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Mumbai, the current scene of bloody machine gun battles with grenades being thrown at civilians, firefighters and police, is India’s most cosmopolitan city. Facing the Arabian Sea, it is also it’s most Middle Eastern flavored, and the city is dotted with Parsi and Zoroastrian buildings and designs, all jostling for grandeur amongst the colonial architecture brought in by the British. For centuries, people of all faiths have traded in Mumbai. The Taj Hotel, now aflame, pock marked with bullet holes and rocked by explosions, was built by the founder of the Tata Group and is still operated by them. You were just as likely to see visiting Arabic businessmen in dish-dash-ah and headscarves in the lobby, milling around with American executives, visiting Chinese traders, and the wealthy India elite as anyone else. Yet now that same lobby has become a killing field in the name of Islam, if new reports coming to light confirm that the terrorists sped in by boat from Karachi, in southern Pakistan.
Karachi itself is the financial center of Pakistan, just as Mumbai is too India. One has to wonder about the lax security of the Naval base in Mumbai, the berths for the Indian Navy are just yards from the Gateway of India and the Taj Hotel itself, and being so one would have thought in-bound vessels should have been tracked on radar and identified. Yet the discovery of a boat full of weapons and ammunition moored just off the Gateway – and literally just across the street from the Taj – would seem to indicate security was relaxed.
Yet that the vantage point of the Gateway to India should be a security risk seems obvious. That an area milling with foreign tourists, several luxury five star hotels, and numerous expensive waterfront restaurants and residences extending more than three miles along Marine Drive should not pose a risk for the extremist beliefs of Islamic fundamentalists seems almost negligent.
With reports of Western, and especially American and British passport holders being targeted, as well as the apparent abduction of a Jewish Rabbi and his family would indicate that anti-Western motives are afoot. But then again, mayhem and violence at Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus or V.T. station) – rarely used by foreigners but packed with local Indians – suggests either an alternative motive – Hindi/Muslim clashes over Kashmir spring to mind – or just a random desire to trash Mumbai regardless of who is in the way.
Certainly, the throwing of hand grenades and machine-gunning of firefighters battling fires engulfing the Taj and Oberoi Trident Hotels is not something regular terrorists would choose to target. The intent has been to cause maximum damage and to destroy whoever gets in the way regardless of color or creed.
Whatever the motives, the impact is clear. A well organized, and heavily armed militia were able to storm into Mumbai almost at will and wreak havoc. Even the central Police Headquarters came under attack. For awhile, Mumbai was out of control and at the mercy of the men who had shipped in. Hundreds of Indians, and several foreigners, now lie dead. Many more may follow while the violence that is now being played out as hostages are taken has still to reach a conclusion. For Mumbai, the 27th November is its equivalent of 9/11.
Yet meeting just last week with Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of Punjab, I was reminded just how Pakistan itself hurts from extremism. Whilst looking to attract foreign investment into Pakistan, he acknowledged, as did the Ministry of Commerce and several other high ranking officials as part of the official government delegation visiting China just how much the country felt ‘embarrassed’ by violence. “There are those who would seek to disrupt us” he stated “We need help with our security and we need to root out troublemakers”. He seemed sincere, almost apologetic.
If Pakistan truly wishes to turn back the tide of fundamentalism in its country, and stop exporting violence overseas, then it must have proper support and assistance from India. Yet the concern is that if last nights atrocities in Mumbai turn out to be Islamic backed, violence and retribution could ignite across India. The nation possesses a larger Muslim population than Pakistan, and much of the area around the Crawford Bazaar in the heart of Mumbai remains steadfastly Muslim – Mosques and Minarets abound, as do bushy beards, skull caps and women wearing burkhas. Anti-Muslim feelings here if uncontrolled in the wake of these terrorist attacks would be devastating. Tens of thousands could die.
India, and Mumbai, must be on their guard against such feelings and act quickly to defuse tensions that are bound to be running high. Violence against Muslims in Mumbai if incited would make what has occurred the past 24 hours look like a Sunday promenade walk. The sooner India and Pakistan publicly announce a joint, high level work force to defuse the situation and engage in some serious counter-intelligence in anti-terrorism activities between the two countries, then the sooner the sorts of scenes that has been displayed across the world the past few hours can be put to one side, and the basic fundamentals of a peace accord between factions within the two countries finally be implemented. It needs to happen fast.
