMMITTED TO ALL OF THE ABOVE and not just use him to its convenience or use repeated, clever tactics, to apply cosmetic dressings to his wounds, as and when the need arises.
• Does he (the repeated use of the male pronoun is merely for convenience and has nothing to do with gender bias) realize even as he frantically fends for himself after each of these avoidable disasters, that tolerance, beyond a certain justifiable limit is a crime, and has to be abandoned with alacrity?
• For these unaware millions who live and die as decreed by the makers of their destiny, is it not a pressing need, that they be made aware of what their rights are as humans and citizens and that other than the economic divide, they are as important and as valuable a member of this great (?) country as the more well endowed?
• In the situation of their being unaware of their rights as important, dignified members of society, is it not the very step in the growth of a democracy, which professes to consider itself one, that they are diligently made aware of them?
• Last and not the least of all, why do we (with exceptions) sit back each time and wait for help and guidance to arrive? Why doesn’t each one of us consider it our right, duty and prerogative to question, help question, spread awareness and proactive-ness among these less aware and more helpless/voiceless populace?
  
  In other words, why do we allow the Powers-that-be to take advantage of our patience (a questionable virtue in the time that we live in!) and misplaced tolerance, and then blame them later?
  
  As a consequence of all the above, can we help transform the scenario (including helping others around us do the same) by being more caring, responsible citizens, by educating ourselves to take positive measures and making an unswerving stand in our demand for our rights?

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