ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

By Sanjeewa Karunaratne | Last Wednesday, Mumbai, India’s financial capital, rocked by a dozen of powerful explosions and exchange of gunfire, which led over 125 people dead and 300 injured. The 1903 landmark Taj Mahal hotel is still engulfed in flames. This unprecedented siege in India’s soil is well-planned, well-orchestrated and executed probably by Islamic extremists. It gives a glaring eye of the capabilities of terrorists, their networks and masterminds.

Even though a little known group called "Deccan Mujahideen" has taken the responsibility, the nature of this attack, its precision and surrounding political circumstances paint a different picture.

Prime Minister Dr. Manamohan Singh said, "well-planned and well-orchestrated... intended to create a sense of panic by choosing high profile targets and indiscriminately killing foreigners…India would not tolerate neighbors, who provide a haven to militants." He is pointing at Pakistan, accused by the west of providing a safe haven for Islamic militants.

Evidence points that the group had come from a ship or boats from Karachchi, Pakistan to Mumbai. They targeted city’s most famous luxury hotels, the Taj Mahal Palace and Oberoi, which are a favorite spots for western tourists, dignitaries and the Indian elite. The Leopold Café restaurant they attacked is, undoubtedly, the best in Mumbai and a landmark. It seems that these locations were, not randomly, but carefully chosen to inflict the maximum damage. Apart from being one of the most popular tourist destinations, Mumbai is India’s financial hub and the locations are the key venues where India meets its western allies and business partners. An attack in this magnitude is a direct hit to India’s economy and stability.

The other significance of this massacre is the killing of high-profile police officers. Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief, Hemant Karkare, who had recently received death threats, was killed in a gun fire with the terrorists. Deputy Commissioner of Police in Mumbai, Ashok Kamte, and a celebrated encounter specialist, Inspector Vijay Salaskar, laid their lives during the operation at the Metro Cinema. A total of eleven well-trained, effective police officers perished in the attacks. In addition, three senior railway officials, including Senior Inspector of CST Government Railway Police, Shashank Shinde, and the Head Constable of the Railway Protection Force, M. L. Chaudhary, were killed in the shootout at the historic Chhatrapati Shivaji terminal. The death of the three finest police officers in Mumbai is a major blow to the state’s effort to curb terrorist activities. The other question is, are these police officers specifically targeted by the terrorists-- an AK-47, assault rifles police seized in the premises, fitted with a scope can easily achieve this.

Eyewitness accounts establish that the terrorists were looking for American and British passport holders. The Guardian reports, a terrorist identified himself as Imran, spoke about abuses in Kashmir and demanded the release of Islamic militants from Indian prisons. Even though they took hostages, there were no reports of execution. All the hostages were later freed by the Indian security forces, and there were less than ten foreign deaths. Other than injecting fear on the western tourists, did the terrorists want to convey a message to the west by taking American and British citizens as hostages or did they want to misdirect the investigation? What do Kashmir issue and the west have in common?

Another significant element is the diversity and extend of the attacks. According to police statements, gunmen targeted at least ten sites including two very popular hotels, a hyper-busy railway terminal, an airport, a multiplex cinema, a hospital, a dockyard and a Jewish community center. This supplements the notion that this is a highly coordinated, well-organized attack, which an unknown group like “Deccan Mujahideen” is incapable of orchestrating. Probably, Dr. Manamohan Singh is right to point at an "external foreign force."

An equally unprecedented event is taking place in Pakistan too. For a long time, the U.S. was urging Pakistan to weed out the terrorist elements in its intelligence unit, the ISI (Inter-Service Intelligence), especially its "political wing." When Benazir Bhutto was assassinated, fingers were pointed at the ISI, which publicly backs Islamic extremist groups. Last week, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, widower of Benazir, took steps to close the “political wing” of the ISI, mainly because of constant pressure from the White House. It is well-known that ISI has connections to terror cells in India. Did they have a hand in planning this siege to retaliate against the actions taken by the west to disband the organization?

Police Commander A. K. Sharma said, "We can say, this is the worst most brazen attacks in Indian history because people were shooting openly on the street." Well-planned attacks targeted the nerve centers of the Indian economy. The magnitude, complexity and coordination of the attacks also suggest a behind-the-seen powerful player. Undoubtedly, this will cause a dent in the Indian economy, and it has to act aggressively to restore the confidence of foreign investors as well as the tourists. A conflict with neighboring Pakistan is naïve without carefully identifying who is behind these attacks. Most importantly, India has to calm down its Hindu majority and maintain peace and order. A Hindu-Muslim backslash or a war with Pakistan is the last thing the region wants. There are bigger sacrifices to make for a long lasting peace and stability.