Terrorism has its uses.

Terrorist acts, with indiscriminate killing and maiming of innocent civilians going about their daily lives, fill us with fear, helplessness and rage. There maybe some justification in targeting politicians or security forces but what reason can there be for killing little children going to school? Surely the government would be equally angry and would use every means to make sure that citizens are protected at all times? They do, but they also use the opportunity to increase checks and controls on their own citizens. Thus, there was the Patriot Act in the US, secret trials in the UK and physical assaults on air passengers, including naked x-rays. But, it is in India where politicians really enjoy usefulness of terror attacks. There is no increase in community policing, no effective CCTV cameras and no fencing of our borders. Since Israel erected it security fence there have been almost no terror attacks on its territory. The Demilitarised Zone that separates the North from South Korea has prevented a land war for over half a century. But we do not build any such fence. Just yesterday an army Brigadier and 2 soldiers were injured when Pakistani troops entered our space and fired on them. A few months back Pakistanis entered Indian territory, killed Indian soldiers, beheaded 2 of them and carried their heads away. So how does our government respond to repeated killings of Indians? Firstly, by increasing protection of politicians. Every 2 paisa politician gets a chauffeur driven car with flashing lights and siren to bulldoze a right of way from other road users. Commandos armed with automatic weapons provide Z+ security cover. There are 7315 policemen providing cover for 416 VIPs in Delhi with 968 posted at Rashtrapati Bhavan. For taxpayers there is one policeman for every 500 which is why there is a rape everyday and one car is stolen every minute. As for those called VVIPs, all roads will be blocked when they are around. Patients have died because they could not reach hospitals. Even better a terrorist attack provides the excuse to pass ever more laws to control us. Know Your Customer rules force us to provide photos, photo identity and proof of address for any banking but, as a recent sting by Cobrapost showed, bank officials were keen to launder black money from politicians. Our phones or internet maybe intercepted any time without our knowledge or permission. The recent spot fixing scandal was apparently discovered because police were monitoring phone calls of cricketers looking for terrorists. Which Indian cricketer is a terrorist? Terrorism is provides the excuse. Our politicians take full advantage.