“Remembering Mumbai” – in London, 5th Dec
A small effort in London to remember the victims of terrorism…
Mumbai Remembrance
A quiet, non-political, non-religious time for us to stop and reflect for a while
Date: Friday, December the 5th 2008
Venue: Lecture Theatre SG06, London Business School
Regent’s Park
London NW1 4SA
Time: 1700 hrs to 2100 hrs (You are welcome to come in, whenever is suitable for you during this period)
Directions: Can be found here. Nearest tube stations: Marylebone, Regent’s Park (both on Bakerloo line), Baker Street (Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Jubilee and Bakerloo lines)
Thanks to London Business School and the students from India, for responding swiftly to our request and organising the venue.
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Thanks to Shefaly, Amitabh and Ashutosh without whose support this would not have happened.
If you are in London – or know someone who is, please pass on this message to them (you can use the “tell a Friend” button below). All are welcome.
Here too! Solidarity with public.
Nice initiative by Imam.
Jai Hind!
Indian,
The Imam’s passive gesture is a complete hogwash. In a nutshell – its too little; too late.
These Imams in India, through their Friday sermons, incite mobs to kill Hindus, attack Hindu religious processions, kidnap Hindu women and rampage through Hindu localities.
When its comes to causing violence against anyone in the world who questions the basis of Islam/Quran, these Indian Imams are in the fore-front of the violence against the Kafirs.
Ex: The riots killing or maiming Hindus were carried out in India because of books, articles or speeches by Taslima Nasreen, Salman Rushdie, Jerry Falwell or Denmark’s cartoons.
After Jihadis kill hundreds of Kafirs, the same Imams won’t move their little fingers or even advocate violence against their co-religionist Jihadis. Instead they want to wear peacefully wear ribbons.
After Mumbai, I ask these Indian Imams: Where are the incendiary Friday sermons now? Where are the mob-attacks? Where are the rioters and weapons that are used against the Kafirs? You won’t use them against your co-religionist Jihadis, right?
What a travesty. You expect us to fall for this one? 🙂
Shantanu,
While many Indians were shedding tears for the Mumbai terror victims, Mr. Rahul Gandhi was partying on Saturday night.
Rahul Gandhi was partying after Mumbai Jihadi attacks
The gruesome Mumbai Jihadi attacks were definitely India’s 9-11. However, our future emperor Rahul Gandhi was partying on Saturday when the Mumbai terror attacks were on.
What a disgrace this Rahul Gandhi is for India ! And the Congress party wants him to be our future Prime Minister.
It seems that the Gandhi family has no sympathy towards our nation, they were partying when people are bleeding.
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Rahul Gandhi in Party Mode after Mumbai Terror Attacks
Even before the tears of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan’s mother could dry up, Congress General Secretary and heir apparent Rahul Gandhi went partying with his pals at a farmhouse on Delhi’s outskirts.
See this newspaper clipping here:
http://vivekajyoti.blogspot.com/2008/12/rahul-in-party-mood-after-mumbai-crisis.html
Here’s another article from the “Daily Pioneer”:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/138663/Partying-Rahul-raises-hackles.html
Partying Rahul raises hackles
December 2, 2008
Staff Reporter | New Delhi
Even as the nation felt searing pain and anger over the death of more than 195 people— including foreigners — in the terrorist attack on Mumbai, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi merrily partied. According to a report carried on Monday by a tabloid, Mail Today, Congress general secretary and heir apparent Rahul Gandhi went partying on Saturday with his pals at a farmhouse on Delhi’s outskirts.
The ‘Prince’ partied hard, till 5 in the morning, at the ‘sangeet’ ceremony for the wedding of Samir Sharma, one of his childhood friends. The gathering was at a sprawling farmhouse at Radhey Mohan Chowk, the haven of people who lead charmed lives, beyond Chhhatarpur. A close aide of Rahul confirmed his presence at the function.
“Rahulji was in Rajasthan on Saturday. He attended four rallies there and returned to Delhi at 10 pm. Later, he went to this party that was pre-scheduled,” said a staff member on the condition of anonymity. He said that Rahul was at the farmhouse with Samir Sharma, the US-based furniture designer son of Captain Satish Sharma, the late Rajiv Gandhi’s flying partner. Capt Sharma had nursed the Gandhi family’s pocketborough, Rae Bareli, till Sonia Gandhi chose to contest from there in 2004.
“Why raise such a hue and cry over a small and pre-scheduled party?” he asked. Gandhi’s media coordinator Pankaj Shankar, on the other hand, refused comment on the issue. “I am not a spokesperson, I just coordinate among mediapersons and Rahul Gandhi. Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan has clarified the issue,” said Shankar.
On Sunday, Rahul’s sister Priyanka Vadra had caused a flutter by saying that late Indira Gandhi would have “made us very proud” by the way she would have reacted to the Mumbai terror strike.
As per the report published by the tabloid, Saturday night’s ‘sangeet’ was a lavish affair. Leena Musafir, the sister of the woman with whom Samir is getting married, and her husband Inder, hosted it. Over 800 guests, including regulars at Page 3 dos, attended the party. Later, however, Rahul was quoted in another tabloid, Metro Now, saying, “It seems as if someone entered my house and slapped me.”
The tabloid stated that Rahul made this comment while addressing a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), which had reportedly been called to discuss the impact of the attack on the party and the country.
Great effort may it be from a distance but attitude of an indian should be changed,
God Bless You & Your Efforts,
Pramod
Thanks to everyone who took time out of their busy schedules on friday evening to turn up for the meeting.
We had close to 70 people and a vigorous discussion on the sidelines re. what steps could the government take in such situations to minimise the danger and the loss from terrorist attacks.
There was also some discussion on the need for all of us to get more actively involved in politics.
More update on this (and some quotes) soon.
Here is a link to the slideshow that we had in the background:
http://www.slideshare.net/jaihind/a-tribute-to-victims-of-terrorism-in-india-presentation
Yes, Shantanu, this Remembrance meeting is what I had in mind.
Shantanu,
Many thanks for organising today’s event. I like most Indians are sad that it took the ghastly events of last week for us to all start thinking of how we are going to bring about these changes.
I for one have been thinking on these lines for a while but haven’t (until now) found any people with similar ideologies.
A lot of people want change overnight whereas what we discussed is a long and slow process.
Yes, thanks to technology there are now ways to accelerate spreading the message and building momentum but one still needs a unifying cause and sound fundamentals to do so which take time to embed.
Let us meet in mid January as I would like to share some ideas that I would like to bring to the table. These particularly revolve around the fund-raising side. To start a strong movement and make it strong but more importantly sustainable we need a lot of recurring sources of capital.
Today fund-raising in India happens in the possibly the most obscure fashions. However there are ways to change that and people will buy it when plans are put forward in a professional fashion.
Also, when starting a movement in addition to the leadership you need a massive grass-roots volunteer base but also a strong middle-management layer. Every successful movements have the following recipe:
1. multi-faceted approach but simple ideologies
2. presence across all layers (top management / middle management / key volunteer base)
3. A nationwide presence
4. a pyramid like donor structure.
The key principle behind fund-raising is start early and tap them young. The more people you have that give small amounts the better. As they grow affluent they will give more and more. You want few people giving major amounts because they will start to yield more pressure and will create inherent conflicts sooner or later.
Some comments from the condolence book we had at the event:
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‘Shok aur rosh ke liye shabd nirbal, nirjeev hain’ (Words are weak, dead for expressing our sorrow and our anger)
‘Enough is enough’
‘I do not have adequate words to express what I feel – anger, hurt, betrayal, fear, empathy, sorrow. I hope and pray for a safer India for my people.’
‘A cowardly act from a cowardly group for a non-existent cause. I am proud to see us united in this hour of grief’.
‘For once, lets come together and fight for ourselves’.
‘The game has changed. So should the rules’.
‘Unprecedented events call for unprecedented response’.
‘Resilience is over-rated’.
‘Hope that the lives were not lost in vain, and that this creates a movement that unites us all so we get our institutions right.’
‘A tragedy in so many senses. We must bond together, across all the artificial boundaries and stand united – to console and to defeat’. (Note left by a British friend)
‘Secure borders, happy home’.
‘Thank you for organising this opportunity to express my solidarity with those back home. I am a Mumbaikar whose heart broke during the 1993 riots. I thought I couldn’t be hurt again.. I am deeply anguished by all the sadness and soul-searching it requires of us. May something strong and glorious emerge. May not this divert us from the anger and the pain of our Indian siblings left behind by globalisation or we may be crying for more than just 26/11.’
‘I am amazed by the common view and feeling everyone I speak to expresses. The recent events in Mumbai have come as a huge wake-up call for all of us to start doing something about our own future. Something that goes beyond blaming our politicians and intellectualising about what needs to be done. This is the silver lining that will lead to something concrete and constructive coming out of this. We MUST overcome!’
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