The Mumbai Attack - November 2008

A Terrified and shaken India again…..these two days have been nightmare for not only the people of Mumbai and the tourists stuck in the hotels but for each one of us looking at those harrowing scenes of blood spattered people, roads and stations again n again.

A set of eight or nine coordinated attacks on the city's landmarks -- including the hyper-busy CST (formerly VT) rail terminus; the landmark Taj Hotel at the Gateway and the luxury Oberoi Trident at Nariman Point; the domestic airport at Santa Cruz; the Cama and GT hospitals near CST; the Metro Adlabs multiplex and Mazgaon Dockyard -- has claimed over 80 lives and injured over 200 as I write....

With a growing financial crisis situation, Rowdy Politicians encouraging hate crimes, Corruption in every single office, Nature not sparing farmers not for a single season, Companies laying off staff, Terror attacks is the last thing India wants!!!

As we hear of these reports with hostages taken and the innocent killed by "teams of gunmen" seizing Mumbai in a "coordinated attack," we wonder what is Deccan Mujahideen, the obscure terrorist organization that claims responsibility for today's horror.

Dressed in a black half T-shirt and jeans with a blue rucksack hung over his left shoulder and red sacred thread tied on his right wrist, one might just mistake him to be just another regular college going student.

What baffles the security agencies is the sacred thread tied on his wrist which many say could be a plot to show that the attack was undertaken by probably an extreme Hindu group.

An unknown outfit, Deccan Mujahideen, has sent an email to news organizations claiming that it carried out the Mumbai attacks. But, the claim by a terror organisation with a Muslim name has left the above theory in question, say experts

The attacks appeared to be aimed at getting international attention as the terrorists took upto 40 British nationals and other foreigners hostage. The chairman of Hindustan Unilever Harish Manwani and CEO of the company Nitin Paranjpe were among the guests trapped at the Oberoi. All the internal board members of the multinational giant were reported to be holed up in the Oberoi hotel.

A lot if my family stays in mumbai..... Also, Sanjeev and Hitesh were also in Mumbai for the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year 2008 – Business Transformation” award, Vineet had flown yesterday night...... Was worried for them....

"Teams of gunmen" and phrases like "coordinated attacks" seems to fly in the face of the chaos associated with terrorism.

When I hear those phrases on the news this evening, I close my eyes to contemplate the impact. The people we call terrorists consider themselves strategists as well and undoubtedly believe that they are freedom fighters and heroes. How do we cross this chasm?

Photographs by Vinu of the saga.. http://www.flickr.com/photos/vinu/tags/blast/

This is what Walid Phares has to say on http://counterterrorismblog.org in a post tittled 'Mumbai Terror attacks: Urban Jihad comes to India' about the Type of Operation,
Design of the operations and Perpetrators. Dr Walid Phares is the Director of the Future Terrorism Project at the Foundationfor the Defense of Democracies.

Some unanswered questions by ghulam muhammed at questions in public arena about mumbais night of terror

My condolences and prayers to the families of the victims, police and army men lost in this battle, their families and my special salutes to Anti Terrorist Squad Chief Hemant Karkare, Mumbai's additional commissioner of police (east) Ashok Kamte and Encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar and my heart goes out to the staff in these two hotels.

The worry about the staff in these hotels multiplies as I have 2 brothers working in the hotel industry.

For Mumbaikars, our heart goes out to you guys - you deal with internal as well as external terrorism and have the energy to bounce back. Hats off to your shaken, not stirred attitude.

This is an image by " rAmmoRRison" after the 'Mumbai Blasts'... It still holds true......
Dear Terrorist , ur attempt was as SILLY as this.....
http://flickr.com/photos/rammorrison/199132620/

Praying for Peace.