Suspect No 1: LET and Jaish and any splinter Jihadi groups that enjoy sensual backrubs from the Pakistani administration and an occasional encouraging slap on the butt from the kind General.
Why? Long record of leaving bombs carelessly in public places. And the LET-Jaish combo will not be entirely displeased that since it is mostly Pakistanis who have died in an Indian train, it has left India in an embarrassing diplomatic position, forced to defend itself against charges of complicity, incompetence and cover-up.
Why not? The LET and Jaish said they did not do it. But since they have been saying that they do not kill innocents for quite some time now and because these assertions of theirs have frequently proven to have been less than factual, we may take their protestations of innocence with a wee-bit of salt.
Suspect No 2: Hindu extremists
Why? Because most of the victims were Pakistanis. And low-grade explosives do not need an extensive terrorist network, backed by a certain government’s treasure-chest, to assemble. And the death of innocents, as long as they belong from the “wrong” religion/country, do not especially sadden them.
Why not? Not part of their traditional psychotic pattern. Violence, rape, loot and murder: yes. Train bombings: no. But there can always be a first time.
Suspect No 3: Raghavan Datta, a deranged ex-Indian army renegade commando who is on a personal (non-government backed) crusade to make sure that India and Pakistan never live peacefully. He has unleashed a reign of terror in India and Pakistan with Mission Milaap, an endeavour to bring the two countries together, being his prime target of hatred.
Why? President Musharaff has said that these attacks were caused by people who want to derail the peace process. He has said repeatedly that India and Pakistan are both targets of terrorism. Our Prime Minister had talked about having a mechanism for combating the joint threats posed to both India and Pakistan. And who poses these “joint threats”? Raghavan Datta.
For a man who has vowed to destroy Mission Milaap, what could be a bigger target than the Samjhauta Express?
Why not? Some people observe that terrorist incidents in Pakistan (not counting violent gang-warfare in Pakistani cities), as compared to those in India, are so few in number that it may be slightly stretching the truth to say that terrorism is a threat, to the same extent, for both the countries. Sure there are some terrorist incidents in Pakistan also but they are mostly caused by India-hating Jihadis, who despite all the mollycoddling they get from the Pakistani authorities, still feel that the General is not doing enough to bring about the decimation of India. Some people argue that where it is evidently clear that it is one side promoting terrorism (and getting scorched by some friendly fire in the process) in the land of the other, blaming Raghavan Datta is a bit rough on the poor guy at the best and at the worst, a slightly disingenuous way of deflecting blame from the guilty parties by spreading the blame all over.
Incidentally, Raghavan Datta does not exist—being merely a character played with wooden aplomb by Suniel Shetty in “Main Hoon Na” (2004).
The Greatbong Blog & Podcast 
Raghavan Dutta – I initially thought who on earth is this guy but I realized who he was before reaching the end:). LOL!
“Not part of their traditional psychotic pattern..” and “splinter Jihadi groups that enjoy sensual backrubs from the Pakistani administration and an occasional encouraging slap on the butt from the kind General.” – too good!!!
I say India must learn a few diplomatic tricks, too. Like Pakistan, we should also throw our hands up in the air, crying “victim” when Pakistan accuses us of incompetence. We can also distribute brochures to all the passengers of such Indo-Pakistan transit, saying, “Travel at your own risk. (Even with all the security arrangements, no place is completely safe).” If it could happen in London and Madrid, then why not India?
On a more serious note, my condolences to the families of the dead.
Congratulations on winning IndiBloggies’ Most Humourous Blog and on being named one of the best IndiBlogs of the Year! You rightly deserve it.
@Lotus Eyes: Err…I havent won anything. The results are not out yet.
Our whole media is falling over themselves with the “we are all under attack” spiel.
And yes, condolences to the families for their monumental  loss.
Suspect No 4: Rehan Qadri???
My condolences too for the families of the victims.
The ease with which GoI reverted back to the so-called “peace-dialogues” within 24 hours of the attack and the usual “we condemn this cowardly act” and “perpetrators shall be brought to justice” tape was played, shows one of the foll two things:
A) That the GoI has extremely strong evidence which indicates that Mush has lost all control over the splinter jihadi elements in the ISI-LeT-JeM spectrum. Knowing this the GoI is simply playing along with the peace process and playing the usual wait-and-watch game, waiting for events to unfold in Pakistan.
B) Despite having the knowledge of the involvement of the Pakistani Gov/Army/ISI in this attack, sarkaar has just lost whatever lil spine it had to even stop (even temporarily) this so called farce of dialogues.
Either scenario doesnt bode well for India.
Some organizations from a country carry out a vicious attack on your soil repeatedly.
Their Foreign minister comes to your country. You greet him with all the bravado. Heck, you even offer them friendship again and again. Yet they stab you in the back again and again.
Am I the only one seeing anything wrong/unusual/distasteful/unfortunate in this?
GB, I read on SAAG that number of Hindus killed was more than Muslims.
They were Pakistni citizens though.
According to a statement made by Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khusro Bakhtiar in the National Assembly on February 20, the identities of 49 of the 68 persons, who perished in the fire, have been established so far,
27 of them were Hindus and only 22 were Muslims
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/feb/21raman.htm
huff….Now the Jihadis can rest in peace.
Their 72 virgins and 28 young boys (Gilmans) are waiting up there.
So I take this means operation milaap has been successfully destroyed?
@GB –
Raghavan Datta, a deranged ex-Indian army renegade commando who is on a personal (non-government backed) crusade to make sure that India and Pakistan never leave peacefully.
LEAVE?? = NO COMPREHEND; PLEASE RESOLVE
[GB adds: typo please excuse: it should be live]
@Varahmihira:
“Some organizations from a country carry out a vicious attack on your soil repeatedly.
Their Foreign minister comes to your country. You greet him with all the bravado. Heck, you even offer them friendship again and again. Yet they stab you in the back again and again.
Am I the only one seeing anything wrong/unusual/distasteful/unfortunate in this? ”
No, you are not the only one who feels this way. So do most of us, including pacifists. I’m sure we would have been happy to avenge the deaths with a all-out attack on the Pakistani masters of these terrorists. Just kill the bastards.
Unfortunately, in today’s world, things are not easy. Gone are the days when the Empire would send a few gunboats to overthrow the stubborn king and set up a benevolent tyranny in the country to educate the child-like natives to behave in a civilized manner.
Today, even the most powerful country in the world cannot do just that and get away with it. Afghanistan is a nightmare, Iraq is a nightmare. USA daren’t attack Iran and North Korea yet. Do you think they are blind to Pakistan’s support of the terrorism movement? Yet they don’t dare send in their troops to fight the jihadists where they actually stay and breed.
India, militarily much weaker, and with much more to lose in a nuclear war, has to tread much more cautiously. I’m sure that the military mandarins have over-ruled an attack on Pakistan, even a limited one like an airstrike on the jehadi camps.
The government’s hand is tied. So it tries its best to make peace-moves, slowly hoping to change the mindset in Pakistan. It’s almost futile, but it’s the only thing that can be done. It really doesn’t mean that the Indian government trusts Pakistan. It’s just that they can’t do anything else.
One option, which many people suggest – why don’t we just cut off relationship with Pakistan? The reason is that doing so will serve no purpose – it will it stop the terrorists from doing what they do. It will only penalise the Pakistanis who want peace (yes, there are some of them who do) and good relations with India. Cutting off relations with Pakistan would be a sign of impotent outrage. If you are not powerful enough to defeat your enemy militarily or economically, you can only smile and take the shit. It’s the way of the world – in diplomacy as well as in day-to-day life.
@ greatbong.
have been goin thru ur blogs since 2-3 days. Was quite impressed by ur style of writing.But dude, this time when you have mixed ur cynical mockery with a tragedy of this proportion, i can only say that it looks really really sick. There seems no reason for the inclusion of this “raghavan” in the subject matter at hand.Whether it was to garner support for urself or just create a fan fare,it just dilutes the interest that readers like me had in ur blog.In the end, it all seemed way too unneccessary and childish,if i may say. All in all, there seems to be missing something called a soul of the blog i.e. the view of the blogger. Such an attitude do comes when people win praises from others. I just hope this does not happen to you too.Coz then i will be missing a very good writer.
Bye TC
Not good GB…
Generally I like your humor but this is not good…it is not something that should be dealt with humorously.Please dont write such stuff…because otherwise I might not vote for you the next time..
P:S . When will the results be out.
@Anirban: I thought of that but including it would just belabour the point.
@Varamihira: We have our canned responses which we keep on giving. The cynic in me has to agree with Sayon. In a way there is not much we can do—pressurized as we are by the world community into negotiating with the butcher of Kargil. However I do feel that things like when India went to Pakistan to play cricket and save their board from bankruptcy could be avoided.
@Rishi: Hmm
@Footballnath: You tell me.
@Rohith: Corrected.Thanks
@Sayon: I do think that touring Pakistan and saving their financially troubled Board was a gesture that could well have been avoided. We just bend backwards sometimes and that includes echoing their spin on joint victimhood.
@Abhishek: Have you ever considered the possibility that I was not mocking the victims (why would I want to do that and if I did, do you think any of the above readers would let me pass !) but mocking the peace-spin that seeks to elevate the Pakistani administration from a perp to a victim?
@Kabaddi Kabaddi: Now sir, isnt mentioning the fact that you wont vote for me next time trivializing the issue? Trace of frivolity? No? :-).
@ Sayon
On the spot my friend… well written.
Agree with all your comments but differ a little with the response
Many people in India jump on the prospect of bombing (now a days nuking) the sh** out of Pakistan every time a few (dozen to a few hundred) people are massacred or bombed. Many more propose tactical pro-active operations and hot pursuits….and so on.
So here is the question?
1. Can we really nuke Pakistan as a first strike?
Even for the most insane hawk the answer is: NO
2. Can we even launch attacks on strategic targets within Pakistan without triggering a full scale war?
Answer: NO
3. Can we launch tactical surgical strikes on targets near- border targets?
YES
India military capabilities are very limited in its penetration abilities. Unlike pre-1988 Warsaw Pact countries over NATO and current US conventional forces over any other country, our military technology and strike force superiority over Pakistan is limited if atall any.
Our strike formations do not have the ability to overwhelm or outflank Pakistani defenses nor does our air force guarantee full air superiority in 2 weeks (thats the maximum we can sustain a attack bfore UN jumps in)
That leaves us only with a vastly superior and close to a Blue Water Navy.
But a Blue Water Navy only guarantees a defensive victory in a long drawn battle using Naval blockade of Karachi and Gwadar.
So that leaves option 1 and option 2 as duds.
Lets look at option 3
Tactical near border, strikes inside Pakistan, is a very distinct and doable proposition and should have been employed since early 1990s.
Unless we have a “secret” delta force type division hidden somewhere in Gangotri, our ability to achieve that seems to be limited too.
As seen during Kargil, our tactical responses in the first few days fell woefully short.
Thats where I blame the peaceniks for sticking to our time tested pacifist policies.
Besides, we cannot effectively maintain control over 1 Islamic majority state in India. (Kashmir).
What the hell will we achieve even if we take over Pakistan after a 2 month war (assuming that happens).
We have to understand that Pakistan is just the symptom…the actual problem is the ideology and the belief system behind its creation …. if wish to get the drift.
fwiw, I agree with Sayon that there is not much we can do except to continue to talk to Pakistan in the hope of achieving peace. But I also agree with GB that while we continue to do that, we should avoid going to the other extreme of welcoming them with mushairas, going on cricket tours etc. It was worse than just saving their cricket board from bankruptcy. The series was telecast here in India on Ten Sports, a channcel owned by Sheikh Bukhatir, known to be still close to Dawood. That is, in effect, as Dhoni hit boundary after boundary and the millions cheered in front of their tv sets, we were contributing to the coffers of our worst enemy. It is not small money either. A full series involving India is worth anywhere between 100-150 million USD. In these days of global clamping down on funding for terrorist activities, that kind of money must have been godsend for Dawood and his gang.
GB,Ever considered that, like US, India might also be prepping up Pakistan saying “keep on, man, you are doing great” while at heart knowing better?
Can India do an US, send in armies to find out the taliban? No.
What else are the options? It appears from your post (correct me if I am wrong) that India should not speak to the rogues, like school kids do after a tiff. But I think we have done that before, including standing at borders ready for confrontation after Parliament attacks. Do you think that has brought results?
Does India really consider Pakistan to be a victim, or just paying lip service to the statement of Pakistan? What indication does India’s denial for a joint probe with Pakistan give? There is definately more up Indias sleeves then what is reported in media.
Lastly, as an old fan of your blog I must point out, the Raghavan bit was against my taste and strangely jarred against your long standing good taste of posts.
@Mohan: Interesting point.
@Bhopale: And patting them on their heads for each transgression has brought us results? I dont say “dont talk to them”. I say “dont bale them out”. And please do say what you found jarring about the Raghavan bit —-in case it was not clear, that was there to show how much hoohaah the “we are all victims” angle that Musharaff repeats is….as asinine and as fictitious as a bad Bollywood movie. Now if mocking Musharaff offends you….
@ Bhopale
comon dost…Denying joint probe with ISI does not mean that there is anything up India’s sleeve.
It is just a basic assertion of a nation’s sovereignty. (that much was expected)
Agreeing to a joint probe would have actually meant that India had something up its sleeve…loll…like sending dhokla/chutni to Dawood Ibrahim Kaksar in Karachi through his ISI my-baabs.
Raghavan Dutta:
A semi-lunatic(‘coz he keeps saying ‘aye-aye’ popularized by Sunil Pal ) flop muscular Bollywood guy who tried to make it big along with Akshay Kumar but ended up doing cameos in Shah rukh starrers has vowed to take revenge by destroying the entire peace process and romanticism by assuming a half-Tamil(Raghavan) and half-Bengali(Dutta) identity seems to be the most likely culprit.
Yes, who can want to kill the innocents traveling on that fateful train? These are the people whose lives were already marred by the partition violence (as most of the victims seem to be going back home after a family reunion of sorts with long separated relatives).The names LET and JEM have popped up, like they do after every terrorist attack. I think these are the names that are on the tip of tongue of every police official in India.Since the victims were Pakistanis so the name †hindu extremists†has also come up (from Pakistan side of course),but the Bajrangis have been too busy with Valentine’s day till recently to be able to execute a plan like this.
But no matter who planted the bombs,IMHO this time the whole blame lies on the Indian security system and agencies.I understand that its impossible to keep a check on rush-hour Mumbai trains; but this train, which is going to a foreign (enemy) country,should have been maximum sanitized. This train must be leaving the platform at the most once every day…. don’t we have enough security personnel to check this one train thoroughly? Today there’s a news that Lalu has arrived at the station to oversee the security himself, but pardon me,where were you before? The India govt. is now looking like fools.. they have been shouting and pointing fingers at Pakistan every time terror strikes, but at the same time, they should have at least covered the vulnerable security spots. I suspect the Indian Govt. is also trying to gain some mileage out of this. As long as it does not touch the politicians, and the targets are poor common people, this blame game can go on forever!
I read this in Times of India. Brings out the mindlessness of our good-neighbourly strife rather poignantly. Its about an old man talking the next Samjhauta Exp after Sunday night’s bombing.
I’m not afraid of blasts, I fear dying alone’
Avijit Ghosh | TNN
New Delhi: On his first day across the border, Syed Dabir Hussain was robbed of his passport, money and every other belonging. It couldn’t have been too difficult a job. He is 80 and was travelling alone. Fear had brought Hussain back to the Uttar Pradesh village he left 57 years ago. ‘‘I am not fearful of the train blasts. I am just afraid of dying alone,’’ says Husain, who returned home
to Karachi in Attari Special 4001 on Wednesday night.
Along with fear, it was also nostalgia that had made him visit Grem, a village in Bareilly district. He wants to come back and live here. Partly because his small grocery shop in Pakistan doesn’t provide much income. Partly because he doesn’t have anybody to look after him. ‘‘My only daughter is married. My wife too is old. There’s nobody to take care of me. That’s why I would like to come back home,’’ he says.
When he had left for Karachi, as a 23-yearold, Hussain owned 80 bighas of land. But in Pakistan, he was among the low-income urban underclass doing odd jobs in various private companies. The pay was always low and his savings are meagre. ‘‘I am worried about my health. There’s nobody to take care of me there. I want to come back,’’ he said tearfully.
At his village, says nephew Syed Mahboob, who had come to see him off, the old man was like a happy child. For him, memory was like a walking stick helping him travel back in time. Hussain recalled the old chabutara had been replaced by a temple. ‘‘The mango orchards are gone. They have been replaced by eucalyptus trees. A small river ran through our village. That has gone dry,’’ he said. Hussain’s biggest regret was that his best friend, Jhajhan Ram, was dead. ‘‘I remember the festivals. Teej, Dussehra, Ramlila. We celebrated each of them,’’ he says, by now fighting hard to hold back tears. ‘‘Everybody came to visit me. Pandits, Meghwals — all of them came to see me,’’ he says.
For Hussain, the India visit was both about the best and the worst of times. Even as he was robbed — he doesn’t remember, where — a Sikh gentleman named Jaspal Singh helped him out, taking him to a gurdwara.
‘‘I stayed five days with him in Amritsar and Delhi. He gave me clothes to wear, food to eat. I gave me some money and bought me a ticket to Bareilly,’’ he said haltingly. It isn’t easy for the old man to speak. The thief also took away his false dentures kept in a bag.
His nephew filed an FIR and managed to get him an emergency passport. Hussain was supposed to collect the passport last Friday and leave on Sunday. ‘‘Fortunately, it was delayed. Otherwise who knows he might have been sitting in one of those coaches,’’ says Mahboob.
Hussain says he will be back again. ‘‘I am getting older by the minute. I don’t know how long would I be able to travel alone?’’ he says. Then he picks up his bag and starts walking slowly towards the train. This time he is not trying to fight the tears.
Who Bombed the Samjhauta Express?
I did.
Who am I?
I will disclose my identity only after my mission is accomplished.
What mission?
Almost everyone knows. Those who don’t know, too, inshallah, will know , once it’s accomplished. Let’s wait for that ‘paak’ moment.
Which country do I belong to?
Obviously, to a country whre petrol is cheap. Why on earth will one use petrol-bombs otherwise? In a country where petrol is this expensive, one would rather buy grenades.
My next step?
Wait and watch !!! Inshallah….we shall soon conquer the world !!!
No….What I did was a mere “Dhamki” to make sure you maintain GB humor and sensibility….
Anyways…waiting for your next post
Suspect number 5
Spontaneous combustion.
Who bombed samjhauta express? I hope that culprit turns out to be pakis rather than us. If it turns out to be one of us, my conscience will feel a little guilty. But whoever it is, I am ASHAMED as an Indian today.
Fundie’s job is to strike. Government/security-agency’s job is to prevent. I agree government has its limitations. Hence, I will not be so harsh on government regarding the bombay-train-blasts. This is because I understand that it is really really tough monitoring people in bombay-suburban rail system. But samjhauta express is not a local-passenger-train in bombay. Samjhauta express passengers are limited in number. Everybody can be tracked and controlled using passports. Most importantly everybody and their uncle knows that samjhauta-express is favourite target of any terrorist organization. So reason demands that samjhauta express’ security should be as high as (if not more than) air-travellers. But still we fail to do this simple task and this results in murder of 60 foreigners in our land. We are responsible for the death of these foreigners as much as the terrorists who did it. The world and ourselves know that we are not above a little bribery and corruption in the same way that the sea is not above the clouds (ref. H2G2 by DA). However getting so many foreigners murdered due to this corrupt nature of ours is very humiliating indeed.
You can reach me at indatri at the rate of yahoo dot com
there is no doubt it was the paki backed groups , sadly the upa govt is too busy pleasing everyone to call the generals bluff
@ Karim
Poignant…isnt it.
How the ideas in a “small book” can induce the biggest forced human migration in recorded history.
GreatBong, to answer the question you posed in the title of the post, noone whom I know !
Is that good?
@GB: Patting them on their heads has not brought results, but it is a different approach alright, and in my opinion better then standing eye-ball-to-eye-ball for months and then “lej gutiye firi”. Raghavan could have been avoided. Would you like to mention Mohanlal’s Kalapani in your post about Andaman jails? It would be jarring alright!
@Rishi: Ah, thank god at least that much is expected of India. Joint probe means dhokla and chutney to Dawood?Great knowing you dost, truely blessed!
@For-those who have chided @GB for including “Raghavan” and giving it a humorous twist .. let me say this – humor is the mo0st effective way of making a point. Sarcastic humor, even more so and thats what GB is doing. If you thought that he is trivializing the issue by including “Raghavan”, then maybe you did not get the point !
@GB – maybe we’ve not included a 3rd suspect – GoI, playing the victim ? Some political mileage to be gained? Blame game? Or trying to get the message across that the natives are restless?
>>> And the death of innocents, as long as they belong from the “wrong†religion/country, do not especially sadden them.
@GreatBong,
Whoa, such strong statements for us.. 🙂
Why use “Hindu” extremists for us, while you refrain from using the phrase “Muslim extremists” for Muslims, in the entire post?? Secularism eh?
Actually, what you said applies to muslims in a much larger degree than us.
I know, there are jerks on both the sides. But I am going by the amount of hate speeches, websites, killings, news articles and activities that actually happen/exist, not perceptions.
>>> Not part of their traditional psychotic pattern. Violence, rape, loot and murder: yes.
Yep, we are the only ones who have such a pattern.. yeah yeah… lets watch parzania and diss those filthy idol-worshipping Hindus…
If you notice, Violence, rape, loot and murder are much more a part of muslim psychotic pattern.
Oooopss.. does this make me communal ?? Calling Hindus that is secular, while saying the same thing about muslims is not. I love secularism 🙂
@shadows – u miss the subtle innuendo….”hindu” extremists, all muslims are ……:)
Debolin man, your comment is a gem. Just could not stop laughing.
@Aby: Isnt “Datta” Punjabi too? Like Divya Datta/Dutta?
@Rick: I agree that this train, perhaps more than any others, needed maximum security . And for that the Indian Railways are to blame most certainly.
@Karim: Thank you for that extract. Beyond words.
@dEBoLIN: Hmm.
@Kabaddi Kabaddi: Dhamki?
@Rajeev: Suspect 4?
@Indatri: Hmm.
@IR: Including pleasing the Pakistanis.
@Asterix: Good that you dont.
@Bhopale: Sigh ! Yes I would have mentioned Mohanlal’s Saza-e-kalapani if there was a reason to. Here I felt there was a reason: to show that the Suspect No 3 does NOT exist. Ah well…..
@Turrtle: Thank you for getting it.
@Jhingalala: GOI? Playing the victim? How so?
@Shadows: When you say ‘us’ do you mean Hindu extremists? I presume so since my target was the extremists among Hindus and not Hindus in general. Kindly stop deflecting the responsibility of Hindu extremists with the “Muslims do it more”. Incidentally, I referred to Muslim extremists as “Jihadis” (first para) and then referred to Hindu extremists (no single-word term for them)—-so please I am not being biased towards any group of loonies.
@Jhingalala: There was no subtle innuendo on my part. Speak for yourself please.
@GB – 2 points. 1st from Lotus Eyes.
“I say India must learn a few diplomatic tricks, too. Like Pakistan, we should also throw our hands up in the air, crying “victim†when Pakistan accuses us of incompetence. ” Maybe India HAS learnt a couple of tricks.
2nd from Varahmihira. ” GB, I read on SAAG that number of Hindus killed was more than Muslims.
They were Pakistni citizens though.” Playing the sympathy card, and killing 2 birds with one stone ?
@ Jhingala
you wrote – 2nd from Varahmihira. †GB, I read on SAAG that number of Hindus killed was more than Muslims.
They were Pakistni citizens though.†Playing the sympathy card, and killing 2 birds with one stone ?
Rishi- What are those 2 birds? Could you elaborate a bit more.
@ Bhopale
The feeling of blessedness is mutual. But you dont know me really.
GB,
Let me be the first one to congratulate you for winning the Indibloggies award.
Thou art est magnifique. And with this victory, RTDM is now the sine qua non with respect to the Indian blogosphere.
Suffice it to say that I am just too overwhelmed with emotion to type anything more. Would write more when this has sunk in.
Warm Regards,
yourfan2
If one has to believe that it is a handiwork of Islamic militants trained in madrasas, I would guess this is a consequence of an unfortunate phenomenon of Indian education: teacher absenteeism. The resulting ignorance of English language idiom led to literal translation of the ISI directive: “derail the Indo-Pak peace process” (sumjhauta train par hamla karo).
Hi,
After seeing the results of Indibloggies, I just wanted to read your Blog!.. My God I know I have missed all these days…
@All,
Did anyone read the printed TOI today ?
Not surprisingly, the website does not mention the names 🙂 …
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Blast_probe_widens_as_police_detain_7_people/articleshow/1662368.cms
The print edition names the 7 people detained. All of them Muslims. And one woman among them who has a previous criminal record. Worse, this will be used to justify that “both sides are victims of terrorism”, LOLzz.. 😀
Wowieezz… the MSM and blogosphere were abuzz with news of “Hindu extremists” being involved. No one ever thought that its wrong to judge someone of a wrongdoing before it was proven. Like earlier, we had “eminent bloggers” defending Muslims when there was speculation that “Muslim terrorists” are involved in July Mumbai train blasts… secularism indeed ?
@GreatBong,
Apart from the “Hindu extremist” thing, violence, rape, loot and murder are not the characteristics of Hindu extremists only. And again, going by the numbers, it is much less a characteristic of Hindu extremists. We only talk, but do not defend ourselves effectively.
>> Kindly stop deflecting the responsibility of Hindu extremists with the “Muslims do it moreâ€.
@ GreatBong,
No, I am not deflecting their responsibility.
Lets just see why they are there. Why do they have support amongst people? Maybe not overwhelming support, but even in small terms. If you really analyse the history and think deeper about it, Hindu extremism was a response to Muslim fanaticism and oppression. Why was Hindu extremism born, and why did it take root later on in the 90s, but never before that. Hell, most of us dont care about the mandir in Ayodhya.
Its this pseudo-secularism and appeasement that we are worried about. We would even have been okay with this, if it had stopped terrorist acts and riots against us (I mean, us 🙂 , extremists or not). But even after hurting ourselves to please the muslims, we still are the wrong party.
>> The series was telecast here in India on Ten Sports, a channcel owned by Sheikh Bukhatir, known to be still close to Dawood
Yeah, very true. Bang on target, Mohan.
Also, the Sheikh is the guy who organized those infamous matches in Sharjah, where betting is rampant (BTW, i thought gambling was against islam! note this is sharjah, not dubai) .
@ shadows and others
Your frustration is understandable, especially the eternal search for “moral equivalence” vis-a-vis every mindblowing and bodyblowing action of the followers of Islam.
But I dont think GB is guilty of that.
You wrote, “We only talk, but do not defend ourselves effectively”.
I look forward to your thoughts and participation (within our limited means) on how the effectiveness can be increased.
I disagree that popular Hindu Revivalism (many call it Hindu Fascism, Modism…etc..etc depending on their p-secness)
is a post-Ayodhya phenomenon.
In fact Ayodhya movement itself owes its existance to some mindboggling cross-sect work done by
Master Tara Singh (Akali)
Swami Chinamayanand
Arya Samaj
RSS
In Bengal, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Sri Aurobindo to some degree and Shyama Prasad Mookherjee in full regalia can be given the credit for that.
The communists in Bengal should actually thank Hindu Mahasabha and Shyama Prasad Mookherjee for their existance.
Because without Hindu Mahasabha, the entire Bengal Province (without Purulia and Midnapore) would have become part of Islamic East Pakistan.
And instead of “Lal Selaam” our comrades would have been giving “greed Aadaabs”.
If you wish to communicate with me personally you can contact me at rishi_khujur@rediffmail.com
Sorry typo.. meant “green aadaabs” in my previous post
>>I disagree that popular Hindu Revivalism (many call it Hindu Fascism, Modism…etc..etc depending on their p-secness)
is a post-Ayodhya phenomenon.
@ Rishi,
What I meant was that it did not have much support before the 90s. The voting patterns reveal that. They never had much public support earlier.
One more thing – Why Hindu Mahasabha was needed? Why in the 5000 years of our existence, did it come up only during Gandhi-Nehru glory days? It was a response to something (we all know that Something)..
The saffron parivar that exists today are all offshoots of that Mahasabha.
@shadows
Agree
the ballotization of Hindu revivalism was a outcome VHP’s realization that they are powerless in the face fatwaa/decree/vote bank politics.
Shah Bano was the final nail in the coffin.
@Shadows
you wrote: One more thing – Why Hindu Mahasabha was needed? Why in the 5000 years of our existence, did it come up only during Gandhi-Nehru glory days? It was a response to something (we all know that Something)..
Rishi- The Hindu Mahasabha or similar groups were needed right from the time organized political parties came into existence in India. The day Hindus were intellectually, physically and politically able to come up with one they did.
In all the bytes that surround the tragedy , I was quite shocked to hear about one aspect of the whole tragedy, which has possibly been missed. The Samjhauta train, due to the ‘sensitive’cargo it was carrying, has all it’s windows and doors shut, and they cannot be opened from inside till it reaches a station. Effectively making it the easiest job in the world for woild be arsonists to cause mayhem.
This shortsighted, ignorant and idiotic move by both the governments needs to be condemned. They may as well not run the train, if these are the horrific conditions people are going to be made to travel in. Hint: All the passengers in the Samjauta Express are typically poor, who cannot afford to fly into Pakistan the way their rulers can.
Dear all,
It is with a heavy heart that I write as the pakistani families of victims travelling by the Samjauta experiment have not gotten over the loss. All this blood just after the Nithari crisis, is too much for our soil to take as it screams out to God to take revenge on the killers. If the government and the law become impotent, and the media is only wagging their tails to the tune of the ruling parties where do the values India stands for and boasts about go? They make a silent exit from the back doors of our lives without our knowledge they r replaced by a cold and unconcerned apathy. We have become habituated to seeing all the blood and gore and our eyes have dried of tears. We can’t shed any precious tears except till it reaches one of our kith and kin. Who sold the soul of India?
I think the bigger point is “who cares”? All of us pretend to be concerned about such disasters but the truth is we don’t care.
I admit the fact I don’t care. It is not something that affected me. Whatever.
@Rakesh: Who cares? We do. Next time we board a train or a plane, or visit a shrine, or wander near the Gateway of India, our number might be up. Not a reassuring thought, my friend!
The greatest victim of terrorist attacks is the peace of mind in the country of the victims. That’s exactly the aim of the terrorists – to tell their enemy that “No matter where you are, you are not safe, and your government cannot save you unless you give in to our demands.”
That’s the very definition of terrorism.
Of course, if you mean that who cares for the victims of a particular terrorist attack, you are right. We’ve got too used to these things happening again and again to feel the pain. A colleague of mine from the US wrote to express his sympathy for the victims of the attack. I didn’t even know it had happened.
Raghavan Datta….too good…great use of sarcastic humor