Security of the common man, a mockery by Sanjay Chaturvedi

The threat of terrorists making their presence feel by explosions on different sensitive spots is really a matter of concern not only for the government but also for the common men. The government make big claims on the preperations to tackle any such situation. However, the groud reality of the same was unfolded a couple of days back. One of my relatives boarded Taj Express from Faridabad for going to Agra. It as an Airconditioned coach which is supposed to be a step above the usual chair car coaches because of the elite people travelling in it. However, the reality was quiet distant from the imagination.  My relative found a German passenger, travelling from the starting point in the same coach worried about an unclaimed baggage lying next to his seat. Reportedly he informed the Conductor concerned about the baggage and requested him to inform the security people informed. The conductor reportedly informed the security. However, to the surprise of the passengers, no security man turned up till Mathura, which means it took them about 130 kilometers of travel to report at the sensitive spot where an unclaimed object was lying, which could have been containing an explosive. It is only after the security men came that they found a person in toilet to whom the luggage belonged. The man entered the toilet at Delhi station and came out at Mathura only when his baggage was being checked.

This can be treated as a serious security lapse as had the baggage been used for explosion, the situation would have turned to loss of life of many and loss of government and private property amounting to lacs. It may be possible that some terrororists might be using this baggage to check the preparedness of the security agencies.

This case can by an eye opener not only for the government agencies, but also for the people. People should ensure that until proper redresal of their security concern is not done, they should take the lead. In the said case, the people should have initiated and forced stop the train till the security agencies have not arrived. It is difficult to take a lead in such a case, undoubtedly. Since the aggreived was a German national, the incident would be carrying a bad image of our country to the world too. We would be recognised as a careless breed not careful about our own security.