In AD
64 for six days and seven nights the citizens of ancient Rome watched helplessly as their city
burned. The great fire that engulfed Rome , spread quickly
and savagely. After it was over, 70 percent of the city had been destroyed.
According to the great historian Tacitus "Of Rome's 14 districts, only four remained
intact.”. Of the million-person population, an estimated
half was made newly homeless .
As is
usually seen in such mass tragedies, rumors began to wind through the
devastated streets. Reports emerged that some men were seen fanning the
flames claimed they were under orders. As a result of the tremendous losses,
the Roman people, feeling the effects of paranoia, looked for someone who might
be responsible for the fire. They blamed their emperor -- Nero.
In the
light of the great tragedy in Kashmir –our good friends (led by the terrorist
Hafiz Saeed) are blaming the Indian Government for the floods !! Of course that
venomous idea of his , no one is going to buy (he used the word “water
terrorism”!!). But perhaps the most interesting rumor that emerged from the
great fire was that Nero (the Emperor ) had played his fiddle(violin /flute).
while Rome burned .While the above is debated amongst historians bcoz the
violin was invented 1500 years later ,the phrase “fiddling while Rome burnt “
has come to stay .In simple terms it means indulging in your favourite pastime
while there is calamity all around you .Is Omar Abdullah fiddling while Rome is
burning ? The way the Centre is involved in the disaster ,and the way the separatists
and the state govt are ABSENT ,its safe
to say “ yes – all of them are ”
fiddling while Rome is burning”!
Kulbhushan Kain
I disagree. Do we know who is fiddling. I have friends trapped there that I am communicating with. The situation is very bad and everyone is helping each other. The armed forces are doing a great job. All forms of communication and links are in a disarray.
ReplyDeleteWhenever a calamity happens anywhere in the world there are heroes and villains. Lets not waste our time on guys like Hafeez Syed. Are they important? Let them say whatever they want to say. Unless highlighting their mutterings is part of the tacit hate movement going on in our country for electoral benefits.
There are many positive things happening. Airlines are doing their best to fly rescued people out to reduce congestion. Air fares on credit have been fixed to a manageable level. The road from Manali to Leh and Kargil has been opened. There are hundreds of successes storied
Yes there have been instances of some helicopters being pelted with stones. The locals helped prepare a landing ground for these helicopters. They assisted a set of tourists that needed medical care on the first sortie. After that the helicopters just focused on the tourists ignoring locals that needed medical help. The agitated locals then threw stones at the helicopters. Dr Subramaniyam Swami posted this incident as an incident of “biting the hand that feeds” Its people like him that are playing the fiddle of hate at a critical time like this. I think we need to ignore and discourage such thoughts. Dr Swami and Hafeez Syed belong to the same category.
No body is denying the role that everyone is playing .And no one is taking Hafez Sayyid seriously .But can be ignore the responses of the hurriyat and the badshah of Kashmir -Omar ?Or the local administration ? My information is based on people reporting from the valley and i havent even read what Swamy has written .Certainly like in Uttarakhand ,the state govt has been caught with its pants down .And the truth about stone pelting will surface once we get out of the disaster .Neither you nor me can say whether it was engineered or not .There are conflicting reports .
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