Time to shed complacency, for that innocuous baggage with no owner may explode. Be on your guard.
The Pune blast on Saturday, which claimed nine lives, is a gruesome reminder of the complete lack of awareness among Indians on dealing with terror threats. The explosion at the German Bakery occurred when a waiter was asked by the manager to open an unclaimed bag placed under one of the tables.
The first rule in tackling a terror threat is that unclaimed baggage should not be touched. It has to be immediately reported to the police, and the space must be immediately evacuated. If an alarm had been raised and the space evacuated before the bag was examined, lives might have been saved in Pune. But when are we going to learn?
Doing the rounds over the internet is an email with the views of a former Israeli Mossad agent, Juval Aviv. Aviv served as a bodyguard to former prime minister of Israel Golda Meir and was also appointed to trace the Palestinian terrorists who killed Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Aviv recently carried out a security test for the US Congress. He is also, incidentally, security advisor to the US Congress. To assess the security preparedness in the US, Aviv placed an empty briefcase each in crowded spots in five major cities. What he found was shocking. Not one person called 911 (the emergency number in the US) or sought a policeman to check it out. In fact, in Chicago, someone even tried to steal the briefcase!
At a lecture in New York, Aviv said, “In comparison to ordinary US citizens, Israeli citizens are well-trained in dealing with unattended bags. These are reported in seconds, and citizens themselves will yell ‘Unattended bag!’ and quickly get others in the area to move away.” However, some people feel that the reason why Israeli society is so security-conscious is because of conscription. Every Israeli citizen undergoes military training for a fixed period, and response to terror threats forms part of that training.
In India, however, the vast majority of citizens remain clueless about dealing with terror threats. Joint commissioner of police (Crime) Alok Kumar says, “People have to be extra cautious and vigilant and immediately inform the police in case of suspicious objects or behaviour of strangers.” Unfortunately, calling the police is one thing that mischief-mongers do more frequently than those who sincerely wish to protect the peace.
“There are cases when someone want to take revenge on another person. Calls are made to the police just to settle a dispute or as an expression of jealousy. But we do not have a choice. We have to attend to every call,” says Kumar.
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