Salaam Mumbai ! Salaam!
As I watched the horrific images from Mumbai yesterday on the news, I was deeply saddened. Although I now permanently reside in New Zealand, I was born and raised in Mumbai. I lived in the suburb of Mahim, where one of the bombs exploded yesterday. Images of Mahim are in all the newspaper and television reports. Mahim has always been a volatile area, particularly during communal rioting. I've witnessed first hand the riots of 1991/92 and the bomb blasts of 1993. And I can tell you that the images from yesterday's bombings, are as lurid and macabre as they appear.
Terrorism is certainly not a new phenomenon in Mumbai. For years, India has grappled with cross-border and internal terrorism. What is alarming, however, is the confounded ease with which terrorists seem to be planning and successfully executing their strikes. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks yesterday. Both the suspected militant groups, Lashkar-e-Taiba and the banned Students Islamic Movement of India have denied any links to the attacks.
The sinister calculations of timing and place is indicative of an elusive and dangerous organised group or groups working together, who seem to have sharpened their skills over many years. The Indian Intelligence have confirmed, that they have always known, about the inevitability of an terrorist attack, but they admit, that they could do little to accurately prepare for, or predict the timing, or the targets of such an attack.
Trying to understand and learn about terrorism is a bit like peering through a thick cover of smog. The only thing transparent about terrorist groups is that –THEY WILL ATTACK, and brutally so, to highlight and gain a reaction to their rapacious cause. The manner in which terrorist groups are galvanised into action, their skilful use of technology and interpersonal communications, and their fondness for soft targets of opportunity, make it difficult to predict, just when, and how they will strike.
Further more, unlike in the past, terrorist groups today are a bit like Amoeba...shapeless in structure with a one or more nuclei. They function like decentralized network of cells rather than a single tightly structured organized group. They are impromptu organizations, which are flexible, adaptable and their nucleus/nuclei is their ideology, which manifests itself, when they combine into task forces for specific missions. Because of their fluid, amorphous nature, they seem to be harder to trace and penetrate. And so, their targets too are harder to determine. The combination of advanced technology, together with vested shared interests by both fundamentalists, militant organizations and the underworld have created a pernicious alliance that constantly threatens not just India, but the world at large.
The Indian Government needs to revisit its counter terrorism policies. It is vital, that they rigorously prepare to address the possibility of graver attacks (including biological and chemical ones). Border security needs to be beefed up as does security around crucial infrastructure. Furthermore, there needs to be an expansion of cooperative threat reduction programmes and an overall improvement in intelligence gathering. As India moves forward rapidly in its race for economic superiority, its' enemies have increased more than its allies and therefore protecting its people from terrorism is a priority.
This Wednesday in Mumbai, there are scores of people still searching for their loved ones.. Their lives, dramatically altered by this shameful act of cowardice. And my heart goes out to them all. But Mumbai is a city with an indomitable spirit. I remember the day after the 1993 bomb blasts, there was a 99% attendance at offices all over Mumbai. And today, like before, in an act of defiance against the terrorists, train services were back to normal and again packed with commuters. Yes, Mumbai has a remarkable ability to pick up and move on.
There are stories emerging in the papers today of how people had been rushing to help each other, as they have done on numerous occasions in the past whenever terror struck. The slum dwellers, living by the railway tracks, and, often despised for dirtying and overcrowding the areas they encroach, were among the first to hurry to the aid of the injured. People in their cars and on their motorbikes, offered to get strangers home as trains were cancelled. Others provided food and water to those who had to face a long trek home. And it was also reported, that India's minority Muslim community, were among the first to queue outside hospitals to donate blood to the injured.
Yes, despite all their differences, the people of Mumbai really know how to rally together in times of crises. And this is why they deserve a salute. Salaam Mumbai Salaam! It's your Mumbai, and you have shown us just how proud of it you are. And we, who have lived among you in the past, and who know you...we say “Salaam”. We are proud of Mumbai and we are proud of all of you who live there.
Terrorism is certainly not a new phenomenon in Mumbai. For years, India has grappled with cross-border and internal terrorism. What is alarming, however, is the confounded ease with which terrorists seem to be planning and successfully executing their strikes. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks yesterday. Both the suspected militant groups, Lashkar-e-Taiba and the banned Students Islamic Movement of India have denied any links to the attacks.
The sinister calculations of timing and place is indicative of an elusive and dangerous organised group or groups working together, who seem to have sharpened their skills over many years. The Indian Intelligence have confirmed, that they have always known, about the inevitability of an terrorist attack, but they admit, that they could do little to accurately prepare for, or predict the timing, or the targets of such an attack.
Trying to understand and learn about terrorism is a bit like peering through a thick cover of smog. The only thing transparent about terrorist groups is that –THEY WILL ATTACK, and brutally so, to highlight and gain a reaction to their rapacious cause. The manner in which terrorist groups are galvanised into action, their skilful use of technology and interpersonal communications, and their fondness for soft targets of opportunity, make it difficult to predict, just when, and how they will strike.
Further more, unlike in the past, terrorist groups today are a bit like Amoeba...shapeless in structure with a one or more nuclei. They function like decentralized network of cells rather than a single tightly structured organized group. They are impromptu organizations, which are flexible, adaptable and their nucleus/nuclei is their ideology, which manifests itself, when they combine into task forces for specific missions. Because of their fluid, amorphous nature, they seem to be harder to trace and penetrate. And so, their targets too are harder to determine. The combination of advanced technology, together with vested shared interests by both fundamentalists, militant organizations and the underworld have created a pernicious alliance that constantly threatens not just India, but the world at large.
The Indian Government needs to revisit its counter terrorism policies. It is vital, that they rigorously prepare to address the possibility of graver attacks (including biological and chemical ones). Border security needs to be beefed up as does security around crucial infrastructure. Furthermore, there needs to be an expansion of cooperative threat reduction programmes and an overall improvement in intelligence gathering. As India moves forward rapidly in its race for economic superiority, its' enemies have increased more than its allies and therefore protecting its people from terrorism is a priority.
This Wednesday in Mumbai, there are scores of people still searching for their loved ones.. Their lives, dramatically altered by this shameful act of cowardice. And my heart goes out to them all. But Mumbai is a city with an indomitable spirit. I remember the day after the 1993 bomb blasts, there was a 99% attendance at offices all over Mumbai. And today, like before, in an act of defiance against the terrorists, train services were back to normal and again packed with commuters. Yes, Mumbai has a remarkable ability to pick up and move on.
There are stories emerging in the papers today of how people had been rushing to help each other, as they have done on numerous occasions in the past whenever terror struck. The slum dwellers, living by the railway tracks, and, often despised for dirtying and overcrowding the areas they encroach, were among the first to hurry to the aid of the injured. People in their cars and on their motorbikes, offered to get strangers home as trains were cancelled. Others provided food and water to those who had to face a long trek home. And it was also reported, that India's minority Muslim community, were among the first to queue outside hospitals to donate blood to the injured.
Yes, despite all their differences, the people of Mumbai really know how to rally together in times of crises. And this is why they deserve a salute. Salaam Mumbai Salaam! It's your Mumbai, and you have shown us just how proud of it you are. And we, who have lived among you in the past, and who know you...we say “Salaam”. We are proud of Mumbai and we are proud of all of you who live there.
Comments
Let us hope that Governments all over the world wake up and tackle issues that need to be addressed, so that terror does not rear its ugly head again...NEVER AGAIN.