Delhi markets rocked by blasts


















So I decide to finally sit down and create a blog, and something to piss me off just lands straight on my lap. Delhi has just been victim to 3 blasts, in major markets on a Saturday evening just days before Diwali and Eid - easily the busiest time of the year. I have a couple of friends in Delhi and I hope they weren't affected by this tragedy. So far 48 people have been confirmed dead, and you can expect that to rise like in most disasters and attacks.















What makes it out of the ordinary is this wasn't the usual government target that has been typical of militants, both North Eastern and Kashmiri in the recent past(such as the Parliament attack of 2001 - which some insist was a RAW operation, but to them usually anything affecting Pakistan or Muslims negatively is a RAW or Mossad, or a RAW-Mossad operation - edit - I added the link after I had published the above line, since I read it on Pakistani forum, and it just proved my point), but directed at causing panic and fear among regular Indians. However, such a strategy is known to be the current domain of Islamic militant attacks, whether be it in London, Karachi or Bali.

So the inevitable question remains - if it is Islamic militants - how will this impact the current rapprochement between India and Pakistan, which had gained greater impetus since the quake? If this is traced directly back to Kashmiri militants from the Pakistani side (which I expect it to - whether it is a genuine connection or not probably won't matter), then will India insist they had clandestine Pakistani support as they have done so in past? Then what will happen to the proposed LOC border crossings and joint relief efforts?

My gut feeling says that the Pakistan army is too busy with relief operations, and the ISI probably have had orders to terminate any operations for the last couple of years, and these days Musharraf is too busy being pragmatic and conducting diplomacy to open up LOC crossings for the quake efforts. I hope the Indian establishment does not use this as an excuse to take the peace talks off track like what happened in 2001, because lets face it - I don't think even a Pakistani sporting a Talibanesque beard who prays for the Death of America before sleeping at night would condone this - and the ISI are better than that - I think (well I certainly hope so).

However, what this might do is give more credence to Saffronists in India - making life more difficult for Muslims there - which is probably counterproductive to the aims of the culprits of this attack, but I doubt they stopped to even consider that, let alone think in the first place.

And more importantly how will affect my maiden visit to India? I finally got my visa, but I'm restricted to Mumbai, and I have to report to a police station within 24 hours of arriving - all that even though I have the written recommendation from the co-Chair of India-Pakistan CEO's Business Forum! Here's to hoping I don't get thrown into the special jail for Pakis ! (oh I'm sure you guys have one - we certainly have one for you!)