November 27, 2008
After Mumbai, an end to complacency?
M J Akbar in The Guardian:
Some three years ago India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, rather smugly told President Bush in Delhi that Indian Muslims were not involved in any act of terrorism. The implication was that they constituted a success story, healed by the virtues of democracy, a conclusion that Bush happily repeated. Singh certainly did not fool any terrorists, some of whom may have read his self-congratulation as a challenge.
I am an Indian Muslim and proud to be both. Like any Indian, today I am angry, frustrated and depressed. I am angry at the manic, rabid dogs of war who have invaded the commercial capital and fountainhead of business energy. I am frustrated by the impotence of my governments in Mumbai and Delhi, its ministers tone-deaf to the anguish of my fellow citizens. And I am depressed at the damage being done to the idea of my India.
More here.
Posted by Azra Raza at 04:46 PM | Permalink
Comments
if manmohan singh and the Congress party don't engage in damage control immediately, their days in office are numbered. and considering the alternatives, this does not bode well for Indian Muslims. i don't think now is the time to point fingers at the ruling party.
btw, is life imitating art à la explosions in Ahmedabad and CONTRACT?
terrorist pawns execute orders by "unknown" masterminds w/ larger schemes up their sleeves (MISSION KASHMIR (Altaf joins mujaheedin), FIZA, SARFAROSH); use of boats (MISSION KASHMIR); coordinated attacks on numerous targets (MISSION KASHMIR, BLACK FRIDAY, A WEDNESDAY), list of grievances and demands - "do you know how many people died in Kashmir?", "free imprisoned mujahideen in exchange for hostages" (ROJA)
Posted by: filmi, nahi? | Nov 27, 2008 6:12:23 PM
Do these people understand that they are actually not helping the Indian Muslims- if that's what they think they are doing?
Posted by: Manas Shaikh | Nov 28, 2008 2:25:37 AM
If, as seems likely to me, this attack was carried out through a collaboration between foreign and domestic terrorists, hopefully there will be some sort of popular reconsideration of the support given to the extreme right wing, if only on pragmatic grounds. You can't go around electing - and reelecting - nuts who egg on the massacre of your own countrymen and expect there to be no blowback...
Posted by: D | Nov 28, 2008 6:11:34 AM
D,
Unfortunately people generally decide the other way round. They tilt more towards the hateful groups in retaliation. So such terrorist incidents actually help extreme right wing.
I mean the BJP, who was in trouble already could not have wished for a better timing of the attacks. It was under scanner for Malegaon blasts, it's support was dwindling because people thought they were hate-selling hypocrites.
Oh, and by the way- the guy who was investigating the Malegoan case- Hemant Karkare is dead too. It's more than what BJP could wish for.
Posted by: ms | Nov 28, 2008 8:50:56 AM
"...Muslim terrorists in Kashmir, Sikh terrorists in Punjab, Christian terrorists in Nagaland, and Hindu terrorists in Assam and across the country..." --M.J. Akbar
And common thread is what?...
Posted by: Jim Culleny | Nov 28, 2008 9:22:31 AM
ms -
I hope you're wrong, though you very probably aren't. As with the world just post 9/11, while there's still a space for introspection, yeah, it's an easy one to avoid. Still, it can't be that hard to make the case that this isn't a good time to fuck around with communal tensions, that India needs an Indian Mujahideen like I need a hemorrhoid, and that making war upon your own people is unwise. There's a fairly widely dispersed wisdom to the effect that Sikh terrorism had something to do with terrible government policy, for instance. I vest my hopes in the business community and in economic interests of the common man. Some well worded editorials etc from people other than the usual suspects, a month or so from now, wouldn't hurt either.
Posted by: D | Nov 28, 2008 9:40:36 AM
Jim,
That our country has seen all of them.
D,
May God (allow me) prove me wrong. This time, and for all such cases.
Posted by: Manas Shaikh | Nov 28, 2008 10:16:27 AM
Manas, i think Jim's larger point is that extremism is not exclusive to a particular religion...
Posted by: filmi, nahi? again | Nov 28, 2008 11:46:06 AM
Thanks "... again".
Posted by: Manas Shaikh | Nov 28, 2008 1:02:46 PM
D,
That's not what I was thinking.
I was thinking:Muslim/Sikh/Christian/Hindu.
Posted by: Jim Culleny | Nov 28, 2008 1:18:03 PM
On second thought, Jim's quote also seems to indicate that India has been a breeding ground for terrorism. but there's much more to this story. as for mj akbar's main point, yes, the current admin should be encouraged to intensify its intelligence gathering cloak and dagger operations and cut the supply of resources to terrorists. But, in the long run, to win hearts and minds - it must engage in sincere diplomacy efforts with it neighbours, ensure opportunity and education for its disenfranchised population and take immediate and decisive measures against indoctrination/spread of hatred. These lofty goals are much harder to achieve than the former, given their scope - perhaps, I feel this way because I don't buy India's growth story; yes, it has made asymmetrical economic progress, but my measure of India's growth is latrine rights, rather the lack thereof.
That said, India's problems with terrorism existed well before this administration took charge and are unlikely to be "solved" during its term. Of course, Congress is going to do everything it can to get re-elected and avoid public outcry. But premature and self-righteous engagement in the blame game and accusations of being "soft" on terrorism may have two unintended consequences – either the rise of BJP or pressure on Congress to wage war while the flames are still alive (today's Times of India editorial).
ps - to my knowledge, the terrorists in Assam are secular Maoists who claim to support minority communities in India, so they better fit Pape's sample (terrorists who have territorial disputes) rather than Rapapport's "sacred terrorists."
Posted by: filmi, nahi? again, the second | Nov 28, 2008 2:55:31 PM
I took away something else from Jim's quote:
These are all religious based groups, practicing ideologically poisonous and delusional hatred against anyone who does not have the same view of the Psychopathic Space Daddy (or in some cases Daddies and Mommies) as the other groups have.
We need to lose the bronze and iron age fiction, and become civilized humans.
Posted by: Dave Ranning | Nov 28, 2008 3:39:54 PM
Dave,
I agree. All forms of tribalism are odious - religion, race, nationality, sex, language. We find ourselves on a small rock hurtling through space for no particular reason, but it's an interesting ride. We better learn to get along with each other.
Posted by: Jared | Nov 28, 2008 5:42:44 PM
Dave,
Yes.
Seems to me we have two basic, age-old ways to justify murder. It can be politicized or sanctified, each either by heartfelt righteousness or through cynical manipulation.
Either way the dead are dead.
In fact, there's really no difference between them. And maybe if we agreed that religiously sanctioned murder is no more ordained by God then political murder, the former would be more universally despised.
Posted by: Jim Culleny | Nov 28, 2008 5:50:45 PM
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