First thoughts on Pune…
I am writing this at midnight from Bengaluru. Thanks to a hectic schedule and travel, I have slept for just about 13hrs since Thursday morning…yet I am finding it hard to sleep.
What happened in Pune is tragic but neither surprising nor unexpected. Pune was very much on the “list”. It was only a matter of time.
Some reports have linked the timing of the blast to the killing of Shahid Azmi, who was defending Fahim Ansari (26/11 accused).
Others have suggested that the heavy police bandobast for MNIK may have distracted the security forces from securing the state against a potential terrorist attack. At least one channel (Aaj Tak) has already identified the prime suspect: Mohsin Chaudhary of Indian Mujhaideen who belongs to Pune and who has been untraceable for 1.5 years. And at least one respected blogger believes Delhi and Kanpur may be next (based on this report)
Over the next few days, a few things might happen…
- an email(s) may find its way to news outlet from a certain jihadi group.
- many of us will be tempted to blame Pakistan
- some politicians might be tempted to do the same.
Equally, a few things are unlikely to happen..such as
- someone resigning owning moral responsibility
- someone saying it is time to fight the ideology
- ToI shelving Aman Ki Asha.
This is what I hope does not happen:
- someone saying Terrorism can be destroyed in 15 minutes
- someone saying: I am warning Pakistan for the last time
Meanwhile, “We continue to be firm with our demand that Pakistan must put an end to terror activities emanating from its soil…(and)…even though we are not fully satisfied“, we will continue with the talks.
Question of the Day: On Friday 12, officials in MEA are believed to have said (in the context of talks with Pakistan), ““Nothing is static. The dynamics have changedâ€. So will something change tomorrow? Wait and watch.
Headline of the day (emphasis mine): Intelligence Bureau sounds Mumbai alert after Pune blast
Meanwhile the blame game has already begun.
Any bets on how long before we forget Pune? My guess: A week (at most).
Have a safe weekend…and please spare a thought for those in Pune who will not see the sun rise tomorrow.
Latest Toll: 9 dead; 53 injured.
The roll call keeps getting longer:
Dec ‘05, New Delhi: Four Years, Two Attacks, One Story
Mar ‘06, Varanasi: Anger, tears and despair
Jul ‘06, Mumbai: Blasts? What Blasts? ‘Yeh to hota hi rahta hai‘
Aug ‘07, Hyderabad: Another day, another blast – “Kuch nayee baat batao yaarâ€
May ‘08, Jaipur: Jihadi attack in Jaipur?
Jul ‘08, Bangalore: Blasts in Bangalore…3 killed already
Jul ‘08, Ahmedabad: Attack in Ahmedabad: Time to say NO MORE
Sept ‘08, New Delhi “Dastardly terror blasts†in Delhi
Oct ‘08, Guwahati & other cities, Assam: Jihadi attack in Assam?
Nov ’08, Mumbai: Jihadi attack in Mumbai
Also read Tackling Terrorism: One Step at a Time .
Image courtesy: Google Maps
After so many attacks there are more questions than answers, such as:
1. When are we going to understand that words without backing them with action only shows our weakness and are not taken seriously?
2. After how many more attacks and loss of innocent life is India going to retaliate?
3. What is more important for state apparatus, protecting citizens of India or a movie screening?
4. What will it take to stop the infight and show a united front to the enemies of the country?
Hi Shantanu,
I survived the blast at German Bakery by about half an hour.
Some of us friends had planned to go for a music concert in Koregaon Park. Before the show, I met a friend at German Bakery about 5pm where we ate and hung out for an hour. Out there we saw 2 policemen armed with sten guns drinking chai. This was weird because the cops couldn’t have been there to protect the SRK movie. So either there was some VIP visit or maybe they had some info about a terrorist attack.
When we were about to leave, I thought I’d go ask what the cops were there for but they had left by then. We came back again there some time later to collect my friend’s bike and then left for the show. We heard about the blast half an hour later.
The unanswered questions: what were the cops doing there? Did they have prior information about it? If so why were they still unable to prevent it?
Salil: Thanks for sharing this…I am glad that you are OK and I hope all your friends and family are fine too…
I will try and make some inquiries…
More on this later.
Shantanu,
“Any bets on how long before we forget Pune?”
I think it is just a weekend that has passed and we have already forgotten Pune.
Today, I was listening to what the IGP, Indore Range was saying on Radio Mirchi – three tier security – at the state border, district border, city border, and, all that. But, there was nothing on the ground. And, what about if people had already entered the cities. I think there are several soft targets all the time – Malls, Schools and Colleges, etc – but, do these forces have any equipment which can match up the terrorists. I sadly say, “No”.
It is unfortunate that these incidents keep on happening, and, still we have the people who are unable to control this at the helm of affairs.
Thanks
Ajay.
I hope this is not yet another minority caring decision…
Guj govt shocked at SC stay on blast trial
http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/feb/16/guj-govt-shocked-at-sc-stay-on-blast-trial.htm
“On one hand, when the country is being terrorised by the Pune bomb blast which claimed the lives of innocent people, a petition by members of the banned organisation Indian Mujaheedin is heard by the apex court without the state government being informed about it.”
I think common people need to be vigilant. It may be an impossible task for the police to be every where.
Some valid questions have been asked here and its true that unless the Govt decides to take some action yes, everything will be forgotten all over again. My mind just can’t digest the fact that lots of so called educated people are still talking about SRK and movie screening instead of thinking of Pune. Can one star be bigger than the country he lives in? On US radio station, they all are talking about SRK’s movie and its success, hello…do you even know what’s happening in India?
Its time for us to check our priorities…oh and SRK, isn’t it convenient that you decide to open your mouth just before your movie release? Don’t even bother to answer that as we already know it. And the whole bollywood industry backing him, please open your eyes and see around you. If only all you bollywood stars weren’t so ignorant about the attacks happening on our country, may be we would listen to your views too. Its sad that they have means to make a difference in their country but yet they waste their power in protecting one person.
blast in Pune also..9 people died…but life moves on..people will forget this incident also as 26/11..couple of candle marches…few breaking news, MNIK will be a block buster movie..will break some records on box office…but those victims..those 9 people…who cares?? our family is safe…there are many things to care about…..बमà¥à¤¬ बà¥à¤²à¤¾à¤¸à¥à¤Ÿ तो रोज होते है, उसमे नया कà¥à¤¯à¤¾ है, वैसे à¤à¥€ आम आदमी मरने के लिठही पैदा होता है…पà¥à¤²à¤¿à¤¸ की लाठी से मरा, सà¥à¤µà¤¾à¤‡à¤¨ फà¥à¤²à¥‚ से मरा, à¤à¤•à¥à¤¸à¤¿à¤¡à¥‡à¤‚ट में मरा, à¤à¥‚ख से मरा, ख़à¥à¤¦à¤•à¥à¤¶à¥€ की या बà¥à¤²à¤¾à¤¸à¥à¤Ÿ में मरा कà¥à¤¯à¤¾ फरà¥à¤• पड़ता है…
Firstly my condolences to those families who haev suffered the loss.
As Shantanu suggests there are more questions with less answers, unfortunately this is the status of our intelligence machinery. India does not have or atleast it is yet to demonstrate having a strategy to collect intelligence and analyse them routinely and flag up potential alerts. This is precisely why NSA needs to be re-structured and so does our Home Ministry (Read into Chidambaram’s proposal).
I have few questions which keeps rattling me whenever there is a terror attack:
1. How can LeT and other terror organisations recruit locals to do this act? Or Why is that we are seeing increasing local links to terror activities?
2. Withour blaming any organisations in India who are good at whipping the sentiments of the people one way or the other on religious lines – is it not time for Indians to show they have no place in politics? What surprised me was on NDTV i heard one of the senior ministers from Pak indicating that there are elements like Shiv Sena, Bhagaranj Dal and others who dont want peace in the region and equating them to LeT and other terror organisations. I guess political parties need to be more careful when they make comments. I would even question the timing of Digvijay Singh’s trip to Azamgargh (though well defened by Mani Shankar Aiyer on Friday night’s 9pm NDTV news).
3. Indian Muslims, now need to question themselves how increasingly their youths are beign drafted and attracted towards extremist elements. Need to look internally on the factors that turn just a handful of muslim youths to take to terror activities.
Caveat: I am not questioning the Indian muslims integrity, neither am i questioning their patriotism, but purely asking whay is such a trend?
4. Is there a meaningful way with which we can bring international pressure on Pak, given that Pakistan is perceived to be very crucial link to solve Afghan issues?
5. Should India unilaterally and proactively govern its North, North Western borders?
Thanks All for your comments/thoughts…I will share my thoughts on this later.
Again it’s same old story Bomb Blast and this time its Pune & this is all due to the failure of Government & Pakistan is responsible for this incedent.so provide Metal Detectors at all important places. Terrorism is spreading every part of the world & their targets is to make our Indian Economy down as we all know that pakistan will never ever help India to eradicate terrorism activities infact pakistan itself is well known for terriorism such as Al-Quaida,LeT, Jaisi-E-Mohammed,Mujahidden,etc.,,groups this all organisations belongs to pakistani government & what they need most is Kashmir but we won’t fullfil their wants . In Pune blast Eight foreigners found to be killed , 33 injured in a bomb explosion that ripped apart a popular bakery near a Jewish prayer house here in Pune the first terror attack since the carnage in Mumbai 14 months ago.
The blast–suspected to be an Improvised Explosive Device–took place at around 19:15 hours in the German Bakery, an old business establishment in the Cantonment area of the city and a favourite joint for foreigners visiting the nearby Osho Ashram.India has got everything but our Govt system is very lazy.Our Indian system is very abysmal we need to improve it.Dept such as CBI,CID are extremely good in investigations but do you remember Afzal Guru woo no he has been caught in the case of 13th Dec 2001 attacks on Indian Parliament but our Govt released him it’s just shame on our Govt & our Govt always interfers with CBI,CID and this might be the reason why our security don’t want to perform their duty in well sense. We could have hanged him its our Govt who had encourage Afzal Guru.Our Rules & Policies has to be changed else it will be big trouble for our country i mean pakistan will take full advantage of our rules for spreading terrorism in India.Even china had captured Arunachal Pradesh i can’t believe this.It’s just ridiculous what is our PM doing????why the hell china is after Arunachal Pradesh & we aren’t afraid of anyone?do we??let us throw china out of our country. Atleast from now be alert.
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Caveat: I am not questioning the Indian muslims integrity, neither am i questioning their patriotism, but purely asking whay is such a trend?
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Ashwin, why the need for such a caveat? Would you give a similar caveat when questioning/talking about other religions?
To me, this point is one of the biggest factors why there’s little progress. When communication is bogged down by such political correctness, it indicates that there are many who self-censor themselves, which indicates that there is not (yet) an open and welcoming space for people to air their views and discuss issues.
The underlying reason is the double-standards regarding discussing religions, which has for some strange and inexplicable reason, become the accepted norm.
@ Kaffir
There is neither a double standard in discussing religion nor a double standard to be politically correct.
The reason for the caveat is being a sensitive issue and being in the public platform which would mean various interpretations of my questions – i wanted to be precise in my questions rather than being side stepped or misconstructed.
India is like other countries, being a land where people of all faiths have been living peacefully and there is freedom for all faiths to operate. I don’t want to question the patriotism of any Indian citizen.But on the other hand irrespective of religion i want to question those who do participate/sympathise with terror activities.
Unfortunately, organisations such as LeT and others have been successful in recruiting patriotic Indians who just happen to be practising islamic faith. I am not questioning the faith here, but i am questioning the trend where indian youth who happen to be practising islamic faith have been drafted/recruited to participate in terror activities.
If my comments have hurt your sentiments, please accept my apologies. I would request you to let me know how best i could have put my points wihout putting the caveat.
Ashwin, no, your comment did not hurt my sentiments at all, my friend. 🙂
And now that you have explained the reason for it (sensitiveness), I understand your thoughtfulness and that you didn’t want any misinterpretation of your words, though I still think it is indicative of the current climate where one needs to walk on eggshells when broaching an issue related to Islam.
@ Kaffir
You are absolutely right in your thinking that in the current climate organisatiosn such as Shiv Sena, Bhagrang dal and other few fanatics misinterpret these terror acts to clashes of faith!!!
And each time such an incident does happen, Indians who happen to be practising islamic faith are questioned about their patriotism – just because few misguided youth who happen to be practising islaim faith have been involved or recruited to carry out such tasks.
Hence this trend needs to be addressed, one needs to look at it holisticaly rather just on rhetoric!!
Sadly what i have noticed in Indian society is lack of plurality and no tolerance on those who are posing difficult questions!!! The society per say has become more self centric, they are not bothered about India as such but more concerned about their individual life. The flip side of the argument is when acts of terror do happen, we see every other person making comments and having an opinion, but very few …. like the initiative started by Shantanu pose some serious questions to the society and look for answers.
On this note, let me end congratulating and applauding the efforts of Shantanu to pull together a platform where issues can be freely discussed…hoping a solution does come out!!!
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And each time such an incident does happen, Indians who happen to be practising islamic faith are questioned about their patriotism – just because few misguided youth who happen to be practising islaim faith have been involved or recruited to carry out such tasks.
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Ashwin, you’re using a very passive voice to describe the choice made by “a few misguided youth” and absolving them of their actions. Let’s start treating these “youth” as adults who need to bear full responsibility for their actions.
And it raises the question – why is it so easy for these youth to indulge in terrorism and kill innocent people, and what role does their faith – Islam – play in this brainwashing. Does the fact that Qur’an is filled with hatred for kaffirs, play any part in making it easier for these Muslims to target non-Muslims?
Dear All: Thanks for the comments.
@ MS: Good questions…Unfortunately it all boils down to political will…which is what we lack.
@ Hemant: Thanks for the link…Unbelievable.
@ Ashwin: Great questions…and yes, I sincerely hope a solution comes out of this (such) discussions…but I do despair sometimes when I see mainstream media and influential commentators dodging many of these issues for fear of upsetting or annoying someone.
I believe there is an important point about the role of ideology in such acts…and unless that is addressed head-on, I think a long-term “solution†will elude us.
What do you think?
A brief excerpt from an article from 3.5 yrs ago: Could Pune be a Future Terrorist Target? by T. Khurshchev Singh:
Pune could be a potential target given that terror networks have developed deep roots in Maharashtra. In the past few months, Maharashtra has seen terrorism-related events in towns such as Nagpur, Nashik, Aurangabad, Beed, Malegaon, and Kolhapur.
…Security agencies are now publicly acknowledging the presence of “sleeper cells” in Maharashtra and estimate that as many as 200 youths in the state are undergoing training to carry out terrorist activities.