07/11/06: The Aftermath
Yet another terrorist attack intending to break the indomitable human spirit has failed miserably. The terrorists may have destroyed a few train coaches and taken the lives of 200 people, but they have accomplished nothing tangible. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, the people of Mumbai, like those of New York, Tel Aviv, London, and Madrid, have refused to let terrorists dictate how they will go about with their lives. It is encouraging that trains ran normally and businesses, schools and colleges were all open as if nothing happened, let alone one of the worst terrorist attacks on Indian soil.
The images of a Muslim man helping carry wounded passengers from the train, a Hindu man that donated Rs. 160,000 to a hospital so that it may buy medicines, and a Sikh man who maintained a 24 hour vigil outside one of the stations providing tea to survivors and their families goes to show that the terrorists' aim of creating interreligious tension has not succeeded. While there will undoubtedly be attempts by Hindu extremists to extract maximum political mileage from this, I do not think they will be successful.
That said, once the remains are picked up, the question needs to be addressed, how did this happen? It is clear that there was a massive intelligence failure. I've seen in the news that sometime in the recent weeks or months, hundreds of kilograms of RDX, the explosive thought to be used in the bombings, disappeared from a warehouse in Aurangabad. What have the authorities done since the bomb blasts in the temples of Varanasi a few months back? The current government of the United Progressive Alliance is, in my opinion, incredibly soft on terror. It seems that their main objective is preventing interreligious violence, which it should be, but having done this, they seem to consider the job finished. We see Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemning terrorist attacks and urging people to remain calm. That's pretty much all we do see.
Consider the response by the previous National Democratic Alliance government. When Parliament was attacked on December 13, 2001, then Prime Minister Vajpayee mounted half a million troops on the Pakistani border ready to invade, and combined with international pressure, those actions forced the Pakistani government to crack down on terrorist outfits. It seems now that the UPA government's impotence in dealing firmly with terrorist threats is much appreciated by both President Musharraf, who is spared the unpleasant task of cracking down on and provoking Islamic extremists within his nation, as well as the terrorists themselves.
While some circles have called for the reenactment of legislation along the lines of the Prevention of Terrorism Act or POTA, the Indian version of the Patriot Act, it is unwarranted and extreme. Civil liberties certainly do not need to be curbed and we must fight against any such effort, however firm action needs to be taken. Pressure needs to be placed on Pakistan and Musharraf to do more. I know that no official pronouncement has been made as to who is responsible, but early leads point to Pakistani based group Lashkar-e-Toiba. Lashkar-e-Toiba is operating freely inside Pakistan. Powerful leadership is indeed needed at this stage and I am waiting to see if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is up to the task of providing it.
There is perhaps no government better at protecting its sovereignty and its people than the government of Israel. Israel's steely determination in doing whatever is needed to safeguard its people, regardless of the insane motions and ramblings passed by the blatantly pro-Arab United Nations General Assembly, is a model that needs to be emulated as much as possible. Certainly, the Israeli government's actions for the most part have earned it my respect and admiration, even if Israel does occasionally go overboard and use excessive force against innocent Palestinians. If the Indian government had so much as a hundredth of the determination or patriotism that the government of Israel has, Indian jets would have bombed and destroyed the numerous terrorist training camps operating freely in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and sent an ultimatum to the Pakistani government to curb the terrorist activities.
Instead, we have had the following: innumerable bomb blasts in Jammu & Kashmir, the blast outside the historic Jama Masjid in New Delhi, the blasts in the holy city of Varanasi, and now the twin blasts in Mumbai and Srinagar. The blasts in Srinagar happened in the morning of Tuesday, about ten hours before the Mumbai blasts. They were aimed at tourist buses intending to once again derail a rejuvenating tourist industry, which is the mainstay of Jammu & Kashmir's economy. It is clear that the terrorists have no interest in the livelihoods or economic upliftment of the Kashmiri people. Despite a string of these attacks, aimed at Indians from all religions and backgrounds, what has the government done? Absolutely nothing and this is a matter for shame. The government of India is as culpable as these terrorists, and because of their failure to respond to the previous terrorist attacks, the blood of the 200 people who were killed in Mumbai plus those in Srinagar and those injured in both places are on the hands of Manmohan Singh & Co.
In the meantime, the people of Mumbai will not stop going about their daily lives and Mumbai will continue to be the unquestioned financial and entertainment hub of India, but as one person said on the BBC News Web site, this will be in spite of the governance.
The images of a Muslim man helping carry wounded passengers from the train, a Hindu man that donated Rs. 160,000 to a hospital so that it may buy medicines, and a Sikh man who maintained a 24 hour vigil outside one of the stations providing tea to survivors and their families goes to show that the terrorists' aim of creating interreligious tension has not succeeded. While there will undoubtedly be attempts by Hindu extremists to extract maximum political mileage from this, I do not think they will be successful.
That said, once the remains are picked up, the question needs to be addressed, how did this happen? It is clear that there was a massive intelligence failure. I've seen in the news that sometime in the recent weeks or months, hundreds of kilograms of RDX, the explosive thought to be used in the bombings, disappeared from a warehouse in Aurangabad. What have the authorities done since the bomb blasts in the temples of Varanasi a few months back? The current government of the United Progressive Alliance is, in my opinion, incredibly soft on terror. It seems that their main objective is preventing interreligious violence, which it should be, but having done this, they seem to consider the job finished. We see Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemning terrorist attacks and urging people to remain calm. That's pretty much all we do see.
Consider the response by the previous National Democratic Alliance government. When Parliament was attacked on December 13, 2001, then Prime Minister Vajpayee mounted half a million troops on the Pakistani border ready to invade, and combined with international pressure, those actions forced the Pakistani government to crack down on terrorist outfits. It seems now that the UPA government's impotence in dealing firmly with terrorist threats is much appreciated by both President Musharraf, who is spared the unpleasant task of cracking down on and provoking Islamic extremists within his nation, as well as the terrorists themselves.
While some circles have called for the reenactment of legislation along the lines of the Prevention of Terrorism Act or POTA, the Indian version of the Patriot Act, it is unwarranted and extreme. Civil liberties certainly do not need to be curbed and we must fight against any such effort, however firm action needs to be taken. Pressure needs to be placed on Pakistan and Musharraf to do more. I know that no official pronouncement has been made as to who is responsible, but early leads point to Pakistani based group Lashkar-e-Toiba. Lashkar-e-Toiba is operating freely inside Pakistan. Powerful leadership is indeed needed at this stage and I am waiting to see if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is up to the task of providing it.
There is perhaps no government better at protecting its sovereignty and its people than the government of Israel. Israel's steely determination in doing whatever is needed to safeguard its people, regardless of the insane motions and ramblings passed by the blatantly pro-Arab United Nations General Assembly, is a model that needs to be emulated as much as possible. Certainly, the Israeli government's actions for the most part have earned it my respect and admiration, even if Israel does occasionally go overboard and use excessive force against innocent Palestinians. If the Indian government had so much as a hundredth of the determination or patriotism that the government of Israel has, Indian jets would have bombed and destroyed the numerous terrorist training camps operating freely in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and sent an ultimatum to the Pakistani government to curb the terrorist activities.
Instead, we have had the following: innumerable bomb blasts in Jammu & Kashmir, the blast outside the historic Jama Masjid in New Delhi, the blasts in the holy city of Varanasi, and now the twin blasts in Mumbai and Srinagar. The blasts in Srinagar happened in the morning of Tuesday, about ten hours before the Mumbai blasts. They were aimed at tourist buses intending to once again derail a rejuvenating tourist industry, which is the mainstay of Jammu & Kashmir's economy. It is clear that the terrorists have no interest in the livelihoods or economic upliftment of the Kashmiri people. Despite a string of these attacks, aimed at Indians from all religions and backgrounds, what has the government done? Absolutely nothing and this is a matter for shame. The government of India is as culpable as these terrorists, and because of their failure to respond to the previous terrorist attacks, the blood of the 200 people who were killed in Mumbai plus those in Srinagar and those injured in both places are on the hands of Manmohan Singh & Co.
In the meantime, the people of Mumbai will not stop going about their daily lives and Mumbai will continue to be the unquestioned financial and entertainment hub of India, but as one person said on the BBC News Web site, this will be in spite of the governance.
posted by Vivek at 9:37 PM
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