Response to Mumbai Bombing
By Syed Atiq ul Hassan, Sydney, Australia
This is not the first time that the largest business city of India has been rocked by a terrorist attack. A series of
coordinated blasts on commuter trains, last Tuesday (July 11, 2006) killed around 190 people and more than 600 hundred
injured. In the past, usually, whenever any engineered carnage took place, Indian and Pakistani governments and their
leaders blamed each other. This time, Indian government as well as leaders avoided pointing out fingers on Pakistan.
Instead, the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh vowed to continue the peace process with Pakistan. Similarly,
Pakistani leadership without wasting time slammed the Mumbai bombing and referred the incident as a 'despicable act of
terrorism'.
However, Indian Interior Ministry claimed that Mumbai bomb blasts were planned by Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and carried
out by the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). It said that the LeT planned for the attacks while the members of
SIMI planted all seven bombs. Indian Interior Ministry also called on Pakistan to take action against militants
operating across the border for which Pakistani Foreign Minister Mr. Khurshid Kasuri reacted angrily and rejected any
Pakistani link to the blasts.
It is noted that in the past, India claimed that the LeT along with other like-minded groups, had the support and
assistance of Pakistan secret agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). From the worst terrorist attacks of 1993 in
Mumbai where 257 people were killed to the attacks in Dec 2002, Jan 2003 and March 2003 in Mumbai, India has been
claiming the secretive involvement of ISI behind the terrorist activities in India. In relation to the recent Mumbai
bombing, in a statement provided to Indian media organizations, the LeT spokesman, Abdullah Ghaznavi, denied any
involvement of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. Similarly, Shahid Badr Falahi, the leader of SIMI has also condemned the attacks and
referred them as deplorable. In a news conference Shahid Badr said the SIMI has no involvement in these terrible
bombing.
In the recent times, Pakistan and India have come closer. The governments of both the countries and their leaderships
extended the hands of friendship and promoted diplomatic mechanism. Indo-Pak increasing congenial relation is being
acknowledged not only by the majority in the subcontinent but also by the international community. In this situation one
cannot think of any reason that these kinds of terrorist activities would provide any benefit to either side. In
relation to the Kashmir dispute, both governments are moving forward with very constructive approach and they have also
engaged Kashmiri activists and groups into the process of normalization. All these triangular (Pakistani, Indian and
Kashmiri) engagements have been regarded at a greater extent and acknowledged by the international community. Indian
Prime Minister, as a policy has initiated direct talks with the Kashmiri leaders as well. Hence, in this atmosphere, one
cannot visualize any benefit to Kashmiri activists and groups from the recent bomb blasts. Furthermore, almost all the
major Kashmiri groups have already condemned the incident.
Analyzing the trail of recent internal developments & conflicts in Pakistan; the military conflict between Pakistan army and Baloch tribesmen & separatist group in the province of Balochistan has been a serious concern for Musharraf's government.
According to some reports, significant number of army personnel have been killed by Baloch separatist and tribal groups.
At some stage the government of Pakistan without naming anyone did mention that there were foreign elements behind the
Balochistan atrocities, supposedly pointing to Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of India.
In January 2005, a local Pakistan newspaper claimed in a report that the Intelligence Services of Pakistan (ISI)
submitted a report to Pakistani high officials where ISI claimed that the Indian secret agency RAW was behind the
current anarchy in Balochistan. RAW has set up a "Special Operations Division (SOD)" in Balochistan that was assigned
the task of creating troubles for the Chinese engineers who were kidnapped and murdered. Report also said that the SOD
was providing weapons to Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), these weapons are smuggled from Afghanistan into
Balochistan.
Next day after the Mumbai bomb blasts, (July 12, 2006), the General Secretary of so-called formed Government of
Balochistan (GOB) in Exile, Mir Azaad Khan Baloch, sent his condolences to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the
incident. In the statement GOB (Exile) condemned the Pakistani ISI for the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and offered
cooperation with the Indian authorities in hunting the culprits.
The trail of ethnic violence in India in different times suggest that there has been a long fomented suspicion between
Hindus and Muslim that often triggered bloody clashes and violent rioting. Indian history has documented the worst
clashes between Hindus and Muslims since the partition and creation of Pakistan and India in 1947. This may be the first
time, when the people of India demonstrated a collective condemnation the incident without making any group or community
responsible. Instead, Hindus and Muslims worked together by helping the victims indiscriminately. According to media
reports, Indian Muslims queued for hours on Wednesday (July 13, 2006) to donate blood to the Hindu victims. Without any
fear or panic they demonstrated a high-level of harmony and sympathy with the majority Hindu population. Similarly,
there has not been any repulsion witnessed from any extremist Hindu elements. The leaders of the opposition BJP also
asked people to remain calm and unite and help the administration to bring back life to a norm.
Notably, Indian media has also played a vital role in bonding people together after the incident. Particularly, the TV
media, which is largely viewed in both India and Pakistan, showed live interviews of the people from various backgrounds
where they boosted the public's positive image and publicized condemnation without blaming party, group, community or
state.
If there could be any force that may maintain the pressure on the leaderships and governments of India and Pakistan in
bringing them on the negotiating table to resolve their issues by diplomatic and peaceful means are the people of India
and Pakistan. Whoever is behind these attacks and whatever their motivations, the people of India are required to remain
positive, peaceful and nonviolent. The international community expect the same kind of moral and determination from the
people of subcontinent when dealing with their mutual issues and conflicts, not only for the stability of their
respective countries but also for peace in the region. The media's positive role will definitely not only help the
people of India to remain peaceful but also promote positive thoughts regarding their geopolitical issues with
neighbouring Pakistan.
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(The writer is a Sydney-based journalist and a media analyst).