INDIA VS. PAKISTAN

By pointing fingers, I feel like we're school children arguing about a lost wicket.

In my mind, (and please disagree if you think so) terrorists have no home. They're so blinded by hate that words like homeland, family, culture and heritage don't really mean anything.

Apparently India is claiming that the gunman in custody is tied to a Pakistani group...I'm wondering whether this really is a statement that the Indian government has made or a tagline that the media created to get my click as I was accessing my Yahoo! mail...

CANDLELIGHT VIGIL FOR PEACE

Dear friends,

We encourage each of you, no matter where in the world you are, to light a candle and say a prayer for peace, individually or as a community.

For those of you in New York City, please join us at Jivamukti at 9pm tomorrow, Monday, December 1, for a candlelight vigil and brief meditation session.

The people who committed these acts of hate sought to incite anger, violence and more hate. Tomorrow, together we will respond with peace.

We will light a candle, express our thoughts and engage in silent meditation. All are welcome to join.

Location:
Jivamukti Yoga Center
841 Broadway (b/w 14th and 13th Streets) 2nd Floor

The IndiaUnite team

DEFINING TERRORISM

The American Oxford dictionary concisely defines terrorism as: the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.

We believe that there is a broader meaning, and based on some feedback that IndiaUnite has been receiving, we believe that some of you do too. Please openly share your thoughts on this topic.

STEP-by-STEP ACCOUNT OF THE ATTACKS

From the Associated Press via Yahoo.com:

India terror begins with corpses on train platform -

By TIM SULLIVAN and RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press Writers

MUMBAI, India – 9:21 p.m. Wednesday, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus __ Two young men walk casually through Mumbai's main railway station, a worn Victorian hulk bustling with late commuters heading home, scurrying past small food stands and juice bars and vendors selling newspapers. They enter near the taxi stand, where long lines of battered black and yellow cabs wait for fares. One wears khaki cargo pants and a blue T-shirt. A pair of small knapsacks are slung over a shoulder. He looks like a college kid.

They are, says a photographer who follows them on part of their grim journey, "backpackers with assault rifles."
The two — and other death squads working in pairs — are to wreak carnage in landmark after landmark across Mumbai over the next three days, creating panic in this normally unflappable city and killing more than 195 people.

Sebastian D'Souza hears the gunfire at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus from his office across the street at the Mumbai Mirror tabloid.

He follows the sound through the sprawling station, slipping unseen through parked trains. When he first catches sight of the young men, he doesn't realize they are the gunmen. They look so innocent. Then he sees them shooting.

"They were firing from their hips. Very professional. Very cool," says D'Souza, the newspaper's photo editor. For more than 45 minutes he follows as they move from platform to platform shooting and throwing grenades. Often, D'Souza isn't even 30 feet away. The few police at the station are either dead, in hiding or had long fled.

There are billboards everywhere, signs of India's economic boom. At one point, he photographs them standing beneath a tea company sign. They appear to be having a calm conversation. "WAKE UP!" the billboard reads.

Click here to keep reading

SUKETU MEHTA - NYT OP ED - What They Hate About Mumbai

What They Hate About Mumbai

MY bleeding city. My poor great bleeding heart of a city. Why do they go after Mumbai? There’s something about this island-state that appalls religious extremists, Hindus and Muslims alike. Perhaps because Mumbai stands for lucre, profane dreams and an indiscriminate openness.

Mumbai is all about dhandha, or transaction. From the street food vendor squatting on a sidewalk, fiercely guarding his little business, to the tycoons and their dreams of acquiring Hollywood, this city understands money and has no guilt about the getting and spending of it. I once asked a Muslim man living in a shack without indoor plumbing what kept him in the city. “Mumbai is a golden songbird,” he said. It flies quick and sly, and you’ll have to work hard to catch it, but if you do, a fabulous fortune will open up for you. The executives who congregated in the Taj Mahal hotel were chasing this golden songbird. The terrorists want to kill the songbird.

Click here to continue reading

SURVIVOR STORIES

I watched this segment on CNN yesterday and was amazed at the strength of Jonathan Ehrlich. Please click here to see his story - how he didn't open the door that evening when he was going to bed, and was unaware that there were terrorists in his hotel...how he would still come back to India...and the importance of family. 

Share what you have seen and heard from these brave and lucky men, women and children.

THE POLITICS OF THE EVENT

Has Mumbai become a pawn in a larger political chess game? And who are these players? 

Send us your thoughts

The Beginning of the End, or the End of the Beginning?

The latest news on 'Operation Cyclone,' the military operation to contain the terrorists that have taken over Mumbai: the Taj just came under NSD control. Of the 2-3 terrorists that remained holed up and firing from the Taj Ballroom, one has been shot and killed, the other two, presumably, are in custody. A fire rages in the Taj heritage building, a 105-year-old, mostly wooden structure. Doesn't seem likely that much of this historic building will be salvaged. 

Though the hotspots of violence over the past 57 hours have come under control (the Oberoi/Trident, the Nariman House and the Taj), there is no information being given about who, why or how this happened. Mumbaikars are still paralyzed with fear and staying indoors because we don't know how many more of these guys are at large.

For those of us who have been glued to the news the past few days, this leads to some questions: when are we going to find out the motives behind this atrocious act of terrorism? Sure, we can speculate that radical Islam is behind it, but isn't that kind of speculation dangerous in a city occupied by both Hindus and Muslims, still scarred from years of riots, bombings and social tension? 

I'm wondering why we aren't seeing more talking heads on the news networks helping put all of this in perspective. Where are the retired Army commanders explaining why an operation like this has taken 57 hours to complete? Where are the terrorism experts doling out plausible suspects and their motives? Where are the hospital officials telling us the extent of physical trauma endured by the hostages and other victims? Where are the intelligence updates indicating whether or not we should fear stepping out into the city again?

In America, we often chide these talking heads for spouting useless, speculative commentary, but now I'm beginning to realize how valuable it can be, especially when coming from informed experts and reliable, non-sensationalistic sources. They help answer the questions foremost on our minds. They help us put these disturbing images in perspective. They help us plan for tomorrow. 

Thoughts?

-S

VANDE MATARAM

When you need that little ray, the light of India Shining, remember this song and remember that we are all in this together.

THE ATTACKS - A FIRST PERSON ACCOUNT

IndiaUnite co-founder Smriti Mundhra wrote this piece for the New York Daily News - a first person account of the attacks, as she was trapped in her apartment by the Oberoi:

It is Night Two of urban captivity, and I'm getting restless.

I carefully bypass my sleeping parents and sneak up onto our rooftop terrace to breathe in some fresh air, which I desperately need after being trapped indoors for the last thirty six hours.

There, I have a birds-eye view of the action on the streets of South Bombay below.

What I see looks pretty familiar - but feels eerily different.

The streets and alleys are empty - not unusual at two in the morning - but sirens ring where music may normally drifted up from a nearby late-night hookah cafe. A guard in uniform paces where tipsy college students may have walked the street arm-in-arm in search of a taxi.

The fires at the five-star Taj and Oberoi hotels, both within an eighth of a mile from my roof, have been extinguished, but both grand buildings, whose lights always shine are now pitch black.

Click here to read more

MUSLIMS IN CRISIS

Smriti just send me this Time article on the history of Muslims in India and the attacks. 

Behind the Mumbai Massacre: India's Muslims in Crisis
by Aryn Baker

The disembodied voice was chilling in its rage. A gunman, holed up in Mumbai's Oberoi Trident hotel where some 40 people had been taken hostage, told an Indian news channel that the attacks were revenge for the persecution of Muslims in India. "We love this as our country but when our mothers and sisters were being killed, where was everybody?" he asked via telephone. No answer came. But then he probably wasn't expecting one.

Click here to read more

AVAAZ SURVEY

From Avaaz:

The whole world is shocked at the tragic attacks in Mumbai. Avaaz is deciding how to respond in a way that ensures that these terrorists don't succeed in their goals of dividing us and spreading their brand of extremism.

If you get this email within a couple of hours of us sending it, could you click below to take a short survey and give us your advice on what we can do?

Thanks so much,

Click here to take survey

Ricken Patel and the Avaaz team


ABOUT AVAAZ

Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in Ottawa, London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Sydney and Geneva. Call us at: +1 888 922 8229. Click here to learn more about our largest campaigns. Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Myspace and Bebo pages!

MUMBAI HELPLINE

Click here for important numbers and information if you are in Mumbai now

HEAD SPACE

If you are angry, sad, upset, and just need a space to vent, get your thoughts out - let this be your ear. 

WITNESS ACCOUNTS

Use this space to post your comments on what you've seen, what you've heard, and your experiences. 

INDIA UNITE

Dear friends,

Welcome to IndiaUnite.org where together we stand against injustice and fight for human rights. 

On November 26th, 2008, Mumbai suffered from a series of terrorist attacks, and as I write this today, the city is still in peril. 

IndiaUnite.org is a community, an advocacy group, a space for discussions and a forum to continue our fight against terrorism. 

Whatever your religion, background, ethnicity, culture, whoever you are, let your voice be heard. 

United we stand, divided we fall.

Shruti Ganguly

India Unite co-founder