Terror strikes New Delhi, India: 20 dead
by snigdhasen

I spent the last six hours of my Saturday evening (September 13 here in India) watching a familiar tragedy unfold in the capital city of New Delhi and calling up friends and family to make sure they are okay: five bombs went off in under 30 minutes in three crowded market areas, leaving 20 dead and over a 100 injured. Four live bombs have also been diffused in other parts of the city.

The body count may increase by the time I wake up tomorrow morning, but hey, we are a billion people. Twenty dead. Fifty dead. A hundred dead. Who's counting? This is routine fare now.

About two months ago, I was greeted by another series of blasts in the southern city of Bengaluru (Bangalore) where I am now, only to be followed by string of blasts in the western city of Ahmedabad. Now, as my vacation is coming to a close, New Delhi happens.

The Delhi blasts come at a crucial time -- highly lucrative for big-impact attacks. We are in the midst of our festival season that will run through December. Markets and shopping malls are sure-shot crowd-pullers on Saturday evenings.

A group called the Indian Mujahideen have claimed responsibility for the attacks. They did so for the previous blasts as well. We are clueless thus far, expect that the email has been traced to somebody in Mumbai (Bombay). [The previous one was traced to an American citizen living in Mumbai. He was cleared of any charges, of course. His email was allegedly hacked into. So there. End of trail]

The last terror attacks in Delhi were in 2005, also during the festival season. Over 50 died in the three blasts in crowded market places.

I can't believe all I am writing from India is about terror attacks.

More when I get back.

News and views at:

Rediff.com
NDTV
Hindustan Times
The Times of India
BBC News

Blogs:
SAJA
Five Senses
The Life and Times of an Indian Homemaker
Vikram Chatterjee's Weblog
Sameer's blog

Submitted by snigdhasen (view blog) on Sat, 09/13/2008 - 15:10

Comments

 

Dear snigdhsen, I am so

Dear snigdhsen, I am so sorry to read what you, and your country are experiencing. It is so sad what terrorist can do to their own people and to our planet! Sending you love. Claudia

Submitted by claudiamarruiz on Sat, 09/13/2008 - 15:33
 

Claudia, thanks!

I am deeply hurt and angry, too.

Submitted by snigdhasen on Sun, 09/14/2008 - 10:14
 

I understand what you are feeling

I left my country, Colombia, 11 years ago and I know how angry, hurt, and powerless you feel! I had a car bomb that destroyed my bussines and killed 11 police and 3 civilians. We had so many and still have car bombs. Two weeks ago another car bomb exploted in Cali that killed 4 people and wounded 23 more. Drug dealers, Guerrillas, Paramilitars, corrupt politicians and militars have played a big role in the 40 years of war in Colombia...and the inocent people are the ones who are paying the consecuences! There are more than 3.5 million of refugees & displaced that left their farms to live in the big cities because of the war around their villages. I wonder how and when is this going to end? If there is anything I can do, please let me know. Take care. Claudia. ruizcla@gmail.com

Submitted by claudiamarruiz on Sun, 09/14/2008 - 11:35
 

That's some experience, Claudia!

You actually went through the horror yourself! I'm glad you've found peace now. India has been dealing with this so-called Islamic terrorism for too long. I sometimes feel our governments have learned to simply live with it.
That's scary.

Submitted by snigdhasen on Wed, 09/17/2008 - 21:19
 

Another day, another set of serial blasts . .
. horrible!

Snigdha,

Shockingly, India has become the serial blasts capital of the world. The worrisome thing is that people are beginning to forget the horror of these cowardly acts, until the same scenes are repeatedly all over again! The bungling law enforcement agencies are as clueless as ever. They claim to get some leads, put out some computer generated images of suspects, make one or two random arrests and that is all we hear. But it is obvious that the perpetrators of these crimes are still at large, plotting their next target - innocent people on the streets, in shopping complexes and other public places. The notorious politicians begin the blame game after expressing solidarity with the victims. They know that they are safe, travelling in bullet-proof, explosive proof cars, escorted by some gun-toting policemen. And the common citizens on the streets have to bear the brunt of these cowardly crimes.

Raj

Submitted by An alien earthling on Sun, 09/14/2008 - 04:25
 

Imagine!

Raj, you have echoed the sentiments of many fellow Indians. I was just watching parts of a television debate about the issue: people seemed impatient and upset, and rightly so.

A member of the ruling alliance also blundered by saying that it's humanly impossible to stop determined terrorists (imagine that!).

The opposition's pressing for tougher laws, no one seems to be raising the all-important question of implementation: are our foot-soldiers, the first responders from the law enforcement, equipped to fight, investigate and then prosecute suspected terrorists? I doubt it. 

Submitted by snigdhasen on Sun, 09/14/2008 - 10:28
 

Delhi, war on terror, Indian Mujahadeen

socrates

I wish I could offer some statement more helpful than "I'm sorry'.  I grieve for India and her peoples (The plural form is intentional, of course).

Many years ago I lived in your country (the Punjab).  It was my first experience overseas.  We, four young American women, had no fear or any reason to fear such violence back then although we travelled over most of the sub-continent.

Socrates

www.thenationalintelligence.com

Submitted by socrates on Sun, 09/14/2008 - 09:42
 

You got lucky!

Socrates, I'm glad you felt safe back then. Right now nobody here is feeling that way. But then life goes on and we'll forget everything until the next blast.

But I do hope you'll be backto Indian in future and will be able to spend some anxiety-free time there :)  

Submitted by snigdhasen on Sun, 09/14/2008 - 10:32
 

Be safe, please.

Snigdha, I didn't realize this was going on, and I definitely did not know you were there in danger. Please be safe, and thank you for keeping us informed. I know we all wish there was a magic pill to cure the human urge for acts of violence.

Nordette is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.com whose personal blog is hosted on another site at this link.  Most recent BlogHer Post at time of this comment, "Hurricane Season: Peace after Revolution."

Submitted by Nordette on Sun, 09/14/2008 - 12:42
 

Thanks Nordette

Appreciate your concern.

Submitted by snigdhasen on Wed, 09/17/2008 - 21:26
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