By Simon Cameron-Moore
Anyone who lives in Islamabad will recall the moment they heard the explosion of a suicide truck bomb that killed 55 people at the Marriott Hotel on a Saturday night in September.
Sitting in their homes, watching television, having supper, putting their children to sleep, they were physically hit by the shockwave.
The cause was unmistakable. The sight of flames leaping from the windows of a place where we had all dined, met contacts, and attended conferences was chilling.
A month later, I left a depressed Islamabad for a week’s leave. Many of the foreigners and their families had left the Pakistani capital for good. I just went to India for a break to
see colleagues and old friends I first met in the late 1990s during an earlier assignment.
Living in a city spooked by security scares and covering bomb blast after bomb blast inevitably results in a certain morbidity.
As I visited old haunts in Delhi and Mumbai, the
vulnerability of India’s beautiful hotels was all too obvious.
I told my friends that I feared it would only be a matter of time before the five star hotels were targeted.
The militants had hitherto mostly sought to create panic and mayhem by attacking the general population as they shopped at bazaars or travelled on public transport.
India’s luxury hotels are centres of excellence, they are masters of hospitality, full of grace and style. They are where elites and foreign businessmen and wealthy tourists go.
Security at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai had tightened when I visited in early November.
The side and back entrances, which journalists often use, were closed, and the only way in was via the main front entrance.
I passed by the elegant, colonnaded swimming pool, and thought how easy it would be for someone to toss a grenade over the wall from the street behind. as they did at Islamabad’s
Luna Caprese restaurant in March.
A few years ago there was an explosion at a taxi rank opposite the Taj, where the road curls round by the Gateway of India. After that, I think taxis were barred from dropping passengers on the covered concourse apron at the foot of the steps to the lobby.
Since then the hotel management took a further step, introducing a security check at the entrance to the concourse from the road that visitors on foot would pass through.
It seemed rather thin protection for someone used to hotels in Pakistan. I walked past the Taj and the Oberoi on Nariman Point, and I thought of the truck bomb filled with explosives,
spiked with aluminium powder that created the inferno at the Marriott.
The results were devastating even though the truck never made it past the entrance from the road thanks to a retractable steel barrier that rises out of the ground to stop vehicles entering freely before being checked.
And then I thought how the security industy’s infrastructure would
change the landscape of India’s porous cities when their enemies shifted targets.
Trackback
58 comments so far
Previous | 3 | 2 | 1 | Next
As some have mentioned, I think it would be worthwhile to consider what would bring a large group of people to sponsor such a violent attack on civilians. I suggest that at the bottom we will always find greed and the readiness to inflict violence on others to steal what they own.
It would be folly to deny that western countries have long been, and currently are, in the process of raping others countries for their wealth and sponsoring wars around the world to help them get at it. That citizens of these other countries should feel the need to fight back is understandable. It really bothers me (a westerner) to live among so many of my kind that see so much evil in other countries but are unable to see that much of the large scale evil on our planet is the direct result of their own actions.
If you love your neighbour and seek ways to live in harmony with him he will probably not throw a grenade at you. For some reason this is very hard for a typical westerner to understand.
I’m no expert on relations between Pakistan and India but I’m sure their difficulties are based on similar issues.
My heart goes out to all those involved in violence around the world. The instigators suffer just as much as the victims.
- Posted by paulThis is Hilarious! When tragedy strikes its always interesting to see how the human psyche reacts to such catastrophic events. No one even wants to address the root cause of terrorism, rather just blame the most convenient of adversaries. You automatically get to see the raw emotion, the secular hatred, and convenience of revenge. I don’t rely on any report or media claim that these terrorists were Pakistani. All I know, that India has more then 1 billion people and I’m guessing there is good chance, that two to three hundred of them, would collectively carry out such atrocities, regardless of race or religion. Lets address terrorism’s root cause, and not just make assumptions that this is some sort of religious ritual. Too spread such garbage is an act of intellectual terrorism.
- Posted by OhmsIndia has become so vulnerable to terrorist activities.Every now and then, we hear a terrorist attack on one city or the other.it has become really dangerous for the people of india, but still i guess at this time we should stand together and fight against terrorism. i dont understand why our intelligence and the government is not able to crack the attacks before they take place. aare the terrorists smarter than the intelligence people? definitely they are.But their smartness is taking the toll of innocent lives and that is why i hope the government and the political parties take some steps so as to fight terrorism.
- Posted by rubyits really disgusting to see that each and every time the terrorist belongs to a particular religion and when they take the lives of the innocent people, there are also people from their community and then they say they are fighting for the rights and welfare of their community members….i dont see any betterment in thier ideologies for their community members who are innocent.
this time in mumbai, they have just taken this heinous act to a different height……..i hthink its time to take very strong steps against terrorists otherwise our country would keep becoming hteir target
The responsibility for the mayhem unleashed on Mumbai lies solely with the coward indian govt at the centre. It has decided as policy not to act against the terroist for mere muslim votes as elections are nearing. So many attacks & so less response.
- Posted by MilindThe real problem is fact that hindus do not vote on narrow religious lines & thus not considered a vote bank. Terrorist find support from cabinet ministers in india. Only heaven can save india.
To everyone who has posted something:
- Posted by AnishThere are many different causes for terrorism, ranging from injustices in Kashmir and India to brainwashing and inculcated hatred. Even just reading the comments on this article, one can see the dichotomy in views between different people. Comments like “Islam is an inherently violent religion” only further tension between religions and inhibit justice and understanding between peoples. In other words, the blame game doesn’t work when applied to cross-religious and international conflicts. I totally agree with whoever p0sited that terrorists and their leaders are powerhungry and seek only to promulgate their twisted ideology. The fact is that whether or not you dislike muslims or love muslims, they will never go away. There will always be muslims and indians and brits on this planet, so we must make a concentrated effort to rid ourselves of prejudices, especially when we don’t know we have them, or we think we’re always right, in order to be a part of a cohesive environment dedicated to espousing liberty for all.
To Ahad: I totally agree to what you have say.
One guy has provided a good analysis of the situation. I hope that more people will read it.
http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/jyotikamal/9 3/52948/the-logic-of-terror.html
- Posted by Sushantto my indian bretheren,today i stand with u in unity.I am a pakistani and a muslim. my ancestory is from india, so i will always love india no matter what. I know you are angry and i know u want to seek revenge and i don’t blame u for wanting to take it out on us. But know this, we too have been attacked by these so called “muslims”. just last month in islamabad a hotel was attacked where many lives were lost and there are daily attacks all thru out pakistan, where people are killed. so we do feel ur pain. yes there are elements within pakistan that are to blame for these attacks, but by blaming an entire country and a religion which has billions of followers is not right either. there have been hundereds and thousands of muslims who have been killed in iraq,afghanistan, pakistan,africa, etc. who have been killed by so called “muslims” and non-muslims both. yes there are feelings of anger and resentment amongst many of us, but no cause is great enough that justifies these actions. stay strong my brothers, unite amongst all your people, Hindus and Muslims both. and despite what the media says and what our corrupt government officals say and do or what the garbage ISI says and does, we pakistanis support you in your efforts to rebuild and recover.today I have a indian flag that I hung up outside my house, because today the entire world is Indian.
- Posted by rational thinkerWhat kind of society that these people want to make. Squirting accid to innocent child girls? Is this really their goal no matter what is the reasoning? Do Girls always have to be secluded with cover boxes(habaya?). In the meantime some of the women domestics worker(slaves?) is freely raped in their homes in Saudi, etc, or stoned to death when she is reporting being raped. Ask God for really forgiveness before those people die and meet God.
- Posted by HardyTo Sushant:
Believe me I understand that there is a lot of blame to go around for the current mess and that a lot of it lies with the failure of Muslim countries to better address the issues of poverty and inequality withing their own borders. I will not be the first person to state that Pakistan, as an example, needs to get its act together, somehow elect more competent and honest politicians, keep the army out of politics and embark on massive program to educate and improve the quality of life for the majority of its people. Unfortunately, the rising percentage of people living in abject poverty in Pakistan makes larger parts of the society more susceptible to the corrosive effects of the ideologues, extremists, and zealots. But, India, as it makes its remarkable and admirable progress towards becoming a major world power, needs to respect the rights of minorities and keep extremist tendencies (from all parts of society) in check as well. Hate feeds on hate, and the terrorists of the variety that are responsible for the recent attacks know this, and are bent on fomenting the seeds of hate within India, not for the benefit of Hindus, Muslims or otherwise, but to further their own twisted, delusional, and definitely evil goals.
- Posted by AhadSince people of any group are always going to be much more concerned when members of their own group are the targets of violence than about people in other groups, when anyone from one group goes as far as to resort to terrorism, it should surprise no one that it will lead to a call to make these acts impossible, even if doing so involves unjustly causing difficulties or hazards to innocent people belonging to the group out of which the terrorists came.
What advice can I give the Muslims of the world? Don’t make heroes of terrorists. Don’t encourage attitudes that lead to terrorism, such as treating non-Muslims with less than full equality. Cooperate fully with the Western nations’ efforts to hunt down the terrorist leaders.
Playing political games is only going to make it more likely that innocent people in Muslim lands will suffer the tragedy of war. The weak may have to put up with problems; the strong can, and will, defend themselves if provoked.
- Posted by John Savardlook anyone that try’s to understand a terriost is an idiot, you cannot reason with them, you cannot neg. with them, you must kill them, or they will kill you, simple as that, stop trying to understand, its a waste of time, fact is they hate us, and we should react and wipe them off the face of the earth
- Posted by peter panTo Ahad: I, very much respect your sound reasoning and I appreciate it and I would try not to become an extremist. But thousand of your muslim brothers as a member of al-qaeda and what not, are bent upon proving you wrong. And it’s not out of blue that I have started blaming a particular religion. The reasons are evident every where.
- Posted by SushantTo Sushant,
“World doesn’t need proof for this fact that Pakistan is the biggest source of terrorism in this world…”
Yeah, just like the world didn’t need proof for the fact that Saddam had WMD, right?
“And Pakistani media can’t blame India because we don’t export terrorism to world.”
Yeah, there are enough Muslims in India to terrorize anyway; who needs to worry about the rest of the world, right?
“…Islam is the only religion(not really a religion in any true sense of the word) that preaches kill every non-muslim?”
Yeah, like you’ve got a PhD in Comparative Religion and Islamic Studies, right? Anything taken out of context is irrelevant. What you state is simply false. Don’t worry, spreading hate is good - tit for tat, right?
“If Muslims are really very sincere on proving that their religion preaches love then they should start an army that fights against Taliban…”
Indeed, sometimes I also think that way. But sometimes, I think preaching love to the Taliban is the solution. As long as the Western and Pakistani armies fight them, they are going to terrorize us. If they terrorize us, we have to kill them. I don’t claim to have an answer to the problem.
“…and they should try to re-establish (the so called) real meaning of Jihad.”
I agree completely.
- Posted by Yousuf AhmadTo Sushant:
Nobody has a right to kill anybody. But neither do you have the right to debase an entire people/religion based on your own personal prejudices. You just prove that extremism or extremist viewpoints are not exclusive to any particular race or religion.
- Posted by AhadTo Tahir - Indian may be wrong once or may be more than once in blaming Pakistan but please keep your sincerity to yourself. World doesn’t need proof for this fact that Pakistan is the biggest source of terrorism in this world.
And Pakistani media can’t blame India because we don’t export terrorism to world.
It sounds very forward looking thought that terrorist don’t have a religion ( ya, In strict sense of religion, it’s true). But then, Islam is the only religion(not really a religion in any true sense of the word) that preaches kill every non-muslim?
If Muslims are really very sincere on proving that their religion preaches love then they should start an army that fights against Taliban and they should try to re-establish (the so called) real meaning of Jihad.
- Posted by SushantI am Ali Asad from Pakistan. Like India and every other country that is victom of terrorism, Pakistan is also facing terrorism. We also cried on the departure of our beloved ones. Unfortunatly we are still engaged in the blame game. To those who gave different reasons (directly or indirectly), there is no justification for such a cowardly act. Moreover Blame game is also not a solution of the problem. I think we should look forward for the solution collectively in a more friendly atmosphere.
- Posted by Ali AsadPeople like sanc and his muslim brothers actually believe that they have right to kill all non-muslims (Because their Koran says so- No proof needed). But then they also come here to jusitfy that innocents are being killed in retaliation of killing innocent. Is this justification really needed? No, you don’t need to justify it ’sanc’. It’s all right on your behalf.
Last 2000 year of history is evident that no body has done more damage to humanity than Muslims. Consistently, where ever they have gone, they have found justification for killing, maiming, torturing, raping innocents in the name of service to their Allah. Like parasites, they have wiped out the natives of the land where ever they have grew. Example is Kashmiri Pandits. And thousand other examples. And they come crying foul if civilzed society is cleaning up the savage mess of Taliban. I was no Muslim hater. But I feel that I am turning into one. And I fear that I am not the only one. Time will come soon when ‘worshipers of Devil’ will pay the price.
- Posted by SushantFirst of all - it is a tragic event and I feel sorry for my fellow Indians.
Second, dont blame always on Pakistan. This is a long running tradition of Indians to blame on every single incident to ISI & Pakistan. You people said the Samjhota Express bombing was done by ISI - check consult the history of your media - they blamed 100% on Pakistan and who was the culprit? Indian Army Colonel - shame on you. Being a Pakistani, we are also facing these kind of terrorist activities in our country, but check our media, never blame directly to India like what I checked on Indian Media with something really silly/childish stuff. Terrorists have cell phone - receiving calls from Pakistan, they have Pakistan made hand grenades - come on man, the also had AK 47, made in Russia, does in means Russia is involved in this? This is all fishy business by your politicians - let the investigations begin, you will hear a different story.
Another point, Terrorist have no religion. Whatever you did in Ahmedabad, was in Hindi Religion? I am sure not. But your extremist Hindu brothers think, this is your religion. Please don’t try to blame Islam as well. I have 100s of examples about Hindu brutality. Dont try to be smart enough to show your anger and utilize the situation against Muslims of India. After all they are your loving countrymen.
- Posted by TahirPeople like Sydney are the typical muslims that have made this world a hell. They are here talking about injustice to the kashmiri muslims but they forget what they have done to the thousands and thousands of Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus). They talk about atrocities by Indian troops, buut they forget the fact that terrorists killed thousands of kashmiris not the indian troops. It’s because of the presence of large number of troops in Kashmir that militants are not able to infiltrate easily across the boarder otherwise we would have seebn more and more mayhem like Mumbai occurring every day. When these so called troubled Kashmiris come to echo their plight, I wonder what freedom means to them. What is that they have not been given by this country that other states have got? It’s their stupid selfish ideology preached in the name of Islam that life of thousands of Indians have become a joke.
- Posted by SushantIf we who live in comfort do not feel the anger when innocent muslims are killed in their homes by foreigners who wants to police the world, then we should not be surprised if our innocents are murdered for no reason but pure radicalism and hatred. People just doesn’t care these days. The anger and contempt for injustice is not there anymore. In my native country, a lot of union leaders, social workers, leftists, etc. disappear without a trace. Their huge posters which shouts of their disappearance are along major thoroughfares. But nobody cares. They are too busy acquiring and and acquiring more. And for those of us who care, we are ashamed to show that anger for injustice.
We only see our innocents being murdered. Have we seen theirs? Are we angry and grieve only for our innocents? Are we not in the least inclined to be angry and feel grieved for their innocents being murdered in the first place? Do these people come from a peaceful place where their family tree is not pruned or cut off? Are we too stupid to think that these people became radicals because we treated them as true friends and have not tried to wipe them out of the face of the earth for the past 2000 years?
If we show anger and grief if these people spray innocent civilians of countries who have the sanction of the coalition of the willing to inflict colateral damage on their innocent civilians, are we not selective in our show of emotion when their innocent civilians are bomb to smitherins because their next door neighbor has a link to Al Qaeda?
- Posted by sanc