'I don't allow my children to go out'

Actress-mother and entrepreneur Pooja Bedi is worried about her children's safety after the three-day terror strike on Mumbai. She doesn't let kids go out because there is "no guarantee that they will return home safe".

I have two children, a daughter aged 11 and a son aged 8. I don't allow them to go to parks, malls, multiplexes and parks any more fearing for their lives, said Pooja Bedi, the daughter of yesteryear hero Kabir Bedi.

I don't feel safe. Now that the war is over, the Shiv Sena will go on the rampage on the streets of the state Monday.

"They will bring everything to a grinding halt. How can I allow my children to go out? There is no guarantee that they will return safe, she said.

The terror attack targeted the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, Oberoi Trident Hotel, Metro Theatre and the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station (formerly Victoria Terminus) among other places.

Pooja, a regular at The Taj and The Oberoi, said she will never be able to feel the same again when she walks into the hotels again.

We used to frequent all the ravaged landmarks - The Taj Mahal Hotel, The Trident (Oberoi), (their restaurants) Frangipani, Sea Lounge and India Jones (a Teppanyaki restaurant). My kids loved to eat at Frangipani."

We have been let down repeatedly. You have the Shiv Sena and MNS (Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) violence on the streets and leaders do not care. Citizens are not allowed to possess guns to protect themselves unlike in the US and neither can they (government) protect us.

The government, she felt, has not done anything to bring the perpetrators of repeated terrorist attacks to book.

The 1993 blast culprits are still at large. The attacks reflect pathetic governance, said Pooja, who has hosted shows like "Not Just Page 3" and "Just Pooja" on the small screen.

Model-tuned-actor Milind Soman concurs with Pooja. It is depressing - demoralising with so much death and suffering around. It has happened before, but nothing has been done, he said.

Milind attributes the latest terror attack to lack of will and flawed strategies. The television said there was no intelligence and they have been planning the attack for months. Unless the government becomes active and implements all its security measures, the attacks will never stop.

There is no point talking about anti-terror policies till it develops a will.

Showbiz and entertainment industry may have been hit, but life has to go on, round off both Milind and Pooja on a resigned note.

At least 183 people, including 22 foreigners, were killed in the terror strike in Mumbai that began Wednesday night and ended only Saturday afternoon.

Twenty security men also lost their lives and included some of the finest officers of Mumbai police and two commandos.