Corporate India is rattled. For the first time in all these years, it has been the victim of terrorism; this time around it is the corporate fraternity that has been hurt, losing friends, relatives, business partners. And for the first time, people from the corporate world have spent the days after the attacks consoling colleagues and attending cremations of business associates — people they had worked with for many years. That’s a departure from the past when, on the numerous previous occasions that terrorists attacked Mumbai or other cities for that matter, corporate India had little to do. It made the usual noises—sending out the customary press release condemning the attacks— and as soon as they could, people went back to work. Sure, they talked about the bomb blasts, in their drawing rooms or over drinks at the Taj or at the Oberoi. But the subject was soon brushed aside, the discussions on terrorism never really made it to the boardroom. After all, it didn’t really matter how many people had died in the blasts, these were not people they were dealing with everyday. More important, it didn’t hurt their business interests — none of their associates or foreign directors had been hurt or inconvenienced. No farewell dinners had been rudely interrupted. In a matter of days the incidents were forgotten, life went on.
Now suddenly a few industry seniors are talking about NSG commandos and how they saved their lives. We want our taxes to be given to the commandos and not to the politicians, they’re saying. It’s true that the latest attacks saw heavy casualties among the police force—especially of senior police officers — and other security forces. But haven’t the police protected us on other occasions? Relatively little was seen or heard of the blasts at CST station or the people who died there, and the corporate fraternity isn’t talking about that. They’re more upset that the Taj was burning.
Haven’t our soldiers fought for us in Kargil? Did anyone in the corporate world ever talk about our soldiers getting a bigger share of the taxes that we pay? How much help or support did the corporate world offer those who protested against the riots in Bombay in 1992, after the Babri Masjid demolition, or those who organised peace marches to protest the delay of the Srikrishna Commission report? As recently as July 2006, there were serial train blasts in Mumbai; one didn’t hear of much support from any of the industrial houses. And to the best of one’s memory no important meetings were cancelled, the feeling of gloom didn’t last too long. After all, Nariman Point was not out of bounds. Since the politicians too refrained from making callous remarks, there wasn’t enough reason to react to that either.
Not that senior industry leaders are saying anything much. A few of them are questioning the competence of politicians—one senior member of the fraternity even hinted, on a television show, at their links with the underworld. It’s almost as if the business fraternity just discovered that politicians may have connections with the underworld. Of course, they would have known about it or suspected it but it’s a rare occasion when industry talks about it openly. For obvious reasons, businessmen need to keep politicians happy—in a country where government policy determines the dynamics of a business, lobbying is the done thing. Also, it’s not the corporate sector’s job to provide security to people, that is clearly the responsibility of the government.
But given that the government has been completely ineffective when it comes to dealing with terrorism, it’s time the corporate sector did something about it. If its wants it can put pressure on the government and make it more accountable. The Bombay Chamber, which has some 2,000 member companies, has agreed to support the modernisation of the Bombay police force. That’s a good start but hardly enough. There has to be a concerted effort, on a much bigger scale, and corporate leaders need to speak out on how badly the government has failed in controlling terrorism. So far no industry leader has really been forthcoming on the poor handling of terrorism. Obviously the stakes are high and no one wants to rub the government the wrong way; everyone wants to be politically correct. It’s the general public that has been far more vocal—the huge turnout at the peace march at the Gateway of India held on Wednesday is evidence of that.
But industry needs to take up the issue at the highest level, business groups need to set aside their differences and work together, inconceivable as the idea may seem. It would be a pity if the corporate sector were to keep quiet this time. They would only be letting themselves down.
