NDTV Correspondent
Saturday, November 29, 2008 3:26 AM ()
The world is watching what is being described as India's 9/11 and the internet is alive with discussion. The overwhelming theme led by Mumbaikars like Amitabh Bachchan is anger.
Mumbai is keeping torturously awake by the terror attacks and Bollywood too hasn't slept a wink it seems.
When Amitabh Bachchan is not glued to Television, he is blogging.
"Bombay is in terrible-terrible situation," writes Big B in his blog.
The superstar is horrified with 'ineptitude of the authorities' and feels so insecure by the events that he is compelled to pull his 0.32 revolver,
load it and put it under his my pillow, he says.
Actor Sharmila Tagore finds the present state of Mumbai 'devastating'. Decades ago when she arrived in Mumbai, she lived in the Taj for 'months together'.
"When I saw the hotel burning, I felt as if my house was burning," says the actor.
Actor Aamir Khan feels indebted to security agencies and writes that he prays for the brave officers of Mumbai Police, Indian Army, Navy, and the NSG.
However, Aamir 'dreads' to think 'how various political parties will use this tragedy to further their political careers'.
Meanwhile, Mumbai's best selling author Suketu Mehta believes that the Maximum City was attacked because of its wealth, and Taj symbolised that wealth.
"Taj is to Bombay what Empire State Building is to New York. Ordinary guests needed inner confidence to project to the gatekeepers. And had to convince themselves that they belong there. But the terrorists required none of that. They marched into the lobby with confidence, in rage," he writes.
Gareth Price of Guardian is interested in the aftermath. "Can political parties reach a consensus on tackling terrorism?" he asks.
The danger is that the debate about terrorism becomes a debate about Muslims in India, which directly benefits the terrorists, he points out.
Author Shahi Tharoor agrees. "Bombs and bullets cannot destroy India - as long as the country remains a pluralistic society," says Tharoor.
Tharoor says the terrorists were not homegrown, but if the attacks lead to demonisation of Muslims, the terrorists will win the war eventually. The writer points out that Islamist extremism was nurtured by military rulers of Pakistan and now haunts its weak democracy and threatens to engulf India.
There has never been a stronger case for a united action by both India and Pakistan to remove the cancer from their midst.
Regards
Venu
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