Blast Blast and Blast

Were Wednesday’s triple blasts that killed 17 and injured more than a 100 innocent people an outcome of the fierce gangland rivalry between the one-time friends and now bitter foes, Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan?

Well, this may or may not be true, but some in intelligence circles believe that since investigators probing the ghastly July 13 explosions so far remain clueless about the identity of their perpetrators, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to include the above angle within the scope of their investigations.The proponents of the theory of gangland involvement in last Wednesday’s bombings say their suspicion is not entirely a figment of imagination.

There are some bases to at least remotely link the triple blasts to gangland warfare, claim the proponents, saying that the fact that the hub of Mumbai’s diamond trade was largely targeted in the July 13 attacks should be a reason enough to explore the angle.

The March 1993 blasts that ripped through parts of the metropolis were perpetrated in almost similar fashion and their main targets were the diamond trade and the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The hub of the diamond trade, comprising the Opera House area of South Mumbai and the neighboring Zaveri Bazar—both gem and jewelry centers of India—fall within the fiefdom of Chhota Rajan.

These centers and the trade therein are thoroughly dominated by Gujarati Hindus whose proximity to Narendra Modi-led government in Gujarat could be a reason enough for those purporting to serve Muslim interests to seek a vendetta for the so-called massacre of their brethren in Gujarat a decade ago.

Then, the explosions took place only a little after gem trade tycoons Mehul Choksi and Bharat Shah announced with much fanfare recently to mark August 12 as the International Diamond Day.

The proponents of this theory within the intelligence circles point to Dawood-Chhota rivalry being still quite alive and fierce by referring to senior crime scribe J Dey’s killing recently.

It is no secret that Dey was gunned down by Rajan’s henchmen since the latter suspected that the journalist was close to the rival Dawood gang.

Moreover, if cross-border terrorists were involved in Wednesday’s ghastly incidents, they would have been quick to claim responsibility since terrorists believe publicity is crucial to their sinister motives.

Even if the terrorists at home—the Indian Mujahideen—were involved in the blasts they, too, would be loud-mouthed and make quick claims—their cowardly operations in the past clearly suggest that.

And the big question being asked by the proponents of this gangland warfare theory is, why those in the diamond trade not raising their voice in protest despite being so articulate and influential? Are they on the defensive for some unfathomable reason or reasons?

Or, are they paying the dual price for seeking patronage from Chhota Rajan and being Gujarati Hindus?

Moreover, intelligence circles have no doubt in their minds that whoever are the perpetrators, they were more than familiar with the places they targeted and knew exactly when there would be gullible crowds to aim at.

If the perpetrators were outsiders, as is being believed by some, they would have visited the locations in the past, so past CCTV footages could be scanned.

And the fact that, say sources, oil fuel was used in the explosions to increase their intensity, lends added credence to the theory of locals’ involvement in the dastardly July 13 incidents.

Well, the riddle of the blasts can be solved in no time if the Mumbai Police lay their hands on two suspects—one is a resident of Juhu, the other from the Grant Road area.

The duo the cops have launched a manhunt for are Subhan alias Taukir, and Aslam. Police are looking for their email IDs. Are hackers at home with national interest at heart listening?

Top intelligence sleuths probing Wednesday’s explosions are, meanwhile, looking at all angles in their quest to zero in on the perpetrators of the ghastly bombings.

CCTV footages are being looked at but with little success since, according to sources, it was raining heavily at the time the explosions took place and people were moving near the scenes of the blasts with umbrellas shielding their heads or with top-to-toe raincoats masking their faces, which is making identification an uphill task.

Look at the Missing link in Blast

let me come to the thread in this blast, few weeks ago J‘ Day a Mid-Day reporter was killed and Dawood's brother was attacked by Chota Rajan gang. Chota tried creating deterrence in city. And many indicated it as return of gang War. More over in the recent past there was a big announcement over International-Diamond-Day 12 th August, and so many diamond traders participated in it, diamond market is chota rajan area and more over maximum of them are RRs and Hindu fundamentalists. The target of attack was Javeri Bajar, and nearby diamond trading areas, police is missing the link of investigations somewhere, this type of same attack was in 1993 too. Those days after the attack Dawood, Memon brothers and all flee to Karachi. Some where these links may get established in Gujrat because Gujrat Muslims are hurt and feeling betrayed over Godhra issue. If this attack would have been Fidain or by IM , these group have habit of accepting responsibility, I don’t know how to develop the link and establish accurate guess but my mind speaks something is linked here, and if you notice none of Zaveri Bajar or Panch Ratna diamond traders came forward extending their dialogs over this issue. There is no reaction from that side.

How many times? How many times more? This is what I want to ask this city and the administration. As a Mumbaikar I feel offended, it does insult my system, it does insult my intellect, intelligence and my profession. I get hurt as human and citizen of this very place. When these incidents had occurred the first time I could bear it somehow but I was coming out of the shadow of previous tragedies and this is again a slap. Don't divert my attention by giving goodies by saying I am resilient. I am not durable commodity; I don't want consolations I want something to be done. The city is moving normal after the terror attack and they are back to normal, not because they are resilient but they need to do business. They need to feed families; they need to live to let their dependents have better life. Don't call it flexibility.

Sometimes I feel Mumbaikars have accepted these attacks as natural calamities, and have stopped retaliating because they are fed up. What choices do we really have? Every time we think people are not going to look other way and this time it's enough, but this is not true. Ever time when I see sense of anger, I think something will happen but the fact is we are exactly where we were. Nothing has changed, we are still talking about intelligence failure, we are still talking about the resilience of the city, we are just talking and talking. Victims are actually helpless, they are not angry; we have started believing in it that we don't have any idea about how to address this issue.

Sometimes I fell like puking at these talks, let it be forums, TV channel debates or talk show, we are just talking, we then said the same and we now talking the same. Why are we debating about this issue in the same manner as if it's a part of our life? I am seeing those wounded and dead people on television, songs and promos are aired in the interim on TV channels. The fact is that India has started accepting terrorism as part of their lives. There is rhythm to it, I remember someone saying, oh three blasts happened now we can move safely out of office, fourth will not happen. It seems there is a sense of acceptance, as we have accepted corruptions we have started accepting terrorism. That is the kind of comfort emerging with terrorism in this country. This is the sign of brutalized society, where we have learned to live with terror. We mourn, we cry we scream, we call politicians, we call ex cops, we call celebrities who have got nothing to do with terror attack, we interview victims, we dig their graves, burn or burry them and back to square one.

We should install more CCTV's. Why do Pune and Mumbai like attacks occur again and again? Where do we fail? After every terror attack we say intelligence failure, is it fair? This has become kind of cliché? If there is intelligence failure, let us admit it. If the Home Ministry had no prior intelligence on the attacks, it was nothing but a gross intelligence failure. Is Chidambaram trying to pass on the blame?

We catch the people put them on trial and still the execution takes time. Take the case of parliament attack with masterminds like Afzal guru, we finished three layers of trials he could be convicted all the way from supreme sessions court, High court and Supreme court, then there was delay in Afzal Guru's mercy petition again Supreme court granted him punishment. The government has again delayed his trail on account of mercy petition. Take the case of Kasab, it was finished in very short time. His punishment is awarded by court, but again the government has been delaying his prosecution. Even if you hang Afzal Guru or Ajmal Kasab there won't be any guarantee that terror attacks will stop in India, but at least there will be sense of deterrence and solace to common man.

Whenever these kinds of attacks take place, i see BJP and Congress fighting over issues, please I don't want to listen to your fights I give damn to your shitty political accusations. When Prithviraj Chavan had visited hospitals, some BJP members made slogans, they were shouting, they were condemnating attacks by different dialogs; this was disturbing patients in the hospital. This is not the time and place to make think and politicise. Please have sense, don't make these victims a subject of political mileage. We have given up as country and we are learning to live with situations. We are selfish, Unless and until the attack is not affecting me and my near ones why should i bother to voice my opinion is the tho-ught of people.

Barack Obama must have declared about zero per cent tolerance policy for terrorism of any nature against the citizens of his country, the situations in America are different. We can never compare America with India. Rahul Gandhi had to admit that terrorists in India have a one percent chance to carry out acts of killing or maiming people. What he said is absolutely corrects, it is very difficult to stop any single terrorist attack. I don't think he was insensitive to the feelings of the victims. The other political parties and media channels made this issue quite vocal by twisting and turning by giving it an emotional touch.

There is hollow in many ways. Look at all the promises made after the 26/11 attack on Mumbai and the government's response. They promised the setting up of a multi-agency centre where all agencies would share intelligence inputs; so far this centre has not been set up. Then the promise over starting up four National Security Guard centers, but these centers is not fully functional. National Intelligence Grid (NAIGRID) was supposed to collate all intelligence inputs, but it took two and a half years for this centre to be set up. Only Maharashtra and Karnataka have set up with Quick Response Teams. Core committee was set up, but it was mandated to meet once every three months. There were very few meetings. While Indians living in India feel unsafe, Indians living in the US have a sense of security, thanks to the zero tolerance policy. Little wonder that many Indians living in the US feel that the Indian government is either soft or does not have the will to fight terrorism.

People are not just the victim of terrorism but also the victim of apathy and weakness of the Indian government. I hope the government will move beyond expressing concerns and take concrete steps to ensure security of its citizen. I truly believe India has the resources to create deterrence against the evil designs of terrorists but not sure what the government is waiting on to wake them up.