BHUBANESWAR: The nation is reeling from the brazen Pulwama attack in which more than 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives.
The wounds are fresh and so is every citizen vowing for a war against terrorism.
The patriotic fervour is at the top and city people are reacting strongly to it, demanding immediate action against Pakistan.
In social media, people are putting a black ribbon as their profile pictures as a sign of condolence. Many are demanding the government to remember 14th February as Black Ribbon Day for the martyrdom of the bravehearts of CRPF at Awantipora in Pulwama of Kashmir.
Citizens in unison are demanding the government to take a decisive step and bring the guilty to justice.
Pragnya Choudhary, a television anchor, said these should be more than symbolism. The focus should be on how to avenge the loss of our soldiers and their families’ mourning, she added.
Abhinash Das, a city-based IT expert, said, “First of all, the incident happened because of intelligence failure which even the governor of Jammu and Kashmir has accepted.” He pointed out that two days before the incident, the J&K police had given an intelligence input to all the security agencies where there was a 33-second video clip of Jaish-e-Mohammed. Towards the end of the video, they chanted ‘Inshaallah Kashmir mein bhi yehi hoga’. The slogans preceded footage where the terrorists were seen attacking Somalian army members, he added. “Because of this the J&K police conducted sanitisation on the route then how come the terrorist came up with an 80kg RDX? Was there no proper checking? Why were the civilians allowed to move at a stretch while the convoy was going? This is an absolute intelligence failure,” Das said. He underlined that the protection of our jawans needs to be increased and they deserve that. Why can’t we provide air protection while the convoy moves? The rest of the world does that, don’t they? Why can’t jammers be used in their cars and buses like we see in the cars of politicians? The scenario would have been different if proper protection would have been given to our jawans. Das decried that emotionally we will be talking of bans on artists and all, rightly so, but have the terror attacks been stopped after banning the actors during URI time. We need a permanent solution to this and I am sure the higher authority will come up with a solution, he hoped.
Bidya Singh, a teacher in a city school, said it is “heinous behaviour from Pakistan.” The bloodbath that took place February 14 calls for ‘Sahid Diwas’ and will definitely cost the attackers, Bidya added. She concluded singing the patriotic song, “Sarfaroshi ki tammana ab hamare dil main hai, Dekhna hai zor Kinta bajuye katil main hai!”
Rudra Prasanna Rath, a city-based social activist, said India should reply fast and thick and must use all options at her disposal to isolate Pakistan at international level.
ABOUT THE BLACK RIBBON DAY
The black ribbon day in some countries is observed as The European Day of Remembrance for victims of Stalinism and Nazism, which is an international day of remembrance for victims of totalitarian regimes; specifically Stalinism, Communism, Nazism and Fascism. It is observed 23 August every year and symbolises the rejection of extremism, intolerance and oppression. The use of various coloured ribbons is designed to create public awareness to health, medical conditions, disability, and other issues. Awareness ribbons are defined as short pieces of coloured ribbon folded into a loop or representations of such, which are used in the United States, Canada, Australia, UK and other parts of the world as a way for wearers of the ribbon(s) to make a statement of support for a cause or issue.
Black ribbons are used as general symbols for mourning and you may see magnetic versions raising awareness for Prisoner of War /Missing in Action (POW/MIA). The colour is used as a sign of mourning but also represents melanoma awareness, anti-terrorism, gun control, skin cancer, sleep disorders and gang prevention.
Google had paid tribute to former President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam with a black ribbon on its homepage after his demise.