Equal Opportunity

This time, as I sit down to write my editorial, I am not struggling like usual with what I want to write about. There are quite a few things I should talk about - Kevan's end of tenure with the Oppy, and Deborah, the new editor, but the only thing I really want to talk about is the Mumbai Terror attack.

The November 26 attack, or India's 9/11 as its being touted in some sections of the media, is by far the biggest breach of homeland security in the country. Not that the Government security system is known to be tough to breach by any standards after the all too common "terrorist" acts of violence in India in the past 10 years. The city of Mumbai is known to be very resilient and has bounced back from many a terrorist attack, as unfortunate as it is that it has to. But a bomb on a local train or a parked vehicle is not the same as having to fall victim to the most coordinated attack to date, by men supposed to have received the most sophisticated training.

I am not going to theorize who could be behind the attack, and frankly I do not have a theory. But what I feel strongly about is that whoever it was this time had an agenda beyond striking terror. They have targeted the international confidence that India has garnered during the past couple of decades. India has its fair share of faults and weaknesses. We are not the most secure state, civil rights are but a joke, corruption is rampant in the highest offices of the state, and we are far from being liberal in the true sense of the word. But we managed to do something right about our economy. With this attack, the terrorists not only wanted to strike terror in Mumbai but show the world that foreign nationals are not safe in India, and so is not your investment. Also, the Jewish house that was among the buildings attacked sends signals that India now has bigger problems than the traditional anti-Hindu animosity from Pakistan. India will now have to deal with terrorism that does not care for Hindus but is highly anti-Jew, namely the radical Islam of the Middle East.

The terrorists also clearly wanted the world to respond to the attacks on a scale that hasn't happened in the past. Just the simple fact that they were seeking out American and British citizens warranted full live coverage of the 60 hours on network TV. [No one seems to remember that among the current death toll of 217, 4 were Americans and there were no British. There were close of 30 foreigners from about 10 countries among the dead]. And while I am on the point of media coverage, can I just say that it was infuriating to hear the CNN reporters preface every single statement they made about the attacks with "according to Indian authorities" a dozen times. Confirmation from British Authorities is required before they drop their paranoia about reporting facts that have been obtained from Indian people who are obviously incompetent. And brown. What the heck?

The happenings of the aftermath range from the resignations of an array of Ministers, the exchange of visits from diplomats and ambassadors between US, India and Pakistan and the Indian Government's announcement of a federal agency of sorts. But the most important one in my perspective is the Union Home Minister being ousted and replaced by the former Finance Minister - P. Chidambaram; and the sunny-happy person that is me can't help but look forward with optimism to what this man, who played a major role in the policy making that moved India close to a free market economy, can do.