The operations to flush out the remaining few terrorists holed up in the 3 flashpoints in South Mumbai are yet to be completed.
That however has not restrained two species of public commentators in the Indian and International media from their insta-punditry.
The first species in the Indian media, in its eagerness to ascribe guilt is in no mood to wait for official investigations to be completed before confirming a Pakistan connection. Given the carelessness with which the Pakistan wolf is routinely called, this species is unconcerned with the credibility problem this poses with the puzzle yet to be put together in its entirety. (As this post goes to press Praveen Swami in The Hindu confirms the arrest of Pakistani Citizens including one?Ajmal Amir Kamal of Faridkot from one of the hotels)
As if acting on cue from the first species, is this second species in the International Media which has once again begun to demonstrate its obsessive complusive disorder of looking for “root causes”.
In the days following the American Presidential elections this second species picked on President elect Obama’s remarks on the “Kashmir cause” to chant the “resentment over Kashmir fuels Taliban terrorism in Pakistan” formulation. Giving life to this self serving myth were American commentators like NYTimes columnist Nicholas Kristof.
With accusations of a Pakistani connection emerging from the mayhem in Mumbai, this formulation is in the danger of being turned on its head. Hence we see with alacrity a pre-emptive strike by this species to issue apologies on behalf the terrorists in Pakistan with this new formulation of “muslim resentment over economic disparity fuels domestic terrorism”.
First it was Christine Fair in the New York Times with this ridiculous claim
“There are a lot of very, very angry Muslims in India,” she said, “The economic disparities are startling, and India has been very slow to publicly embrace its rising Muslim problem. You cannot put lipstick on this pig. This is a major domestic political challenge for India.”
?But what started with an odd analyst or two is now growing into a chorus with media outlets like the Newsweek making this formulation the centerpiece of their insta-punditry.
New Delhi has long accused Lashkar, and by extension Pakistan, of being behind the long-simmering unrest in Indian Kashmir, as well as being instigators of terror attacks inside India. Indian officials, however, conveniently ignore the serious economic, religious, political and social causes of Muslim discontent in Kashmir as well as in much of India, which is home to more than 150 million Muslims, roughly equivalent to the population of Pakistan. There have been five similar attacks, albeit on a smaller scale with fewer casualties, across India in the last eight months. Security agency sources say that the government’s response to the attacks has been routine, if not incompetent, and that inter-agency rivalries and non-coordination often result in terrorists having a free hand. In addition, the police are notorious for using crude methods such as rounding up largely innocent Muslim youth and torturing them to extract information, tactics that alienate even moderate Muslim voices.
As a result, Islamic radicalism now seems to be becoming an increasingly serious threat to India just as it is in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Indeed, there may be enough dissatisfaction among Muslims in India to spawn a cadre of native, would-be jihadists who do not necessarily need external support to carry out terrorist attacks
Offstumped Bottomline:
Before this chorus becomes the default mantra for the International Media, Offstumped has just two words for them – LAY OFF
Domestic politics in India may have spawned a culture of Communal Socialism that has viewed social deprivation through the flawed prism of “Muslim Discrimination”. But this culture of vote bank politics cannot be allowed to be exploited by Pakistan Apologists in the International Media to push their flawed and misconceived agenda of addressing their security concerns through appeasement of the Pakistani establishment.
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Filed under: Chhattisgarh Polls 2008, Delhi Polls 2008, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009, Madhya Pradesh Polls 2008, War on Terror, betrayal of aam admi
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