/> The prolific writer-director-lyricist Gulzar has seen terrorism from very close quarters. Memories of the Partition haunt his art and life.

And for the last decade or so extremist violence nags at his soul tearing into his definition of all that's good positive and desirable in life. Gulzar directed two films on terrorism Maachis in 1996 and then Hu-tu-tu in 1999.

Since then he has devoted his time to writing only. Perhaps the violence all around him has altered Gulzar Saab's equation with his art. He no longer feels comfortable creating poetic images of life when all the poetry from real life has vanished.

Do you think this haadsa has put your efforts to build a cultural bridge between India and Pakistan back by many steps?
When such attacks happen in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore we ring up our friends there. Don't we have family and friends across the border?

I've received at least 25 phone calls from Pakistan in the last four days from Lahore Karachi and Islamabad and my Pakistani friends in New York. Why are politicians trying to drag their mileage out of this gruesome incident.?

Arrey our home is burning, we don't have ample security to protect ourselves. Aur aap Pakistan-Pakistan bole jaa rahen hain! Our intelligence agencies have been constantly getting warnings of an attack.

What more evidence did we need to take precautions? We've under-equipped and under-paid all our administrative services.

Gulzar Saab, how does the situation look to you?
How should it look? Do we have a way out? This is not the first time we've faced such a situation. I've been reacting to each attack with pain and hurt. I was as concerned about the attacks when they happened in Jaipur and Delhi...now Mumbai.

First I feel angry then I feel helpless and depressed. It's a familiar cycle by now. What do we do? I believe the Maharashtra government had information as late as twentyfour hours before it happened. If no one wants to act in spite of loud warnings what do we do?

An individual can't pull the administrators physically out of their homes. The minute it (the attack) happened the politicians started talking the language of politics. No one is addressing the seriousness of the situation.

I don't see politicians talking to the victims of terrorism, giving them courage.To divert attention they start talking about Pakistan. Tell me they blew up the J. W Marriott in Pakistan and they destroyed the Taj hotel on India. What's the difference?

None at all?
None. This is total terrorism. It's not a war between India and Pakistan. There're fatal casualties on both sides. Pakistan has to think of its securiy. We've to think of ours. We've to go way beyond the tug-of-war of party-politics.

Is even one politician really concerned? Check the newspapers and television footage. Their statements after Mumbai's attack are the same as after Delhi.

The same spirit that they wanted the country to show...Dammit, what spirit are they talking about?! Do they know how the common man's spirit is broken? They aren't concerned. It's a total sham.

And changing the government doesn't help. The politicians are safe because they're never anywhere near the scene of attack.

Crores and crores are spent on protecting the politicians?
And look at the equipment used by our police men who fought the terrorists in Mumbai. They were using obsolete guns from the World War 2 times!

Look at the helmet and bullet-proof jackets our Hemant Kikire was given! Mr Shankar Iyer spoke about how the funds were needed elsewhere. What sort of priorities are these? It's very frustrating.

The politicians' attitudes have to change. Every time we say 'Abke maar ke dekh'. But what happens each time? They strike each time. Didn't they say. 'Enough is enough' the last time also?

After 9/11 there were no terror strikes in the US.
9/11. Why are you comparing our situation to that? Don't we have enough reference points of our own? It's like calling our film industry 'Bollywood' just because they've their 'Hollywood.' What about the storming of the parliament? Is that a smaller reference point than 9/11 for 26/11? Stop resorting to clichés.

Do you think cinema has any power to eradicate evil?
Not at all. No fine art can do it. Can film violence ever equal the brutality and impact of the real violence? Cinema holds up a mirror. Don't expect it to reform society.