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Tuesday, July 11, 2006

130 Dead And Mounting In Bombay Blasts

Update: The deaths from the blasts are up to 200 now, and over 600 are injured. Mumbai Help has a communications post in which people try to help each other in the comments, if you want a human perspective. Also see Writers Against Terrorism blog. The people of Bombay (Mumbai) went to work like normal this morning. As this writer says:
We are not Hindus and Muslims or Gujaratis and Marathis or Punjabis and Bengaliies. Nor do we distinguish ourselves as owners or workers, govt. employees or private employees. We are Mumbaikers (Bombay-ites, if you like). We will not allow you to disrupt our life like this. On the last few occassions when you struck (including the 7 deadly blasts in a single day killing over 250 people and injuring 500+ in 1993), we went to work next day in full strength. This time we cleared everything within a few hours and were back to normal - the vendors placing their next order, businessmen finalizing the next deals and the office workers rushing to catch the next train. (Yes the same train you targetted)

Fathom this: Within 3 hours of the blasts, long queues of blood donating volunteers were seen outside various hospital, where most of the injured were admitted. By 12 midnight, the hospital had to issue a notification that blood banks were full and they didn't require any more blood. The next day, attendance at schools and office was close to 100%, trains & buses were packed to the brim, the crowds were back. The city has simply dusted itself off and moved one - perhaps with greater vigour.

We are Mumbaikers and we live like brothers in times like this. So, do not dare to threaten us with your crackers. The spirit of Mumbai is very strong and can not be harmed.
End update.

This is shocking:
Seven bombs hit Bombay's commuter rail network during rush hour Tuesday evening, killing 131 people and wounding more than 300 in what authorities called a well-coordinated terrorist attack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility in the bombings, which came in quick succession -- a common tactic employed by Kashmiri militants.

India's major cities were put on high alert after the blasts. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called an emergency Cabinet meeting and said that "terrorists" were behind the attacks.
Earlier.
Mumbai Help is offering updates and communications assistance. They are reporting 8 blasts. Hospitals are putting out calls for blood and supplies. Vantage Point gives the attack locations as:
The locations(from south to north) are - Mahim, Matunga Road, Bandra, Khar, Santacruz, Jogeshwari, Borivali, Mira Road
The official fatality count is 139.
PS: In the face of these tragic and highly disturbing bombings, a couple of posters on DU make some telling comments:
10. I hate to say this, but It' 7/11 and Mumbai is a city of 16 million and "the cosmopolitan main nerve of a booming Indian economy."
...
12. I'm betting on Muslim extremists.
I'll take that bet, $20. You in? (Easiest 20 I'll ever make)

A question...
This is a huge terrorist attack, at least 100 people killed. Why such a deafening silence on the boards? A Psychedelic Mushroom article has 5 times as many posts. Do DU'ers feel that acknowledging the existence of terror somehow helps Bushco? It seems like we are ignoring a pretty significant event.
...
13. Silence on this board stems from difficulty blaming this on George W. Bush
That's the fact.
...
15. Darnit!

i just heard Indian authorities arrested members of a Islamic terror cell too. I guess I'll just have to earn that $20. BTW, I'm sure someone will find a way to blame this on Bushco, probably through Musharraf.
Replying to #13 above...
40. Now that's unfair.
I think we all want to see whomever did this found out and brought to justice.
At least I know I do.
...
45. Right. Combined with a little leeriness of how Bushco will use this to justify more war and destruction of civil liberties.
It's not about Bush and not about the US. Talk about the ultimate in self-referential thinking! 139 dead now, and hundreds seriously injured.


Comments:
Yes, the Hindu/Muslim tensions are not likely to improve. But this is what terrorists of any stripe and any ideology seek to accomplish. They are all nihilists who want to destabilize a current order. They justify their destructive aims by claiming a greater good.

Recently I wrote a post for Canada and linked to Dust My Broom's take-down of a Muslim leader that Canada declined to host. One of the links in that post leads to a set of quotes from the man's sermons, and one of those sermons discusses the man's belief that Hindus are the worst enemies of Islam. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
 
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