Senior police, government officials and politicians were conspicuous by their absence at the first-ever exhibition of arms seized from Kashmiri militants, inaugurated by the Governor Dr P C Alexander, in the city today.``We had called everyone, senior Mumbai police officials, Home Guards, secretaries, railway GMs but not one of them found it fit to attend today's function,'' fumed a senior army official.

This morning, the army, which arranged to cater to 130 persons in the hall, ended up filling it with its own officers when bureaucrats and police played hookey. First it was Chief Minister Manohar Joshi and Home Minister Gopinath Munde who couldn't make it due to prior engagements. Later senior bureaucrats and police officials pleaded their inability to attend due to a conference at Mantralaya.

``Why aren't the policehere? Isn't the army battling militants in Kashmir because the police were inadequate? Don't they want to see how we have done our job,'' the official asked. Everyone from the director general to the police commissioners and several additional commissioners of police had been invited for the inauguration.

However, Minister for Cultural Affairs and Protocol Pramod Navalkar, said he hadn't received an invitation. ``Maybe they couldn't reach us because of consecutive holidays. Otherwise I would have gone for this exhibition,'' he told Express Newsline.

The four-day exhibition showcases over 430 sophisticated weapons seized from militants in the Valley. These weapons have been responsible for killing at least a few of the over 900 army personnel killed in the Valley over the last nine years, army officials say.

They narrated how the railway administration was more keen on the seating arrangement of their GMs. However, in the end they didn't turn up.

The only politician visible at today's function wasleader of the Opposition Chhagan Bhujbal, while Intelligence Bureau (IB) Director V M Deshmukh was the only senior police official present.

But this is nothing new, say army officials. ``We're getting used to indifference from the state government.'' The last time the administration did the disappearing act was at the tri-services Vijay Diwas celebrations in December 1996, held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of India's victory in the 1971 war. But the public response in the form of serpentine queues, nearly made up for the lack of enthusiasm from the administration. ``It's a good cause, it should be shown to school children who are unaware of the scope of anti-India activities,'' says 15-year-old Hrishikesh Gupte. This ninth standard student waited for over an hour in the sweltering sun with his father Sanjay Gupte for a peek at the exhibition. The lethal AK-47 was a crowd-puller. ``We have heard so much about this weapon on TV, but had never seen it,'' said Malati Ambdekar (67) from Prabhadevi.Comments books placed at the venue overflowed with patriotic sentiment. ``We are proud of our defence services and the role play in nation-building,' wrote D Bhojwani, a senior executive.