Serial Blasts

Have spent much of last night and most of the morning reading about yesterday’s blasts in Bombay and Srinagar. While the explosions in each city were no doubt carefully orchestrated, it remains unclear at this point whether there was also intercity orchestration. The kinds of explosives used—sophisticated RDX in Bombay versus hand grenades in Srinagar—suggests differing MOs and consequently the possibility that different outfits carried them out. But even that is circumstantial and doesn’t preclude two terror groups planning the serial bombings to occur in tandem.

Reminiscent of the recent train bombings in London and Madrid, the carnage in Bombay also evokes memories of the 1993 serial bomb blasts, which left 250 dead and many injured. The death toll has risen through the night and raced past the 150 mark (last I checked, NDTV reported a figure of 172 as of Wednesday morning). Sadly, it will probably continue to rise. Of course, the number of injured and maimed is significantly higher (NDTV reports 439 as off Wednesday morning).

In 1993 Bombay and Mumbaikars showed remarkable fortitude in attempting a return to normalcy with schools, businesses and government all staying open in the immediate aftermath. It was heartening and inspiring. From what I read, the same spirit prevails now as well.

The Srinagar bombings have so far left 8 dead and many more wounded. In their intensity they don’t seem to match the Bombay blasts. The principal targets in Srinagar appear to be tourists. Newspapers state that this is the 6th attack in Kashmir since the tourist season began earlier in the spring/summer. On one level such attacks are indicative of the growing frustration perhaps with the increasing tourist presence in Srinagar.

The last 17 years have been punctuated by many terrorist activities, and in the odd case, by a total breakdown, in certain regions, of India’s civil society. Indeed, what happened in Godhra was probably the saddest indictment of India’s secular claims. For the government and the police to sit back and watch (even participate) in rioting was shameful. While India’s experiences with terrorism are not a recent phenomenon, the rise of a global terrorism anchored in Islamic fundamentalism has made the challenge all the more pressing.

More soon…