Mumbai, again... :(

Another terror attack in India... Another 100+ people killed... Day long coverage from the Indian television media, newspapers filled with unfortunate photos... And, the same cluelessness on the part of all the intelligence agencies of the world... Everything sounds so very familiar, almost like a deja-vu... Is this the new era we are going towards, where such attacks are to be 'expected' every month? Where every person leaving his home in the morning, is not really sure if he would return back that night? Where one part of the world is working hard towards 'raising the standard of life' while the other part witnesses the 'value of human life' deteriorating every day? There are many things that baffle me when it comes to 'our' responses to such incidents... But the thing I am sure of is the answer to all these questions... And the answer is "NO"...

India has witnessed atleast half a dozen such attacks in 2008 alone... And everytime such unfortunate incident takes place, I usually try to check some Indian TV channel on the web and get all my news online... However, the way media has been reporting today has made me believe that today's incident could potentially be a game-changer... There have been at least three national news channels in the US, covering the mumbai incident throughout the day - without breaking even once for local US news.. For the first time, I am witnessing such major global coverage of a non-US incident and this indeed gives me some 'hope' that the world is finally taking a note of the plight of terrorism in 'third world' countries...

One of the famous reporters for a major US news channel mentioned that today was India's 9/11... I was actually amused to listen that because if you look in terms of the number of casualties, there have been many more attacks in India where this number was far more than the one reported today... This makes me ponder - why is the western media paying so much attention this time? Is it because 'westerners' were targeted for the first time in India? Is it because it was the most co-ordinated attack launched ever in India? Or is it because elections are over and there is nothing substantial to report? Whatever the reason is - I am happy that atleast this time, an incident as unfortunate as this one, did not go unnoticed by the West...

While I certainly appreciate the statements all the governments of the world including the 'government-elect' here in the US have rolled out, what the world really needs is action... We must realize that terrorism does not have religion and neither can it be identified by a nationality... Terrorism in any format or in any part of the world is equally dangerous and the solution can only be reached when the roots are targeted... It is said that 'good' always conquers the 'evil' and I am staunch believer that terrorism has to be, and will be vanished some day... Let this be the day, all the governments of the world unite together to target the roots rather than the branches... Let this be the day, that sparks a 'plan to eradicate terrorism' rather than a mere 'war on terrorism'...