There are hardly any parallels to what happened in Ahmedabad- in terms of terror attacks, IEDs and suicide bombings, never has a hospital been targeted in the cruel and completely inhuman manner the Civil hospital in Shahibaug and the LG Hospital in Maninagar were.
Hospitals are always the centre of action after any attack- it's perhaps the first time they have become the scene of the attack itself. ( I say perhaps, because there have been a few incidents of bombs near hospitals like the one near the Mallya hospital in Bangalore a day earlier, and others in Baghdad also near hospitals).
If terror is a war, then what kind of war is this - that tries to kill the wounded, to maim those already suffering, and to destroy the healers? Agreed, we are all pawns and possible targets of these groups, but are there no exceptions?
On July 7, Kabul saw another unwritten boundary crossed-when two diplomats were among 41 killed at the Indian Embassy. In the worst of the attacks in Kashmir, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh those unwritten laws have always meant doctors and patients, diplomats, and children aren't directly made the target.
Yet there at the trauma centres of the Civil Hospital and the LG Hospital, terrorists struck - with some estimates that the act of planting bombs may have been done as much as three days before. Three days to think about the havoc they would rain, three days to call it off.
But perhaps the worst part of the plan- that the blasts at the hospitals were timed to be among the last of them all - 80 minutes after the first bomb went off, 40 minutes after the first round ended - at the very hospitals where most of the injured would be taken. A diabolical plan that killed a hardworking doctor and his pregnant wife, that murdered little children visiting an ailing grandmother, and so many others. What kind of mind can work out something like that?
Has the terrorist hit a new low in savagery? Or is it a new desperation? Is the "Indian Mujahideen", the group that claims it planted the bombs in Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Varanasi, and other soft targets across the country only looking to frighten us?
If it was, the group has probably learned that bombing markets, temples, mosques, cinema theatres and bus stands doesn't actually serve to scare us away. Most of the markets are full again a day later, and so are all the other spots, simply because most of us don't have a choice but to go to those places. Or as a friend of mine fatalistically put it, "if it's dangerous to go everywhere, then why be afraid to go anywhere?"
It's therefore more likely that what the terrorist really wants is our response- hard, fast, strong in force, but low in intelligence. The Indian Mujahideen wants crackdowns, mass arrests, the use of state force, and if possible, the explosion of public anger.
The group lies when it says the blasts are in revenge for events of the past - it's the revenge of the future that they aim to create. It's not our fear they're looking for, it's our retaliation they want. And that's something to think about, as we plan it.
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suhasini,
these recent attacks by terrorists give some indication,which most of us missed out.firstly they targeted on low scale in bangalore.they made all indian agencies fool to judge their further plans and on the next very day they had full fledged horrifying attack in ahemdabad.again terrorrised us in surat but no casualities which could have been even more than ahemdabad.this is a total fool making experiment done by terrorists and i think we should expect some more terrifying incidents in future.i wonder if indian agencies will react proactively and save important lives .
dr vipan bhatia. ...Reply
Suhasini,
If according to you, the terrorists want retaliation, then they are really foolish. Because it has been proved umpteen number of times that we Indians do not retaliate to terrorist attacks. If we are among the victims, we sit and mourn our dead. If we are lucky to have escaped, then we show up at work the very next day and earn kudos from channels like yours.
If you really see the history of the past 20 years of terrorism, there has been no retaliation at all. The only instances of retaliation have been the 1993 Mumbai riots and the 2002 Gujarat riots - and these are not retaliation to terrorist attacks. The first one was Muslim retaliation to the Babri Masjid attack in December 1992, which was retaliated by the Hindus in January 1993 and which was finally retaliated by the Muslims by the bomb blasts in March 1993.
The other attack (your channel's pet incident which is still alive) is the 2002 Gujarat incidents, where the Muslims retaliated to the Kar Sevaks singing bhajans by burning down a train bogey and the Hindus retaliated by massacaring the Muslims in riots and the Muslims retaliated by massacaring the Hindus in the riots.
Of course, we tend to forget the most brutal of the retaliation - the 1984 Sikh riots which were a retaliation to the killing of Mrs Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.
Apart from these, please tell me of one single incident of retaliation when cities have been subjected to bomb blasts?
So either the terrorists are brain dead - or journos who analyse the riots are! That is why I fail to understand why the politicians "appeal for calm" each time a bomb blast occurs! That happens anyway without the appeal! ...Reply
Well said.. ...Reply
Dear Suhasini,
Retaliate? to what? Have we the guts and and the inclination to unite and stand as one entity and fight this terrorism? Do we have to the time from the tall claims from being a Bengali, Kannadiga,Maharashtrian,Gujrati,Tamilian,Keralite,Andharite,Goan,Punjabi,Kashmiri, Yadavs,Chowdhray's, so and so forth.
Have we the inclination to burry the Hinutva in us, or Christian, Muslim, Punjabi.....in all this where is the INDIAN gone. So unl;ess you find this lost Tribe called INDIAN you will never be in a position to retaliate. They know this is something impossible. And more than any thing else this Corruption all around bogs us down to becoming duds lacking all initiatives.
So forget retaliation and they will make hay while the sun of lethargy and ineptitude reigns the people as a nation. We have to come up from all these regional influences, and stand up as one Nation and one people only then can we can even think of retaliation. This being a distant dream and a wishful thinking, continue the tolerance that we have, and pride over it, thats all.
Stmehta ...Reply
Suhasini madam don't draw a parallel b/w terrorists attacks on India and blasts in Pakistan/bangaladesh. The blast in pak n bagladesh are not a jihad against the infidels but a war between the ISI,terrorist organizations and Govt of pakistan for not giving them proper attention and freedom after 9/11 thats a whole different story. Where as attacks on India are well planned by pakistani govt, millitary,ISI and Terrorists organizations with support of Indian muslims (truth is bitter).
It looks you want to create an environment not to use force and mass arrests against terorists or certain community involved in these attacks,You are not an expert so please don't try to read terrorist psycho.
Brahama Chellani a defense expert if you have ever heard of him clearly demands a tit for tat and use of force and even attacks on terrorists camps across border to stop this menace.
and stop keeping india and pakistan in same basket.Pakistan is a terrorist factory and india is a playground for terrrorists with local muslim support. ...Reply
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