To be able to counter such threats, we must have a national agency with a mandate to gather, coordinate, analyse and disseminate credible and relevant intelligence inputs. We would also need a fully equipped special force that not only deals with insurgents from across the border but also pursues sleeper cells and potential threat elements that are detected.

The sad truth is that the life of an event in India, no matter how horrific, is quite short. In such a large country with a multitude of challenges it’s perhaps difficult to focus too long on just one issue. But we must bear in mind that long after the stories about the Jaipur blasts die down and it does not top the agenda of newspapers and TV channels, the same terrorists and groups will be hard at work plotting other such attacks. We must not allow that to happen. The lives of those claimed by such attacks must not go in vain. A befitting tribute to them would be to apprehend not just those who committed this crime but the masterminds behind such bombings.

The real loss ultimately is of those families who have lost their dear ones. It is they who will relive this tragedy every day.