Nov 27 2008
India Terrorism Crisis: No Respect For Life
I have been watching the news today and giving thanks that I am not in India at this present moment. For anyone that as no idea what is going on, terrorists took over 10 of the major tourist spots in Mumbai, India. I say tourists spots despite the fact that they are iconic landmarks that are just as important to the people of India as they are to visitors because the terrorists have been asking those individuals that have been taken hostage whether they are British or American.
The Taj Mahal Palace and the Oberoi-Trident hotels have both been taken over by the terrorists with unknown numbers of people being held hostage within. Although Indian Commandos have been able to rescue some, their action has come too late for those that have already lost their lives.
Of course, no matter what some are saying, those individuals with guns and backpacks full of grenades are terrorists. There is no other word to describe them. Whether they belong to the Taliban or Lashkar-e-Toiba, or any other terrorist movement, it does not matter. What matters i that they believe they can do what they want and take lives without consequence. It has got to stop. They have absolutely no respect for human life at all.
What worries me most is not where they came from at this moment in time and which religious group they belong to, which seems to be a prime concern of the press, but the fact that all of the terrorists are walking around not caring whether anyone sees their faces. They have obviously thought about what to wear given that they all have Western clothes on, but why are they not covering their faces as so many other terrorists do? The obvious conclusion is that they are not expecting to get out of the situation with their lives, and if that is the case then everything in me hopes that the authorities in Mumbai can get to the innocents in those hostage buildings before any further loss of life.
I am of the opinion that religion does not matter. We have the right to believe what we want to believe. We have the right to live our lives as we see fit as long as we inflict no harm on anyone else. These people do not respect that notion and use religion as an excuse, and a poor one at that, to justify their dispicable actions. It is not good enough. Terrorism unfortunately has a place in the modern world but it must stop. Nobody should have the means to take lives, innocent lives, in such a way.
Religion is not an excuse. These cowards must be stopped. No peace loving Muslims should be persecuted as a result of the extremists that twist their basic beliefs to suit their own ends. My thoughts are with families that have loved ones in Mumbai at the moment. I hope your loved ones arrive home safely.
Great post, it is a scary moment indeed, and you make a good point about the terrorists not respecting human life. What a tragedy…
I think people need to remember this is just Mumbai: not India- its like saying avoid LA because there is a problem in New York! AFAIK they only targetted 2 5star luxury hotels plus the train station and a hospital. Its unclear how targetting this was on foreign nationals - there would have been a lot more Indians in all those locations than foreigners.
I’d agree they dont expect to come of this alive - but that is always the case in India: the security forces there always has the approach of shoot first: in fact one of the deaths is the head of Mumbai’s security police- he obviously was leading from the front - which is kinda stupid if you think about it for 5 secs!
Lis
http://travelover30s.today.com
In terms of the blog, the references to India are specific in that this event will affect all the people within the country, whether they live in Mumbai or not. Look at 9/11 and 7/7 in the UK. It affected everyone and peoples’ attitudes towards the countries in question. Do you think any foreign office will state not to go to Mumbai or not to go to India in reaction?
They actually hit 10 locations but many of those were small scale restaurants that only hit the news before the hostage situation in the hotels became clear.
Similarly, it was not clear that they were targetting foreign nationals before the hostage situation. It was only when hostages began to emerge from the hotels after the rescues started that the hostages themselves reported what the terrorists had asked them. They actually asked whether there were US or UK passport holders in the groups and shot and killed one man who responded in the affirmative under duress.
It is one of those situations that will only become fully clear afterwards but the sheer act of terror that they have perpetrated is completely clear now.