Friday Bomb Blast in Hyderabad - Amusing Incidents and Disturbing Aspects.

“Maa#$**#$@ band kar dukaan!”("Shut the shop, you ------ ------") shouted a young fellow of around 18 years while he hurled a stone missile at a shop in Banjara Hills in Hyderabad yesterday. Then he giggled away to glory saying “Kaisa phaada nai, dukaan waale ki,”(“See, how I scared the S--- out of the shop owner”) in his group of around 8-10 guys with age ranging from as young as 15 to a maximum of around 25-27.

While this incident to an extent was amusing what didn’t amuse me one bit was the reaction of the police. They just stood by, as is now expected of them, and just warned this group of ‘hooligans’ against having too much ‘fun.’(“Masti karo par zyaada nakko.”)

To top it all this policemen passed on a message (on his wireless radio) to the control room that a group of people were going around the area ‘requesting’ shop owners to down their shutters!!

Wow! What a definition of request the police seem to have. Wonder what their reaction would be if we were to ‘request’ the police in a similar way – by first abusing them and then by hurling stones at them.

Stray incidents such as the one above, of which I just happened to be a witness, aside there are a few other aspects about the blast in Hyderabad yesterday that bother me.

1) There are reports that the police went around the city on Thursday warning some of the petrol bunk owners against selling petrol in cans or bottles to anyone over the next two days. Never before was such an instruction / warning specifically given to the petrol bunk owners. Why then was it given this time and why again only for two days – Thursday & Friday? Did the Police have any prior inkling or info?

2) No stones can be found lying around on the roads or on the footpaths around the mecca masjid area. (I frequent the area often as many of my relatives have their shops and establishments around the mosque.) How then did the miscreants find sacks full of stones to hurl at the police and at the shops around mosque?

3) Previous such incidents of stone throwing were found to have been preceeded by a massive stock-piling of stones in the area. Many a times school children were found carrying stones in their school bags. No action was taken then and I am sure that no action, whatsoever, will be taken now.

4) CCTV cameras and metal detectors were later installed as a precautionary measure around that mosque but they were removed just recently.

5) Frisking and searching, a routine security check carried out at the mosque, of all visitors / devotees was not carried out only on this Friday – the day of the blast.

6) The most bothersome piece of information, however, has been a news article in the Times of India today. It draws the readers’ attention towards an organisation called Tablighi Jamaat which is holding one of its big congregations today on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The previous congregations have been held in Nanded and Malegaon. And guess what had happened in both these places prior to the congregations - A BOMB BLAST IN A MOSQUE !

P.S. The views expressed above are all personal and have nothing to do with ISB as a school / institution / organisation. I understand that this a collaborative blog of a business school, however, I hope that we have to liberty to once in a while sneak in posts like the one above on issues of general concern and importance.