Bombs bay in Delhi

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With pathetic regularity, a handful of delusional losers lived out their role-playing fantasy once again. We liked them better when they were living in mom’s basement, unemployed and pimply with their bidis, bhang and their 12-sided dice. ~50 dead and rising.

Paharganj market after the bombing

The first blast was reported at around 5.40 pm from the crowded Paharganj area, popular with foreign backpackers, and among the most congested areas in central Delhi close to the New Delhi Railway Station. The other explosion occurred soon after in Sarojini Nagar, another busy shopping area in south Delhi, popular among the middle class and even foreigners. Soon after there were reports of similar blasts from a few other areas, including Govindpuri, also a teeming market, in south Delhi.

“There was a huge explosion and the walls of a number of buildings came crashing down,” said Arun Gupta, secretary of the All Delhi Hotel Association. “It was so powerful the whole market started shaking,” added Gupta, who said he was barely 100 metres away from the blast spot at Pahargunj that was full of foreign tourists that throng its budget hotels and innumerable internet cafes…

The third blast occurred near the Kalkaji depot in Govindpuri, another extremely congested area… An official of the brand new Delhi Metro said the trains were running normally and commuters were being thoroughly frisked before entering the stations. [Link]

… [Paharganj] is outside the New Delhi railway station and is popular with travelers. Witnesses said that a woman and her infant were among the dead, as was one of the betel nut vendors who haunt the city’s markets… Mr. Chawla said he saw six or seven women lying on the ground, including one whose sari had caught fire. He grabbed bedsheets from a nearby vendor and used them to douse the flames. [Link]

Paharganj is a busy wholesale market, dotted with small, inexpensive hotels frequented by foreign travelers, particularly backpackers. [Link]

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Preliminary reports said that just about an hour ago, police had received a call about a bomb placed in a bag in the Paharganj area. But before the police could get to the place, the explosive went off. [Link]

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p>A bus driver or two saved countless lives:

The bus was travelling on the Outer Mudrika route when an unidentified man entered the bus from the Kalkaji Mandir stop. Later a passenger saw an unclaimed bag under a seat and alerted the driver Kuldeep and the conductor Budh Prakash. The driver stopped the bus and on checking he found explosives inside it. The driver and the conductor carried the bag outside the bus and threw it away which exploded immediately on landing. [Link]

There were at least 35-40 people travelling on a bus through Govindpuri when the conductor spotted a suspicious looking plastic bag on the bus that did not belong to any of the passengers. He immediately asked all the passengers to get out of the bus. “If it wasn’t for the conductor and the driver, all the passengers would’ve died, I want to know what happened to them, I am grateful to them,” said Afzal, an injured passenger. There were just five people on board when the blast rattled the bus… Both the driver and the conductor suffered injuries. The driver is in a critical state. [Link]

The police also recovered a bomb from a bank in the Chandni Chowk area, which was defused by the bomb squad immediately. [Link]

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p>Given its experience with bomb blasts, Bombay tightened security:

Security was stepped up at important locations like the US and Israeli consulates, the American Centre in the Cuff Parade area, the government secretariat at Nariman Point in south Mumbai and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s residence in the western suburb of Bandra, officials said.

The elite anti-terrorist squad was providing security covers for all these locations as well as religious places like the Siddhi Vinayak Temple in central Mumbai’s Prabhadevi area. Additional barricades and sand bunkers have been installed to foil any attempt by suicide bombers, officials added. [Link]

In August 2003, car bombs a few minutes apart in a crowded bullion market and outside a hotel in India’s financial capital of Mumbai killed at least 44 people.

In 1993, a dozen explosions — including blasts at the Mumbai stock exchange, Air India’s Mumbai headquarters and the Centaur Hotel — killed more than 250 people and injured 500. [Link]

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p>Fortunately, we know that America’s good friend Musharraf toils ceaselessly to restrain these eunuchs. [/sarcasm]

News photos, full coverage.

Related post: Film bombs in Delhi

79 thoughts on “Bombs bay in Delhi”

  2. yes, umair, the power sharing in J&K was an alliance deal predetermined. in fact, at one point last week congress was thinking of delaying their deal.

  4. “Who” is to blame for the attacks is quite obvious: Only militants from PoK can do these types of henious act’s since left extremism is still confined to rural Bihar.

    I see a series of unfortunate events here:

    • During the earthquake, Indian army killed around 50 militants trying to enter India taking advantage of the calamity.

    • Musharraf strategically requested India for relaxing boundry security in PoK.

    • Now these attacks in Delhi.

    • Militant groups are claiming responsibilty – as if there was any doubt otherwise.

    Musharraf has failed (intentionally?) all across his efforts to curb terrorism in kashmir. It almost seems that he is in fact responsible.

  5. My Condolences

    My mother was telling me that on AsiaNet (a kerala channel beamed all over the world) a live broadcast of a malayali woman being informed via mobile phone, that her husband had just died in the bombings. She was sitting on her bed with the phone and as she hears the news, an expression of disbelief and sorrow overcame her face. She turned hysterical. All this was seen live by millions.

    I was thinking then, that aren’t moments like that very personal and sensitive? Does the media actually have the right to broadcast something so shocking?

    It made my mother cry.

  6. i fourth comment #46.

    and, arvindh:

    I’d agree with Bong Breaker – I used to read through the posts here because they usually had some good points of view on offer. Sadly, the tripe above (coming, as it were, on such an occassion) isn’t exactly readership material.

    it’s the indo-pak related threads that bring out the trolls and the armchair kommandants.

    the culture threads are much more worthwhile. see you over there.

    peace

  7. I was thinking then, that aren’t moments like that very personal and sensitive? Does the media actually have the right to broadcast something so shocking?

    The news media can wait and cover these stories later, they dont have to make a live grief spectacle. I’m curious was it a 24 hr news kind of channel?

  8. You would think that the ISI and the Pakistani army would be more concerned with helping the earthquake victims (who apparently might die in large numbers if relief is not provided to them this winter) instead of using Kashmiri militant groups to instigate murderous attacks on Indians.

  10. Boundary security has yet to be relaxed – just an agreement in principle has been made. Stop thinking that the ones connected to this bombing have crossed over in the aftermath of the quake.

  11. alybaba,

    I would advise you read the following article from OutlookIndia.com: Jihad after the quake before countering some known facts.

    The article was written before the terrorist attacks – october 24th.

    They (terrorists) carried out two unsuccessful infiltration attempts immediately after the quake in order to benefit from the disorder caused by the natural disaster. Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, stated, on October 16: “Militants have made about five infiltration attempts since the October 8 earthquake, including two on a single day. About 25-29 of them have been killed.” With the SFs engaged in relief, rescue and rehabilitation efforts, the terrorists are scouting for soft targets and also attempting to push in as many infiltrators as possible.

  12. And some more research while you are at it:

    The blasts came a few days after the US State Department had issued an advisory to its citizens about the dangers of an Al Qaeda terrorist strike against American establishments/nationals in different cities of India.

  13. From the Wall Street Journal today

    India on the Frontline By BRAHMA CHELLANEY October 31, 2005; Page A17 The Indian capital has faced several major acts of terror since the 1980s, but the serial bombings targeting festival shoppers over the weekend were the deadliest yet, leaving at least 61 dead. Yet India is responding typically to the latest horror — with brave words that can do little to hide its lack of both a coherent counter- terrorism strategy and the political will to go beyond mere reprobation. The latest bombings — crude in their indiscriminate targeting of civilians and sophisticated in their synchronization — were carried out at the start of Diwali, the country’s main festival holiday, to maximize the effect. Although an obscure underground Kashmir outfit has claimed responsibility, there is widespread suspicion that the attacks were masterminded by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based, al Qaeda-linked group labeled a terrorist organization by India and the United States. The attacks occurred on the same day that a New Delhi court had been scheduled to sentence six convicted Pakistani members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and their Indian associates for involvement in a previous terrorist attack. [Manmohan Singh] The bombers have driven home a political message: India, despite its rising international profile, is powerless to stop terror attacks. By audaciously carrying out bombings right under the nose of the Indian government, the terrorists may also be seeking to rattle foreign investors and undermine India’s booming economy. The bombings also have the potential to undercut the credibility of the bureaucrat-turned-prime minister, Manmohan Singh, and constrict his leeway in the ongoing peace process with Pakistan. Mr. Singh is the latest in a succession of weak, aging prime ministers whose absence of decisive leadership over the years has resulted in the failure to formulate a prudent counterterror strategy backed by firm resolve. Increasingly, terrorism has been treated as a law-and-order issue requiring more policing. To regard terrorism as a law-and-order problem is to do what the terrorists want — to sap your strength. No amount of security can stop terrorism if the nation is reluctant to go after terrorist cells and networks and those that harbor extremists. The Indian and U.S. responses to terrorism are a study in contrast. No Americans have been killed by terrorists in the United States since 9/11 because the U.S. military has gone after terrorists overseas. India, in contrast, has suffered its biggest terrorist strikes since 9/11, including attacks on the national Parliament, the Kashmir legislature, the 17th-century Red Fort, three major Hindu temples and several military camps. Every time India is tested by terror, it characteristically responds by talking tough but doing nothing. New methodology employed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s Office of Terrorism Analysis shows India has the dubious distinction of having the highest number of terrorist incidents. India has become such a happy hunting ground for terrorists that several major acts of international terror have first been tried out against Indian targets before being replicated in Western democracies. They include attacks on symbols of state authority, midair bombing of a commercial jetliner and coordinated strikes on a city transportation system. In using India as a laboratory, the jihadists have been guided by the logic that if the world’s largest democracy can be shaken, so can others. For instance, the 1988 Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, replicated the midair bombing over the Atlantic of an Air India commercial flight from Canada in 1985. The same Air India bombing technique was also used in the Libyan-orchestrated attack on a UTA jetliner in 1989, which blew up in midair over the Sahara. The 1993 Bombay bombings, which targeted India’s financial institutions and left hundreds dead, have served as a model act of mass terror to international jihadists. The Bombay bombings, according to Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee, were “eerily similar in modus operandi and targets to 9/11 in their synchronized, serial character and targeting of state and economic symbols.” Parallels have also emerged between the 1999 hijacking to Kandahar, Afghanistan, of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 and the 9/11 hijackings, including the similar use of box-cutters and the terrorists’ knowledge of cockpit systems. Long before the London and Madrid bombings, terrorists had staged coordinated attacks on city trains and buses in India. Transnational terrorists see India as an easy target because it imposes no costs on them and their sponsors. If any state strikes deals with terrorists, it not only promotes stepped-up terrorism against its own interests but also creates problems for other nations. A classic case was India’s ignominious surrender, on Dec. 31, 1999, to the demands of hijackers holding passengers aboard an Indian commercial jetliner at Kandahar in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. In a surrender unparalleled in modern world history, Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh personally chaperoned three jailed terrorists to freedom in a special aircraft. One of the freed terrorists, Ahmed Omar Sheik — a British citizen of Pakistani descent — went on to help finance the 9/11 attacks. For India, the chickens dramatically came home to roost when evidence on the December 2001 attack on parliament revealed the involvement of one of the terrorists hand-delivered in Kandahar — Masood Azhar, who had formed the Jaish-e-Muhammad group in Pakistan. What India needs is a concerted, sustained campaign against the forces of terror. But what Prime Minister Singh has offered are only words to comfort the nation. If India fails its latest test, it will only be a matter of time before the terrorists strike again at a place and time of their choice. Mr. Chellaney is professor of strategic studies at the privately funded Center for Policy Research in New Delhi.

  14. I saw this on a blog

    “MESSAGEBOARDS

    How should Delhi tackle terrorism?28 message(s)

    Will SachinÂ’s return lift the Indian teamÂ’s performance?128 message(s)

    That Messageboard was from NDTV at around 5:40 PM, today! The stark contrast in the number of messages that the two topics have evoked should come as no surprise; but it definitely reflects the state of affairs in India. Or, does it?”

    I do not know what to say. The full post can be seen at

    http://clearway.blogspot.com/2005/10/indians-diwali-and-messageboard.html

  15. Mridula

    I saw your same comment on DesiPundit too, and i beg to differ.

    This is a perfect example of where statistics can give a misleading picture. It could just be that more cricket enthusiasts are logging on and leaving messages, that those who are into current affairs and politics.

    On the larger picture, I think the comments are devaluing the spirit that Manish was trying to bring out in this post.

  16. arZan,

    Statistics wouldnt be same elsewhere in the world… 9/11 wasnt overshadowed by baseball world series..

  17. When a nation under attack and constant seige for the past 15 years does not reply in kind, is not able to articulate a devastating response, it sinks deeper and deeper into an abyss of its own making.

    Most of the above responses like most of the continuing terror in India, are a direct product of India’s inability to respond to Islamic terrorism. Had we responded the way Israelis usually do, I am sure it would have put an end to terror once and for all. We must admit we have failed.

    About LOC, let me make one thing clear. There is such a thing called LOC and POK today because of Nehruvian imbecility. Our army could have finished the job but Nehru created the entire stalemate by running to the UN. We now have to see that these Islamists must not keep spreading by annexing more and more Indian lands. They already have a Pakistan, a land they made “Pak” by cleansing all the Hindus and Sikhs. They cannot be allowed now to drive away all the Hindus from Kashmir and annex it. Whatever land the Muslims required was conceded to them in 1947.

    The most painful aspect about the inability to hit back is the heckling responses one gets to read on message boards. {as is the case here}. Alybaba do not be smug, otherwise you might really end up in a cave if we finally decide to do something about you guys over there.

  18. I think Mridula is right. Today both Times of India and Rediff have headlines that dont reflect that the country just experienced a terrorist attack !!! Its not newsworthy anymore, it appears. I think if it were Christmas shoppers somewhere in US the newsworthy-ness would have been different.

  19. I couldn’t read all of the messages above, but from what I read, I surely wanted to say something.

    1) I read some1 hinting it might be the Khalistanis. <— Naw man, Khalistani Thinking is dying in India slowly, but it’s rising amongst Sikhs living abroad ( Canada, UK ). And in either case, they wouldn’t plan it around Diwali, since 90% Sikhs celebrate Diwali and so there must have been Sikhs in those shopping areas too.

    2) I read some1 defending Musharraf, saying that he shouldn’t be blamed and that the Pak army does not support the terror groups like Lashkar-whatever. <— Yeah Musharraf shouldn’t be blamed completely.. But I believe if he has the will to dismantle the terror network in POK he would do it. He’s the strong willed guy who overthrew N.Sharif, the Pak Army is prettty capable of handling these terrorists, if they want to. Raiding the POK and clearing out the groups shouldn’t be very very hard. If it was out of his control and he wanted to do it, he would ask for help from US/India to contribute and supply their army to finish off those pests……… I think he just doesn’t want to… or maybe he’s scared to lose his position. We all know how many times the govt. has been overthrown in Pakistan in the last 50 yrs. There are a LOT of ppl in Pak who are opposed to Musharraf’s friendly policies towards USA and India in the last couple years. If he actually acts on removing these terror groups, I won’t be surprised hes overthrown like the leaders before and a new guy replaces him.

    Yeah, it is pretty tragic what happened. I feel really bad for the family of the victims, they won’t be able to celebrate Diwali with a smile for years now. But the hard truth is that attacks like these WILL happen every 3-4 years because the pests don’t decrease. A LOT of them are killed by the armies but they multiply like rats. Unless countries like UK, India, US AND Pakistan (lets not forget there r many attacks inside of Pak too) unite and raid the bases in PoK/Afganistan, this won’t stop.

  20. Ermm, Half my message got deleted when it was posted. I’m new to blogs I don’t know what I did Lol !!

    Let me just add on.

    About the Khalistanis, I don’t think they had anythin to do there, that ideology is dying in India slowly, but yeah its increasing amongst Sikhs abroad ( UK,Canada ) Eitherway they wouldn’t choose Diwali as the time, since 95% Sikhs celebrate Diwali.

    About Musharraf, man that guy is a pretty strong dude, if he had the will to finish off the terror groups, he easily would. I just dont think he wants to. Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasnt Musharraf the leader of Pak Army when they (and the Kashmiri Militants / Freedom Fighers (yea rite), invaded/attacked Kargil ?? Doesn’t that show what Musharrraf feels regarding the whole situation really ? The whole peace process is just a sham due to International Pressure…. I havent seen 1 step the pak govt. took to dismantle the terror network…

  23. This was a thread I really wanted to comment on, but was forced to take a hiatus because of the strong anti-war stance taken by some posters. Must say that I am not pro-war, but I believe in self-preservation.

    The Pakistani poster Mr Alybaba gained a big fan following by expounding a fantastic theory about the existence of terrorism and by proposing another equally fantastic solution to the problem.

    From the analysis of the blasts on BBC, it seems that they were homemade devices – made inside India, not smuggled over the LOC or anything.

    The explosive devices were IEDs, far from home made. Home made devices are usually made from fertilizers etc. These devices can not be made by your garden variety miscreants. You need money, technical support and extensive training. Most of all, you need big and strong balls to handle such stuff.

    1. you act as if Mushie is the puppetmaster to all these groups, and just waiting to strike at India whenever he gets a chance.
    2. Its really very simple. Majority of the population is rural.

    The argument goes like this – Pakistan is feudal, hence could not install democracy. Therefore Mushy is really powerless.

    Astounding how people do not see any fallacy in this logic. Now, there can be two possibilites:

    a) Mushy is really powerless and the feudal lords hold all the power. This discredits point #1.

    b) Mushy is really strong and powerful. Then the point about Pakistan not able to overcome the feudal lords to install democracy (#2) does not hold water.

    See?

    The truth of the matter is Pakistan has always been and will remain for the foreseeable future a military dictatorship. In this situation people like Mr AlyBaba, who have connections with the Prez and military will continue to exploit the country. By no means are they going to admit that the situation can be changed, which threatens their very existence. The elite in Pakistan enjoy a very fine life. Their kids often study at expensive British and US schools. They really want to maintain the status quo.

    I’d just declare the LOC the official border

    Sure. Assume that we agree to that. Does that really change anything? You will continue to claim that it is not really your fault that Pakistan is not a democracy. Feudal lords are to blame. Then again, after every terrorist attact you will alternate between “Mushy is a puppet” and “Mushy da great friend of my Papa”.

    Like Marcellus Wallace said – “Fuck Pride. Pride only hurts, it never helps”

    Does he look like a bitch?! Then why you trying to fu** him like a bitch, Brett?

    The problem is, a lot of misguided desis are acting like a bitch, so collectively us Indians have no choice but to bend over and get it in our a**.

  24. Indians and Pakistanis have nothing in common. Pakistan is a banana-repository, monument to Arab conquest, whilst India is the part of the old East that still survives (Tibet and Buddhist China are dead) Either will outlive the other. Co-existence is impossible

    Genghiz Khan

    Father of Pakistan

  25. Argus, Interesting points there… except us bending over and getting in the ass lol

    You’re right, Pakistan will always go back to dictatorship, the moment the ruler gets serious about dismantling the terror network, the brainwashed rural people (majority) will take it as an attack on Islam and the ruler will be overthrown. I don’t think Musharraf wants to do it anyway.. Example.. The Pakistanis asked the Indians for aircrafts to help in the relief efforts to the quake victims… the Indians agreed.. but the Pakistanis had a very weird demand, they wanted the planes..without the pilot.. How can India give its Air Force planes without Indian pilots to a country directly/indirectly responsibly for terror attacks in India and a country with whom they’ve fought 3 wars? Ofcourse, they said NO. Isn’t it pretty clear why Pakistan didn’t want Indian pilots to fly over PoK ? the terror camps !! oh sorry, I should call them the centers of their “freedom struggle”. Anyway my point was that yeah, I don’t really think Musharraf wants to clear the shit in his town.

  26. The Pakistanis asked the Indians for aircrafts to help in the relief efforts to the quake victims… the Indians agreed.. but the Pakistanis had a very weird demand, they wanted the planes..without the pilot.. How can India give its Air Force planes without Indian pilots to a country directly/indirectly responsibly for terror attacks in India and a country with whom they’ve fought 3 wars?

    Well look at what happened to an american chinook. It was the target of an RPG(rocket propelled grenade), and pakistanis engaged in RPG(role playing game). Pakistani spin was it was dynamite to clear lanslide the pilot was mistaken. Remember when the IA plane was hijacked mushsharaf himself had said that it was the work of indians to malign pakistan. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4397586.stm

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