Citizen anger over the Mumbai terror attacks shows little sign of abating even four weeks after the tragic events in Mumbai. At one level this is a good thing. While we pride ourselves on our resilience and “life carries on” attitude — and this too is a good thing — there is a need to keep up the pressure on the relevant authorities to prevent such acts of terror in the future. We have seen only too often, and to our peril, how the political and administrative classes take their eyes off the ball once public pressure diminishes.

Having said that, one has to question the sense and effectiveness of some of the anger-fuelled campaigns being run by various sections of civil society, usually under sobriquets like “citizens against terror” or “war on terror”.

At best, one hopes that these campaigns are simply an outpouring of our (that is, India’s) natural flair for entrepreneurship (remember India has more dollar billionaires than China) and drama (we in India produce more films than Hollywood) rather than something more serious. In these times of great economic fragility, perhaps this is a way for various businesses to corner the market, and boost advertising. And for publicity seekers, what better way can there be to become famous (or even more famous than they already are) than to appear in public for wearing a strong conscience on the sleeve.

One can be cynical about such motives, one can laugh about such motivation, but one would hardly worry about it. However, if one believes that the campaigns are genuinely driven by anger, anguish and national interest then there is more to worry about. Why?

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