India mood

The World
The World

MA says the people of India are angry: against the attackers but also against the inadequacy of preventing the attacks. (You wrote a scathing critique of the government for those reasons and there were similar feelings about the U.S. government in the wake of 9/11. Is that a sign of how sophisticated terrorism is becoming or is it really a failure of government?) The major difference between 9/11 and Mumbai is there was no precedent for 9/11, but here in India this has been going on for the last two or three years in escalating levels. (In terms of the consequences of the attack, are you concerned about a backlash against India’s Muslim citizens?) the Indian people are showing a degree of maturity which is reassuring and it’s despite the level of anger across the country, the Indian people are mature enough to believe that you cannot punish a whole community because of the actions of a deviant few. They know this might have been the purpose of the attackers, to destroy the harmony of communities in India.

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