Two years ago there were several bombs detonated on trains in Mumbai killing hundreds of people. This was a classic terrorist act killing a large number of civilians indiscriminately. Although there was plenty of gory footage and weeping survivors the event got very little attention in the American media.
Since that time there have been a number of violent incidents throughout this world that have occurred that have taken the lives of far more than 200 people that have received very little media coverage. In Congo alone estimates have it that maybe 5 million people have died in the last several years in the civil conflict and yet there has been more coverage of the Mumbai attack in the last 48 hours than there has been of the Congo ever.
Why is the media obsessed with this attack in Mumbai? Why is the political world obsessed? And why are Muslims falling all over themselves to condemn such an attack? The lessons I take from this are the following;
A) Rich People Died at Famous Places
Unlike in the Congo, where almost all of the dead are black and poor, these attacks targeted places that are known to be tied to the Indian wealthy and political elite and Westerners. The 2006 bombings just killed a bunch of Apu’s trying to get to work and back and that did not merit coverage from the Western media; but there may have been some white people killed in this attack God forbid. People also died in places where Bollywood and Cricket stars congregate and members of Indian high society died (even intelligence officials). People died whose humanity is recognized in the West and when they die it becomes an event. Unlike, as an example, when poor Muslims are torched and killed in Gujarat whose lives are given the same amount of value the Congolese are by the West.
B) Start Digging Graves in Pakistan ( and 200 will not suffice)
If you listen to media accounts of these events, despite very little evidence to support this claim, fingers are already being pointed at Pakistan. Especially the Pakistani mujahedeen group Lashkar-e-Taiba has been pointed out. In case this is your first time to the dance and you have not seen the drums to war being beaten before let me tell you how this is going to go. International outrage at this incident will grow. Heads of state will meet and discuss what should be the appropriate response to this attack. India will say that unless law and order is established in Pakistan there can be no peace and more events like this will occur. America and Britain will agree and will pressure Pakistan to assert full military control over the tribal areas. This will cause something along the lines of a civil-war in Pakistan (something more than you have today where there are people killed everyday in fighting in Pakistan and it does not get reported in the media). Due to the out of control situation of Pakistan a coalition of Western militaries (this always means the American and British and a few European countries sending nurses or something) along with India will invade Pakistan to restore order. Those same Muslims making such eloquent condemnations of attacks in Mumbai they had nothing to do with will then be approached to support the response to these attacks. As a matter of fact, I will take that further, those same Desi Muslims so shook up about these attacks, will then be harassed by the FBI who will suspect them of being a Pakistani 5th Column in America and saying “read my condemnation” will be meaningless at that point.
C) Sophistication
As I have stated many times before I am whole-heartedly against random acts of terrorism that kill civilians who are non-combatants. I am one of the few conservative Muslim writers who has publicly and aggressively condemned suicide bombings in Israel as an example. However, and we still do not have all of the information, I do not see this event, as of yet, as being akin to 7-7, 9-11, or the Madrid train bombings which were all senseless in the sense that they were meant to kill as many people as possible and had no way of distinguishing who would die. This event targeted specific people and places. Government and intelligence officials were picked out to be assassinated who had committed crimes themselves against Muslims. Hotels were targeted that are the home to the Indian elite and Western interests. Where these hotels blown up? Where thousands of people rounded up and shot? Where bombs planted that killed thousands or even hundreds? No, they were not, but whoever did this clearly had the capability to do so had they chosen to. This was a disciplined and relatively bloodless affair compared to what could have been so the international outrage seems a little out of order.
Back to the Issue of Condemnation
This post is separate from the issue of condemnation. But back to that topic for a moment; even if I believed this event to be the worst attack in the history of humanity I would not feel the need as a Muslim to condemn it. I had no part in this attack, it was not done on behalf of American-Muslims, it was not done on behalf of my family, it was not carried out by anyone I know. Therefore, since I have nothing to do with this attack or no influence over anyone involved I still do not see the need to condemn.
I’m not convinced about “B.” More and more news reports that I’ve been reading have suggested that this may be an internal job rather than foreign-based. In fact, it may be partly a backlash against Hindutva policies and actions against the Indian Muslim population. See this post for a decent roundup of information.
You might have to rethink some of your points
See below
One of the first targets was the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station, where at least two men fired automatic weapons and threw grenades at crowds of people waiting in the main hall.
A second group opened fire at Café Leopold, a popular restaurant, while a third seized Nariman House, a business complex housing a Jewish outreach centre, taking several people hostage.
A fourth group – or, some reports say, the same one that attacked the station nearby – struck the Cama and Albless hospital for women and children. A number of drive-by shootings were also reported across the city.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7754456.stm
I agree with you 100% on the condemnation point. It sickens me to the core.
Rich People Died at Famous Places
You mean white people died (first and foremost).
Well, there could be the whole anti-Pakistan ruse, but to be honest, they blame just about EVERYTHING on Pakistan and Muslims. Muslims in India are treated like trash, hated and discriminated against. And in the past, most of the attacks that have been against Muslims there have been in areas where Muslims have started to improve (get educated etc.). So if we stick to the story of Indian Mujahideen, then that could be true, since Muslims can get very frustrated there and even though they love India, they are treated like Jews treat Nazis. The other thing is, these “terrorists” killed Muslims in there as well. So that’s really odd (and horribe!) especially if these terrorists are Muslim guys.
Could it be a primer for attacking Pakistan? Maybe. But if something like that were to happen, it would unite Pakistan, especially since Pakistanis are extremely divided amongst themselves, in fact, I would guess in 10 years Pakistan would be on the brink of splitting apart into multiple parts. So if its war, it could have that effect.
The other scenario is that these guys were foreign mercenaries (Blackwater anybody? Gurkhas were in Iraq too…) and this was something done to mess with India’s economy. American intel had said maybe a week ago, that in 4 years, USA will no longer be a superpower, with India and China taking there place. So why not just mess up their economy by hitting the financial center of the country, Mumbai, undermine foreign confidence in India by attacking foreigners. I think this is more plausible- they were primarily attacking Americans and British people, and NOT necessarily the racist Hindu BJP leaders. Additionally, why didn’t these “Mujahideen” issue a big talk or some cathartic big spiel complaining about how Muslims are treated in India? Or abroad? With something of this level, they wouldn’t hesitate to do that.
The focus was on spreading terror and fear among foreigners, so I think that might be what’s really going on, even if these guys were Desis, they could’ve been manipulated and brainwashed to think it’s “jihad” by some dude working for Americans?
Oh and just for kicks, they said some Israeli commandos might also be working with the Indian commandos :P
Dawud,
The killing of fellow Muslims has never been an issue for these types of terrorists. The thought being “they are Muslim, they die Shaheed and go to Heaven”.
Umar has made some good points but I think the facts show, when looked at in depth, that these groups killed almost anyone they ran into. Did they pay attention to certain groups as priority targets? Sure, but massive death and destruction was their goal.
Already the conspiracy theories start, it is an easy way to try and deflect any responsiblity on anyone’s part.
Indian Muslims are treated like crap, but it still doesnt justify these attacks. It is sad that it took the deaths of Westerners to bring about media attention when the deaths of hundreds and thousands have been ignored before.
From a pure curioisty angle, this attack is different because it involved numerous attacks and numerous attackers in a variety of positions in a city for what is now almost three days. Nothing like this has been seen before, whereas bombed trains, planes and markets have been all too uncommon.
As to any full scale attack on Pakistan, I dont see it happening. The risk of a nuke being given by Pakistani intelligence (already pro-Taliban and AQ) is too high.
As a Muslim I dont condemn these attacks, but as a human, a father and a family member I do. I lived in Virginia and a man and his 13 year old daughter from here were gunned down in India. That could have been me, it could have been my children. It could have been us in Gujarat who were chased down and hacked to death or burned alive for no reason other than being Muslim.
When will the senseless killings stop?
Another interesting post over at Daily Kos by Mash. He and his wife translated an interview with one of the gunman. It suggests that if this attack was foreign-based, it at least had local (Indian Muslim) help.
Umar,
Our Brother Yousef Al-Khataab made the EXACT same points that you are making above, masha Allah. This is a video by him
Salaams
if we really care let us highlight and condemn all oppression in all parts of the world and not be selective . india has been forming dangerous liaisons with suspicious groups in order to destabilize muslims living in India . Peaceful relations were sacrificed for political goals and that is why we have the Gujarat massacres in 2002 . India needs to think about their own wrongful actions first and consider reformation of its policies with respect to muslims and christians . Oppression surfaces in ugly forms unless we apply right thinking policies to deal with all diversity . We need to learn to condemn the cause and root of the problems and not the effect if we are genuinely seeking to express our true feelings . Why was India targetted ? is it just terror or are there underlying causes ? how is India’s relations with muslims ? Is it good or bad ? Let us look beneath the surface first ? if peaceful policies were implemented then peace will be apparent , not violence as we have witnessed .
hussein
South Africa
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The terrorist attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the only time in history that nuclear weapons were used. The targets were strictly civilian-neither city had any military. The point was to terrorize the “enemy” and the world. It worked. Very few condemned it.
Suddenly,people want to pontificate against those with justifiable issues to wage war. What happened in Mumbai wasn’t half as bad as the carnage the u.s. has committed in Iraq and Afghanistan. These same people who object to this action never object to civilian casualties committed by u.s. imperialism-only against Muslims with legitamate grievances.
Thanks Timothy for your honesty and insight. All violence wherever needs condemnation all the time,relentlessly committed by whoever wages it.The real danger is STATE SPONSORED TERROR as we citizens blindly trust our governments. Our very leaders are lacking in morals and standards. Why can we not choose REAL and honest leaders to LEAD us . Is the democratic system flawed ? Stupid leaders selected from the masses . Where are the WISE leaders to guide humanity ?
Abu Sinan said:
“Already the conspiracy theories start, it is an easy way to try and deflect any responsiblity on anyone’s part. ”
Well friend I agree with you that senseless violence anywhere is wrong especially according to Islamic Standards. Yet I can’t turn away from the facts that the official story is very questionable at best. I can’t ignore that one of the first Indian authorities killed at the scene had uncovered Hindu extremist involvement in previous bombings in India.
Also don’t you find it a little suspicious how these people were sooo we trained, etc. and well prepared that they left a huge trail (in fact a boat load) of evidence back to Pakistan and how they even carried their Pakistani ID’s in their pockets to make sure they could be clearly identified. Isn’t that a little suspicious to you or is it all a huge coincidence?? If you ask me this attack was nothing like what a group of fanatical Muslims would do, especially when they don’t have any set of demands.