Citizen group formed to guard city has few volunteers
Citizen group formed to guard city has few volunteers
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Vijay Chauhan, chief coordinator and one of the founder members of Force 24x7, blames the city's care-a-damn attitude for the dismal figures. "Mumbai has a short-term memory. November 26 evoked strong reaction but it's a thing of the past. Citizens need another wake-up call," complained Chauhan. He added that in India, terrorism kills around 3,000 innocent people every year and could be tackled with active participation from citizens.
Satwant Balse, a professor from a Thane college, who doubles up as the training coordinator, said that travel and time kept Mumbaikars away from projects that required intensive training to be in top physical and mental condition.
"Maybe it's unfair to compare Mumbai to smaller cities; people are stressed for time here even if they are inclined to join a citizen force. Students, one of our target groups, are already burdened with academics.
Keeping this in mind we try to have our sessions over weekends," said Balse.
Naresh Karmalker, convener of Force 24x7, who was confident about getting a better response from Mumbai, stated that it is no longer sufficient to blame politicians or the bureaucracy but time to develop credible responses through positive actions at the citizen level. While Force 24x7 does not expect anyone to physically fight the terrorists like a soldier, it will train the youth to take effective steps to protect citizens, said Karmalkar
The Indian Ex-Services League (IESL) has offered to develop response systems in each Corporator Ward in urban centers and each Zilla Parishad segment in the rural areas. On December 16, 2008, Victory Day of the Bangladesh War, the League launched a program to fight terrorism with a call Soldiers, Students, Citizens Unite!
"We are now being approached by principals of Sathye, Rizvi and MMK colleges along with BMC's Disaster Management Cell, Mumbai University and citizens' groups, so things are bound to improve soon as the awareness grows," Karmalkar added.
The Indian Ex-Services League (IESL), the force behind 24x7, is an organisation of retired soldiers in India. They work primarily for the welfare of soldiers and widows. Any citizen between the age of 16 and 24 can enroll for Force 24x7.
Force 24x7 plans to build a 45-member squad in each Mumbai ward and plans to train young people on dealing with terrorism and to help them work in Disaster Management and Environmental Conservation.
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