Blasts in Ahmedabad

Mahendra · Post by **Mahendra** » 26 Jul 2008 22:30

The toll is 26 and expected to go up

amdavadi · Post by **amdavadi** » 26 Jul 2008 22:31

BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the terrorists were targeting BJP-ruled states.See LK advani's constituency is western city of Ahmedabad, except one blast in Juhapura it wasnt hit.

JwalaMukhi · Post by **JwalaMukhi** » 26 Jul 2008 22:32

The biggest casualty from all this is loss of principle or stand of the idea of India and hence the government and hence is extended to the people of India. Myriad excuses about how more people get killed in other sectors mean nothing. Blaming the state governments and trading accusations are methods of inaction. The country needs to stand up for something, if not it will fall for everything and anything. Even a single life lost due to principal (stand) being violated cannot and should not be tolerated. To stand steadfast and safeguard the principle, no justifications and comparisons and blaming of previous governments inactions/actions are called for. This is not a purely a simple law and order issue for the states to deal with. The buck stops at the present government at the center, which has to deal with the menace of terrorism. Period.

mayurav · Post by **mayurav** » 26 Jul 2008 22:34

Minutes before blasts e-mail said: 'Stop us if you can'

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/26ahd3.htm

Minutes before the Ahmedabad serial blasts on Saturday evening, an e-mail was sent to the Gujarat police which is now in the possession of the Intelligence Bureau. It read: Stop us if you can.

Intelligence Bureau officials told rediff.com that the e-mail had been sent out by the Indian Mujahideen, a less known outfit which was slowly trying to spread its tentacles in the country.

So who are the Indian Mujahideen?

The IB believes the outfit was floated by youth from Hyderabad, as a faction of the Students Islamic Movement of India.

vishwakarmaa · Post by **vishwakarmaa** » 26 Jul 2008 22:35

Personally, I don't think ISI is behind these blasts. I doubt a big chincom/CIA hand in it.

Reasons behind this logic:
1. China is feeling frustrated with that fact, despite rising Oil prices and inflation, India is still making economic progress at GDP rate of 8%/above. This poses a serious threat to their dominance in Asia in coming future.

2. Just think about it pure logically. Why ISI will attract Indian attention specially when they are already under stress on their western border from afganistan and Nato forces?

3. These blasts help most to western defense equipments makers if India moves faster on 125 aircraft tender, after this impulse(blasts).

We should focus on collaboration of ISI cells(Indian Mujahideen) in India with CIA/chicom, in addition to ripping Islamabad, lahore, karachi apart.

Raju · Post by **Raju** » 26 Jul 2008 22:44

Please also note that there is a correlation on how blasts used to previously take place in Mayawati-ruled UP.

then before nuke deal, there were explosions in UPA-ruled states. Now after the deal is over the explosions are in BJP-ruled states. Whose hands have been strengthened after nuke deal .. on whose support does Govt depend on now ? Which entities have been emboldened after nuke deal ? It wouldn't surprise if the next bomb blast happens in UP. Which ex-Chief Minister of a North Indian state was accused as having links to ISI ? So which group has access to Islamist mercenary groups ? Who have been accused of buying MP's in recent trust vote drama ?

there is a mercenary group (call it SIMI, HuJi or FUJI) offering services for hire to the highest bidder. Both foreign intelligence agencies and influential Indian groups are utilizing services of this mercenary group who probably are well-connected and as a result they always manage to to thrive on political patronage.

So in the end I will summarize by the following conclusions on possible masterminds:

a) If a pattern emerges wherein only BJP-ruled states are targeted, then the group responsible is the same group that is terrorising Mayawati's UP. And feeling heat after recent misdemeanours.

b) If eventually even Congress ruled states shall be targeted then Unkil is arm-twisting both Congress (previous to nuke deal) and BJP (post nuke deal) to prevent them creating any hurdles in its implementation. This is being carried out by ISI's leftover mercenary groups like (HuJI ragtag bangladeshis or LeT modules) or else by an independent Indian mercenary group (comprising of SIMIans and sundry others).

vishwakarmaa wrote:Personally, I don't think ISI is behind these blasts. I doubt a big chincom/CIA hand in it.

Reasons behind this logic:
1. China is feeling frustrated with that fact, despite rising Oil prices and inflation, India is still making economic progress at GDP rate of 8%/above. This poses a serious threat to their dominance in Asia in coming future.

2. Just think about it pure logically. Why ISI will attract Indian attention specially when they are already under stress on their western border from afganistan and Nato forces?

3. These blasts help most to western defense equipments makers if India moves faster on 125 aircraft tender, after this impulse(blasts).

We should focus on collaboration of ISI cells(Indian Mujahideen) in India with CIA/chicom, in addition to ripping Islamabad, lahore, karachi apart.

thanks for introducing an alternative line of thought.

I too do not think ISI will be particularly interested to inflict maximum bombs with minimum casualties (deaths) at this point of time. It simply doesn't make any sense from their perspective. Because if indeed true, it just enrages India into being more severe with retaliation and that too when troops are amassed at their border.

people should never let personal prejudices or civilizational memories for narrowing down culprits of such attacks. Else we walk right into the trap set by those folks who threw the pork head into the mosque.

Moreover Intelligence reports and senior Intel officials have hinted that this is an insiders job. That is to mean no movement from across the borders or anywhere else was noted before the blasts happened. Which leads us to conclude that this blasts happened on initiative of insiders.

Dilbu · Post by **Dilbu** » 26 Jul 2008 22:54

20 confirmed dead according to Rediff.

Mahendra · Post by **Mahendra** » 26 Jul 2008 22:58

R-e-diff is sold out already

they edited out the "in the name of al " part of the email , CNN-IBN was displaying the email in large fonts, there was something at the bottom that I couldn't catch saying "wrath of ??

amdavadi · Post by **amdavadi** » 26 Jul 2008 23:00

wrath of Allah, dont talk about rediff. Its a peice of shi*

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 26 Jul 2008 23:02

vaman, I could not find the text of the email in the rediff site. do you have it ?

Mahendra · Post by **Mahendra** » 26 Jul 2008 23:08

The mail read, 'We the Indian Mujahideen have carried out attacks and will continue to do so. Stop us if you can.'

link

The mail was shown on IBN , had about 3 lines of text some of which rediff edited out

sunilUpa · Post by **sunilUpa** » 26 Jul 2008 23:20

Indian Mujahideen claims responsibility for Ahmedabad blasts

Shivani · Post by **Shivani** » 26 Jul 2008 23:25

All this talk of terrorists targeting BJP states is irrelevant and intellectual delusion. If tomorrow a few blasts happen in some non-BJP states all these theories will fall apart. What theories would people conjure had these explosions taken place in non-BJP states?

Whether the states being targeted are ruled by this or that party is a minor techincality in the grand scheme of things.

The bigger picture is that Indian citizens are being killed with impunity and there's nothing the government(s) can do to:

punish the terrorists post explosions, and
act pre-emptively to neutralize and eliminate terrorist and the socio-economic biosphere that nurtures them.

pradeepe · Post by **pradeepe** » 26 Jul 2008 23:26

If the commies have a hand,

Please check if the angana chatterjees and their types have booked any first class tickets to Blore and Ahmedabad. They usually like to report first hand on the carnage that follows.

enqyoob · Post by **enqyoob** » 26 Jul 2008 23:31

Actually they get their gore weshtarn south asia exparts to do that. Emory U.'s south asia dept head (place where Limp Phaullus Courtright wrote his infamous child ***** ) was over in Pune when some library there was trashed. I bet some are now over in B'lore and A'bad so they can send emails about how brave they were to have been lying drunk in their hotels while the explosions went off "just miles away"

sanjaychoudhry · Post by **sanjaychoudhry** » 26 Jul 2008 23:35

Government must pass Gujarat’s anti-terror law: Advani

Condemning the serial blasts in Ahmedabad, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Saturday demanded that President Pratibha Patil give her assent to Gujarat’s long-pending anti-terror law. “I would demand the president’s assent to the state laws of Gujarat and Rajasthan akin to the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) pending with the (central) government. The Gujarat law has been pending for the last four years,” Advani told reporters here.

“I cannot draw any conclusions. The law has been pending for many years and to approve it should be our immediate response,” said Advani, who represents the Gandhiagar cosntituency, which includes parts of Ahemdabad.

“The anti-terror legal framework of the government has been weakened after the repealing of the POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act). The alacrity with which the government should have responded to the anti-terror elements has not been there,” said the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha.

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/wor ... 76309.html

vishwakarmaa · Post by **vishwakarmaa** » 26 Jul 2008 23:37

RamaY wrote: with sincere apologies for being harsh...

Snow garu: I understand your view point... but, do you really believe that we can subdue IM's by attacking pakistan and other places?

Problem is pakistan, not Indian muslims.

Existence of pakistan is spreading this philosophy of terrorism to Indian muslims. You can't destory Indian Mujahideen when its father, in the meanwhile creates 10 other Mujahideens. You destroy the source(pakistan) first and then handle its remnants.

Its like who you wanna handle first? The mothership of terror(pakistan) or its kids(local mujahideen)?

This game ends when you destory mothership.

So, don't blame IB. But, blame RAW for not enough blasts in Islamabad and american bases in afghanistan.

America = funder of mothership.

enqyoob · Post by **enqyoob** » 26 Jul 2008 23:41

with sincere apologies for being harsh...

Calling for riots to wipe out citizens on the basis of race, color, gender etc, is not "harsh" - it is a sign of incurable stupidity and bigotry.

sanjaychoudhry · Post by **sanjaychoudhry** » 26 Jul 2008 23:43

enough of this. no more bigoted stuff.

enqyoob · Post by **enqyoob** » 26 Jul 2008 23:43

Actually Advani should bring a Motion of No Confidence to kick out the government on the basis of incompetence in dealing with internal and external security issues.

vishwakarmaa · Post by **vishwakarmaa** » 26 Jul 2008 23:47

sanjaychoudhry wrote:
Problem is pakistan, not Indian muslims.
People who asked for Pakistan were Indian Muslims, no? You are acting as if Indian Muslims were never radicalised in history before Pakistan came into being. Remember Moplah riots or the Direct Action Day?

Not true. If that was so, why IMs don't demand seperate land from India, like khalistanis do?

What you are advocating is lets fight with IMs within India and forget pakistan. Thats what ISI want. They succeeded in Gujarat. Not anymore.

Stop loosing your mind. IMs contribute to Indian GDP. They buy toothpaste made by Indian companies. Now, cool yourself and stop loosing focus from real culprit - pakistan.

enqyoob · Post by **enqyoob** » 26 Jul 2008 23:48

When the Oklahoma bombing took place (1994?) a gang of pea-brained yahoos went out in their pickup trucks and trashed neighborhoods where Arab-Americans lived. I guess to them that included Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, everyone. The bombers were Timothy McVeigh and some other American-born Christian British-American.

When the Twin Towers were hit on 9/11/2001, gangs of sh1theads chased and tried to murder Sikh American citizens who were themselves trying to get out of the disaster.

This is what makes emergency response so difficult. Effort has to be wasted on protecting humans from these pig-sh1ts.

I see that BRF has its share of pig-sh1ts too. Admins should please make a few examples.

vsudhir · Post by **vsudhir** » 26 Jul 2008 23:49

narayanan wrote:Actually Advani should bring a Motion of No Confidence to kick out the government on the basis of incompetence in dealing with internal and external security issues.

Excellent idea, saar.

Problem is when GoI manages to win that vote of confidence, will it not mean that they've done a competent job on the internal and external security front? We know the swing and cross-voting that'll happen in any such trust motion won't be about the security situ for sure.

But why matter. The political party that comes off worst from this sordid drama is the BJP. LKA has again failed to cover himself in glory. With what face can the BJP calls itself nationalist any more? Etc etc.

sanjaychoudhry · Post by **sanjaychoudhry** » 26 Jul 2008 23:50

Do you want another partition?

It matters zilch to Islamists what you or me want. No Hindu ever wanted Partition. Did it matter one bit in the end?

enqyoob · Post by **enqyoob** » 26 Jul 2008 23:52

I do want a partition, so I don't have to see posts from postors like "sanjaychoudhury" or "RamaY" In fact, that seems a good use for the User Control Panel.

csharma · Post by **csharma** » 26 Jul 2008 23:52

From rediff. Talks about lack of political will and lack of fear amongst terrorists.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/26ahd6.htm

One of India's highly experienced sleuths who is an expert on Pakistan, told rediff.com that Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence has strengthened its bases in Nepal and Bangladesh after General Kiyani took over as Army chief.

He drew attention to the fact that in spite of Pakistan's internal problems, it has not lost its focus on India.

He reacted with anguish to the Bengaluru and Ahmedabad blasts. "Why do you ask us to comment whenever blasts occur? We, the policemen of India, are not at all getting any support from the system nor do we get support from the Indian media. People forget that terrorism is a battle that can be fought only with the help of the police. In the last five years the Indian police is fighting a lonely battle."

A serving intelligence officer said in absence of laws like Prevention of Terrorism Act and Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (prevention) Act, terrorists who have built a formidable network within India do not have any fears.

When asked to decipher the unprecedented two days of serial blasts numbering over 20 in two of the fastest developing cities of India, he said, "These blasts are a proclamation by terrorists that they have a robust infrastructure within India. The message is for the Indian police and establishment. Two, they are trying to create panic so that communal riots can be sparked."

When asked why Indian investigators are not getting enough evidence against the terrorists and winning convincingly in courts, he said, "Karnal Singh is Delhi's first rate investigating officer from the special anti-terrorist squad who has been investigating terrorism since the last four years. Currently he is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with a case involving RDX and terrorists. Now Delhi's police officers are reluctant to take risks because the political establishment is not ready to support policemen who take risks beyond the call of duty."

vishwakarmaa · Post by **vishwakarmaa** » 26 Jul 2008 23:54

sanjaychoudhry wrote:
Do you want another partition?
It matters zilch to Islamists what you or me want. No Hindu ever wanted Partition. Did it matter one bit in the end?

You can't blame IMs for what jinnah and british did. In fact, pakistan loves to believe that every IM support them. But, its not so.

But I know one thing for sure. You will make non-paki IMs hate India.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 26 Jul 2008 23:55

sanjaychoudhry wrote:....... Don't narrow down Muslims by nationality because they as a group do not recognise national boundaries.

I am wondering why there are so many sia sunni clashes and bombings in Pakistan, why there was a genocide in BD, why iraq fought iran and on and on and on.
added later : my regrets at not having posted this earlier. I also wonder why there are people like abdul hamid, haniffuddin and kalm in India. (there are many others)

your bigoted posts, irrespective of how sophisticated they are, have no place on BRF.
I'll act on those just after posting.

sunilUpa · Post by **sunilUpa** » 26 Jul 2008 23:55

narayanan wrote: I see that BRF has its share of pig-sh1ts too. Admins should please make a few examples.

Yes, forumites advocating riots, ethnic cleasing and targeting Indian citizens belonging to particular communities should not be allowed to post. These bigots should be banned outright and that ban thread should be a sticky..

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 26 Jul 2008 23:57

narayanan wrote:
with sincere apologies for being harsh...
Calling for riots to wipe out citizens on the basis of race, color, gender etc, is not "harsh" - it is a sign of incurable stupidity and bigotry.

But narayanan, ultimately there has to at least be some kind of Freedom of Dissociation. Without that, then there is no freedom.

If you are living with a roommate who is playing loud music in the middle of the night, and who is peeing all over the bathroom floor, then you should have the right to live separately from that person whose behaviour you find intolerable. Denying someone that right, is to deny them freedom.

Likewise, I see on Rediff the Islamist, Leftist and Casteist posters trying to claim that these blasts were all planned and executed by BJP and "upper castes".

Well, I personally feel that developed sections of society are less likely to engage in arbitrary bombing attacks or conspiracies against others. I feel that developed communities have better values, and that they tend to engage in more responsible behaviour, regardless of the hateful accusations to the contrary coming from the Islamists, Leftists, and Casteists.

If these others have irreconcilable differences with us, and we cannot convince them to see the error of their ways, then we need to have Freedom of Dissociation from them.
We need to be able to set up separate communities, separate living areas, separate neighborhoods, etc.

You may see this as segregation, but ultimately people need to have the right to make the choice of dissociating from others. It is only by dissociation, that one can free themselves of having to endure intolerable behaviour (eg. having to endure bombings, and also to endure accusations that those targetted by the bombings are actually the orchestrators of them)

The Islamists, Leftists, and Casteists have no credibility in their accusations, and we need to be able to dissociate from them (live separately from them) in order to protect our own quality of life. To deny that right, is to force the rest of us to live under a reign of terror.

enqyoob · Post by **enqyoob** » 26 Jul 2008 23:59

The "partition" (see User Control Panel) works like a charm. Great feature! Makes for such tranquility.

SanjayM: Just exercising my Freedom to Diss-as-socialize.

Jagan · Post by **Jagan** » 27 Jul 2008 00:01

Just a note. / FYI

Moderators are watching this thread. Posters who violate rules or post against the guidlines will get warnings. Posters with two warnings on record will get banned when a third warning is issued.

No notification of these posters getting banned will be made on the forum. If you find someone not posting all of a sudden, assume the worst. (or best)

mayurav · Post by **mayurav** » 27 Jul 2008 00:02

'Gujarati Muslims want peace'

http://ia.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/26ahd7.htm

"We condemn the Ahmedabad bomb blasts. Gujarati Muslims want peace. We are a business-oriented people and we believe that peace must be maintained. Muslims of Gujarat are not at all involved in any terror activity," said Saeed Umarjee, son of Hussein Umarjee, prime accused in the Godhra carnage of 2002 in which 59 people were killed. Since 2003, Hussein Umerjee has been in Sabarmati jail along with 85 other accused.

Saeed told rediff.com, "No religion permits such an inhuman act. We the people of Godhra strongly condemn the killing of innocent people in the Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts. We want a just and fair investigation leading to strict punishment as per the Indian Penal code."

He said, "When TV channels show an e-mail from Indian Mujahideen they are misleading the people. We should not pre-judge anything. Let a fair investigations take place."

He further argued, "Whenever there are bomb blasts, fair investigations are not conducted. That creates bad blood among people. There are people in society who then feel like taking revenge. They get support from the community, too."

Saeed, who is a big-time timber trader, emphasised, "Local involvement is unlikely in today's blasts because Gujarati Muslims are petrified. When you show such e-mails on TV we would feel scared. Such acts (serial blasts) are done by people whose minds are degenerated. We have nothing to do with such people. Gujarati Muslims want to forget the riots. We are not anti-national."

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 27 Jul 2008 00:03

narayanan wrote:....I see that BRF has its share of pig-sh1ts too. Admins should please make a few examples.

the new forum doesn't show bans, now that the ban thread has been deleted.
more than one poster have been banned today (all repeat offenders) and some others have been warned, by the action of a number of admins, not all visible.

just posting this so that people don't think that the offenders are let off lightly.

sunilUpa · Post by **sunilUpa** » 27 Jul 2008 00:08

The blasts are a proclamation by terrorists

One of India's highly experienced sleuths who is an expert on Pakistan, told rediff.com that Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence has strengthened its bases in Nepal and Bangladesh after General Kiyani took over as Army chief.

He drew attention to the fact that in spite of Pakistan's internal problems, it has not lost its focus on India.

He reacted with anguish to the Bengaluru and Ahmedabad blasts. "Why do you ask us to comment whenever blasts occur? We, the policemen of India, are not at all getting any support from the system nor do we get support from the Indian media. People forget that terrorism is a battle that can be fought only with the help of the police. In the last five years the Indian police is fighting a lonely battle."

A serving intelligence officer said in absence of laws like Prevention of Terrorism Act and Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (prevention) Act, terrorists who have built a formidable network within India do not have any fears.

When asked to decipher the unprecedented two days of serial blasts numbering over 20 in two of the fastest developing cities of India, he said, "These blasts are a proclamation by terrorists that they have a robust infrastructure within India. The message is for the Indian police and establishment. Two, they are trying to create panic so that communal riots can be sparked."

When asked why Indian investigators are not getting enough evidence against the terrorists and winning convincingly in courts, he said, "Karnal Singh is Delhi's first rate investigating officer from the special anti-terrorist squad who has been investigating terrorism since the last four years. Currently he is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with a case involving RDX and terrorists. Now Delhi's police officers are reluctant to take risks because the political establishment is not ready to support policemen who take risks beyond the call of duty."

pradeepe · Post by **pradeepe** » 27 Jul 2008 00:17

Death toll at 29 now.

Since I don't watch much TV, I wasnt aware of the Ahmedabad bombings. So I was very suprised when the security guys at the entrance of our apt complex (its just another complex, and I am sure no big-wigs live here) were checking every car. Checking under the car, the trunk etc. I had become quite used to it at all the public places, didnt expect it at ones home too.

But IMHO even this series in ahmedabad won't get us mobilized as a nation. Politics will again enter the picture and we will exhaust half our energy just fighting amongst ourselves.

--

Now that Modi's state has also taken a hit, I expect quiet action to have been unleased already.

mayurav · Post by **mayurav** » 27 Jul 2008 00:18

sunilUpa wrote:The blasts are a proclamation by terrorists

One of India's highly experienced sleuths who is an expert on Pakistan, told rediff.com that Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence has strengthened its bases in Nepal and Bangladesh after General Kiyani took over as Army chief.

He drew attention to the fact that in spite of Pakistan's internal problems, it has not lost its focus on India.

He reacted with anguish to the Bengaluru and Ahmedabad blasts. "Why do you ask us to comment whenever blasts occur? We, the policemen of India, are not at all getting any support from the system nor do we get support from the Indian media. People forget that terrorism is a battle that can be fought only with the help of the police. In the last five years the Indian police is fighting a lonely battle."

A serving intelligence officer said in absence of laws like Prevention of Terrorism Act and Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (prevention) Act, terrorists who have built a formidable network within India do not have any fears.

When asked to decipher the unprecedented two days of serial blasts numbering over 20 in two of the fastest developing cities of India, he said, "These blasts are a proclamation by terrorists that they have a robust infrastructure within India. The message is for the Indian police and establishment. Two, they are trying to create panic so that communal riots can be sparked."

When asked why Indian investigators are not getting enough evidence against the terrorists and winning convincingly in courts, he said, "Karnal Singh is Delhi's first rate investigating officer from the special anti-terrorist squad who has been investigating terrorism since the last four years. Currently he is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with a case involving RDX and terrorists. Now Delhi's police officers are reluctant to take risks because the political establishment is not ready to support policemen who take risks beyond the call of duty."

So apart from repealing POTA police are also being prevented from aggressively pursuing the perpetrators.

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 27 Jul 2008 00:21

cross posting -

Rman,

Don't you think that would be like playing the game exactly the way Paki's want us to play? Why should we escalate and solve all of their problems? They are near self-destruction; I would not throw them a lifeline by escalating, which would allow them to divert all their troubles our way?

I think India should use this opportunity to fix its internal security problems like having a central crime-fighting agency and providing meaningful legislative independence to police forces. The issues and solutions with our internal security are well identified but politicians have chosen easy way out by enacting/retrieving useless and draconian laws like TADA/POTA. We must use this opportunity to implement the police reforms mandated by SC (which state govts are vehemently opposing) and bring out our own version of FBI.

vishwakarmaa · Post by **vishwakarmaa** » 27 Jul 2008 00:22

Banning people totally isn't such a good idea for BRF. Purpose is to "show the light" to person so he gets the logic behind line of BRF thought and make them understand how it is better for country. Banning will only make him leave BRF and not return. Thats what our one of motive is, to reach out to maximum people and assimilate them in thought process.

There should be some other alternative, like 5-day posting ban or such.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 27 Jul 2008 00:25

mayurav wrote:'Gujarati Muslims want peace'

http://ia.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/26ahd7.htm

"We condemn the Ahmedabad bomb blasts. Gujarati Muslims want peace.

But these condemnations seem too few and far between. They seem mostly aimed at defending the image of the Muslim community, rather than defending the nation.

Similarly, when the Congress politicians make their statements, these seem mainly aimed at exonerating the Congress of blame, and not about protecting the country from harm.

A society can't simply endure all these attacks along with the vague posturing and even deflection of blame, which amount to an abdication of responsibility.