Mumbai suffers again

Yesterday was a black day for Mumbai, Srinagar, for India, and for peace. Tourists were attacked in Srinagar by terrorists with hand grenades, and at least 8 deaths have been reported.

In Mumbai, terrorists blew up the western suburban commuter rail line, killing close to 200 people. The Home Secretary, V N Duggal, has said we must maintain calm and India must not derail the peace process.

Her Majesty the Queen rushed to Mumbai, and the government did what it does best in times of tragedy; promise compensation to the dead and wounded.

India's resilience has been tested time and time again, and the unity and brotherhood shown by the man on the street has always been able to overcome these adversities. Not so when you speak of the Indian politicians. This species is probably the most gutless species that God has created on the face of this earth.

This whole nation is filled with anguish, anger and frustration at this moment, but for most of us, we also realize that this government will not do anything about it. They will shed crocodile tears, speak gently, and forget about it. After all, India's relations with China and Pakistan are much more important than the lives of a few hundred Indians.

All the forums I am a member of have filled pages after pages of frustrated forumers who know all these promises of a fitting reply that these monkeys make will come to nothing. They never have.

Rajinder Puri makes some connections with the mess that the government has created in Kashmir.

Have terrorists declared war on India?

Consider the broad facts. A series of terrorist blasts occurred in Mumbai and Kashmir on the same day. More than half a dozen innocents died in Kashmir. The Mumbai blasts claimed over a hundred victims. The victims in Kashmir were mostly, if not, exclusively tourists. At the critical time in Mumbai ~ peak hour on the suburban rail network ~ the mobile phone system was jammed.

And yet the Union home secretary was quoted as having said that there was no connection between the terror in Kashmir and in Mumbai. How does he know? Was such synchronised terror pure coincidence?

The Union home minister said that Mrs Sonia Gandhi had been informed. It’s good that the Central government did not forget its priorities. The Kashmir government spokesman said that the terrorist blasts had been planned to divert attention from the PoK elections. Was any great attention being paid to those polls?

On November 2, 2005, this columnist wrote in The Statesman: “Just four days before Ghulam Nabi Azad takes over as chief minister, serial bomb blasts in a major terrorist attack have killed scores of shoppers in Delhi markets. Was this the work of terrorists ranged against the Indo-Pak peace talks? If so, why now, and why in Delhi? Is this attack a message to Kashmiris: ‘See? India could not tolerate a Kashmir-based government. Delhi must directly rule Kashmir. So forget autonomy. Fight for separation. Now onward our attacks will be focused on India, not Kashmir!’”

Could this be the start of something much bigger? In other words, not terrorism in Kashmir but a full-fledged terrorist war against India? If so, the elements that back the so-called jihadis are making their final, desperate attempt. And they might get much more than they bargained for. The consequences of this action could end up altering the map of South Asia.----------------------------------------------------------

Fuck this jaunt man. The PM is supposed to address this nation, and I dont know what he will say, but i do not what he will not say. He will not say that we will fight, he will refrain from taking the names of the Pak Army because he does not want to derail the peace process and other such bullshit. Tomorrow it will be life as usual, and we will get on with our lives like ants in a colony. The politicians will get back to subverting the system and devising ways to further divide this country and how to share the spoils of their joint plunder.

The bastards in Congress and the successive governments before that have fully managed to destroy India's internal intelligence resources. Today, the police are too busy pandering to the whims of politicians, standing guard outside their homes, and servicing the demands of their political parties.

The bloody Shiv Sena, the great sons (of bitches) of Maharashtra, were busy raping the city for two days before this tragedy because somebody threw some mud on the bust of Bal Thackrey's dead wife. So the Shiv Sena was busy threatening the police with consequences if the culprits werent caught in 24 hours and all that huffing and puffing. Bastards of the first degree they are. I wonder what it will take for them to channel their resources of destruction and lawlessness towards actually fighting the enemies of the state? Hmm, good question, and my answer is probably nothing. I have already written about what Indian political activism is good for, and its definitely not good for using it to fight for the country.

The less i speak of our clueless Home Minister the better.

"Where is the home minister?"


That was what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked as soon as he landed in Delhi, cutting short his visit to Kolkata after news of the serial blasts in Srinagar and Mumbai shattered the nation.
His anguish was obvious.
Not only has the intelligence apparatus failed, but the home ministry too was caught unawares.
National Security Advisor M K Narayanan now has a lot of explaining to do.

And when Mumbai Police Commissioner A N Roy said he had no intelligence about the possibility of such an attack, he didn't help Narayanan's case much.

Though Narayanan's increasing involvement in foreign policy and strategic issues may have taken a toll on the attention that he has been paying to internal security, his detractors are expected to step up pressure on him.

If Narayanan's position is not enviable, observers feel Dr Singh's situation is even worse.
Many political analysts agree that the blasts have reminded the nation of the March 12, 1993 blasts and hurt the national consciousness deeply.

They say that while people may not be asking questions right away about who is behind the blasts, there is some frustration that things haven't changed or improved since 1993.

The fact that India has not seen any improvement in curbing terrorism will not escape public scrutiny, they feel.

The ball now lies in the prime minister's court.

Mumbai will wait and watch how he convinces them and the rest of India that he is capable of steering the nation clear of fear and insecurity.

Even if Dr Singh -- already accused of being a 'weak' prime minister -- attempts to show his government's resolve in fighting terror, he will find himself in a Catch-22 situation. Being a pacifist, he cannot entertain war-mongers. Nor does he have the aura or the gift of the gab to wriggle out of the situation, a la his predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

But that does not take away from the fact that half his Cabinet behaves like misguided missiles about which he is unable to do anything.

During such tough times, any sign of support from Congress party president Sonia Gandhi would have boosted the prime minister's spirits and improved the government's image. But Sonia's focus seems to be only on the aam adami and the Congress' electoral prospects.

The Congress party is no better.

Whenever Congress leaders have been questioned about the sloppy manner in which the affairs of the nation are being handled, they throw back the same argument: "The prime minister is on his first and last term. He will sit at home once this government goes. But Soniaji has the responsibility to get votes. How can she allow an economist PM to have his way?"

It is no secret that there is a growing distance between Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Singh. A former Cabinet secretary who met the prime minister recently told rediff.com, "Sonia Gandhi is the bankable face in the party. The media is unduly, and sometime foolishly, ignoring the fact that besides the Gandhi family, there is nothing to write home about the Congress. The prime minister is also aware of his weakness and we have to witness the internal dynamics between the two leaders."

The party has realised that the blasts will have a bearing both among voters and within the establishment. In this light, it will be interesting to see what strategy the party adopts for next year's assembly election in Uttar Pradesh.
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Sonia Gandhi and her posse of white livered goons will face the music someday, inshallah. Till we learn to vote better and actually demand good governance from these people, we will get filth for choosing filth. What does the Gandhi family want to rule on? A country that is torn apart from the outside and the inside? Come on Mrs. Gandhi, I thought at least you would see the bigger picture. You disappoint me.