Author: Ved Nanda
Publication: Organiser
Date: December 28, 2008
URL: http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=269&page=16
"Enough is enough!"
"Down with Pakistan!"
"Shame on Politicians!"
Thousands of demonstrators in Mumbai expressed
their outrage at terrorist attacks on the vibrant city they love. They were
angry at their government for its failure to prevent the attacks. Many called
it India's 9/11.
During the three-day siege of Mumbai, terrorists
indiscriminately and brutally killed more than 170 citizens of 10 nationalities.
They targeted the luxury hotels Taj and Oberoi, a Jewish cultural center,
a hospital, the central train station, and a popular landmark cafè.
For me, as for many others who have lived in or visited that city, it was
a rude shock. I have stayed in the grand Taj, an icon of Mumbai, and to see
it in ruins on TV was a heartbreak.
This was not the first terrorist attack in
Mumbai. Every time it has been struck since the 1990s the city has bounced
back, licked its wounds, and moved on. People in Mumbai are resilient. But
this time was different because of the ferocity and duration of attacks, the
obvious meticulous planning by the terrorists, and the masterful execution.
Tragically, Mumbai joins New York, London,
Madrid and Bali as sites of the massive attacks. Within India, it is preceded
by violent hits on New Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmadabad, Guwahati, and Jaipur.
Mumbai is an open city where Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Parsis,
people from many nationalities, speaking many languages, have always lived
harmoniously. It is a fun-loving city, with Bollywood lifestyle. And India
is proud of its democratic traditions and pluralism. Hence, it is hard to
ensure foolproof protection.
All that notwithstanding, critics charge that
these strikes could have been prevented if there had not been extreme lapses
in the intelligence and security systems, especially as American intelligence
had reportedly warned Indian authorities of a terrorist plot. But, according
to Mumbai's police commissioner, Hassan Gafoor, "There was no specific
intelligence" of these attacks. Accepting "moral responsibility,"
officials responsible for India's security and intelligence have resigned.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Admiral
Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have both visited New
Delhi and Islamabad. Their message to the Pakistani authorities is clear:
Pakistan must take urgent steps to prevent terrorist attacks across the border
from its soil. Rice urged Pakistan to accept its "special responsibility."
Mullen called on Pakistan to take "more concerted" action against
militant extremists there.
Mumbai has forcefully demonstrated that terrorism
is a global scourge that must be met with concerted international action.
A bipartisan U.S. Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction
made a chilling prediction of terrorists using biological or nuclear weapons
for their attacks within the next five years.
Both American and Indian authorities have
named the militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba as having directed the attacks. The
attackers came from Karachi in a hijacked fishing trawler, launching a lifeboat
to land on Mumbai's waterfront. The sole surviving attacker, Pakistani national
Ajmal Amir Kasab, was trained by ex- army officers at camps run by Lashkar-e-Toiba
in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Pakistan's intelligence service has been
known to nurture militant groups such as LeT, although the new civilian government,
led by President Zardari, has said that the intelligence services have been
reformed.
Pakistan's former prime minister, General
Pervez Musharraf, banned LeT as Pakistan joined the U.S. led "war on
terror," but the group has kept functioning. A successor organisation,
Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a charity with a militant wing, has been allowing LeT members
to continue running camps to train extremists.
Musharraf did not deliver on his promise to
combat militants in Pakistan, and India asserts that he did not show good
faith. Hence, India demands more effective measures - and Pakistan must deliver
this time.
(The author is a distinguished Professor and
director of International Legal Studies Program, University of Denver, USA.
He can be contacted at vnanda@law.du.edu)