It will be in the best interest of the Pakistani people to join hands with Indian people so that together we can wipe out terroism from the Pakistani soil. Else, except for the rogue elements of that country no one will be able to lead a civilised life in Pakistan. It is high time that the people ,the Government and the Military of Pakistan read the writings on the wall.

These elite people from India shout only when elite people in Taaj killed; what were they doing when terror attacks took place many times in the country regualrly in the past including Mumbai city more frequently..??Because in all previous terror attacks in past only poor were killed..(Like local trains;buses;common public places where only lowr income groups are involved).!! Funny thing is that these people challenge the politicians & elected ministers when 70 % of them never vote in elections; go out of town to enjoy holidays. All elected ministers in India are duely elected by only 30 to 40 % of people and all belong to lower income group. These elite people has no right tp protest when they hardly take any responsibilities of the coutry.They are busy earning fir themselves only.It is a shme..!!

It was mentioned in your earlier news correspondence that the militant captured admitted to 40 of his people to have entered Mumbai to execute attacks! No mention of those guys have been made ever since! have they been captured?fled the country? dead? or still roaming the streets of Mumbai! The same mention was also made on NDTV 24-7 the Indian local news channel! emphasis has only been given on the 9 who were shot dead and the one person who is still being interrogated! where are the remaning 30 terrorists who entered Mumbai???

The people of Mumbai and India will stand strong despite the vicious attack by terrorists – as they have before. If the terrorists think they can somehow stop the progress of India, they will be proved wrong. Leopold's cafe has re-opened, Ratan Tata will get the Taj renovated and the people will come out of this stronger than ever. I only wish our government shows the same strength of spirit and takes strong, decisive actions to protect India and to counter-attack wherever the sponsors and brains of these terrorists lie.

I'm appaled that the rallies are only happening in Mumbai, India.
What about the people of Pakistan?
I think people in every country should rally againt Terrorism of any kind.
We should have to courage to stand up against injustice happening anywhere in the world.
There's no telling when it might happen in your own backyard.

I wish this anger remains and leads to some positive outcomes. At times like this one feels extremely helpless, with greedy and selfish Beuracrats and Politicians, one wonders how the entire system will be cleansed with some professionals who will at least try to do something for this great country. Its easy to say that its a democracy and people choose the politicians but if the choice available to people is two thieves and self centered individuals which ever side you vote, people will be loser.

I wish we could start a debate and come out with a solution to this catch 22 situation.

Only emotional protests wouldn't help here.
India needs to reform its democratic system.
The existing multiparty system is a major setback disallowing any government in India from taking TOUGH DECISIONS since regional parties based on caste or language have the ability to withdraw thier support & thus influence matters of national importance.
India needs a TWO PARTY System ASAP

I as an Indian would like to urge the world commmunity to stop thinking in terms of "my terrorism" or "your terrorism" . Its high time that world leaders stand united against any kind of terrorism that is a threat to human lives. Because terrorism knows no nation and no caste or breed.
India has been urging for the past 20 years that terrorism should not be allowed to operate using any nation's soil. But her pleadings fell upon deaf ears. The world saw the outcome. Nations should stand united and compell the nations which our harbouring or breeding terrorists.

The spirit of India – is going through a lot of change – corruption at its highest, infrastructure pains, and regular promises by politicians (but no delivery) have deep rooted in these protestors than the terrorist attack. Of course the terrorist attack has definitely brought these feeling out and there is an emotional outburst – on the streets today.

If this feeling continues beyond this event – there can be a transformation or this would be just another event in the history of India.

I was there yesterday at the Gateway and it was really HUGE – huge would mean at least 50,000 people !!! I was delighted to see so so many people over there hungry and thirsty for answers from our politicians. I have never seen anything like this in recent times. It gave me hope and a ray of optimism as I witnessed people protesting against the total top-to-bottom malfunction of our government in eac and every department, instead of just blaming our neighbours for everything. It reminded me of something Bob Marley had said in one of his songs.. "you can fool some people sometimes, but you can't fool all the people, all the time"

Growing up in this city we have seen lot of bloodshed due to terror attacks and even communal riots. We have never blamed the government for anything, although Bombay (by Bombay I am including the suburban areas as well which many high-nosed south Bombay residents do not consider a part of this city) is like a ticking bomb ever since I know it. Millions of people commute via the local trains everyday and almost the whole stretch on the Central, Western and Harbour lines is left unbarricaded. You don't need intelligence agencies to point out that these unprotected railway lines which pass through highly congested and filthy slum neighbourhoods make an easy access to the underlying anti-social forces. And saying this we need to also clean up slum ares with rehabilitation programs as these are the breeding grounds for anti-social elements. Its an universal fact.

I would request people in the media to consider this fact seriously because I think it has been grossly overlooked. We need to take three steps immediately

1) The WHOLE stretch of railway tracks need to be protected with 20-feet walls that are edged with barbed wires just like you would see at any airport.
2) Have automated-ticketing system at all stations in order to ensure every passenger buys a ticket and has access to the platform only through a protected channel and similarly only ticket holders can exit the station through a protected area. This would not only make a station more secure but also bring more revenue for the railways.
3) A massive slum rehabilitation program to eradicate the dilapidated living conditions of half the people in this city. Most of the acts of terror would not have been possible without local help. And local help is available so cheaply on this country because we are totally ignorant to the fact that in this country majority of the population is still living under the poverty line and in cities like Bombay they live like stray dogs eating out of garbage cans and drinking sewerage water. Do you think these people would care for the safety of a country that does not care for them ? I wouldn't if I was one of them.

Yesterday, exactly 8 days after 26 November 2008, 8 kg RDX was found by the bomb detonation and detection team at CST station which is one of the sites of the terror attacks . Add to that the number of Mumbai people who had come at that place to pay their tributes for the people who gave up their lives and who lost their lives in the attack. Those who died will never come back and all of a sudden Mumbai people have realized their importance. Why it took 8 days to detect an amount of RDX sufficient enough to kill 200-300 people?
In spite of warning, people who had attended the CST attack site yesterday have caused inconvenience in the bomb detection squad's task. Candle light march and protest rally wont solve the problem- Had even one terrorist entered in disguise then I am sure every rally attendant would run to save his own life.

I believe that the rally lived up to the spirit of Mumbai. But it was more of a unregulated mob with no leader to give them the right direction. I believe at this point in time we need the help of the media who is powerfull enuf to take this protest to the next level and help the ppl of mumbai and india to get wat they inteded out of this rally.

else over a period of a week or mionth all will be forgotten and we left again to the atrocities of the politicians.

Sounds more like the Shiv Sena, an ultra nationalist party very powerful in Mumbai, flexing it's muscles.

The party is fruitcake fringe but dangerous to the maximum extent possible.

From media reports, it appears that the Congress party is having difficulties in identifying a new Chief Minister for Maharashtra.

May I offer myself as a non-partisan, professional candidate for the assignment? I will work without any salary, during this term.

I promise to provide the State with the best defence and security systems in the world. Provided ofcourse, I am left alone to execute the assignment and do not have to waste time and worry about every Tom, Dick and Harry poking his nose into the task at hand.

This is the time, for all those who care for the wetched state of security affairs in India, to be counted, to stand up, and to shoulder responsibility.

Yes, this rally was different in many aspects primarily amongst them was the fact that it wasn’t organized by any political party and that it was attended by middle class people, who normally do not attend any rallies. The motive was pure and simple: to demonstrate the anger and helplessness that people are feeling in the current situation.

If sustained, this could mark new beginnings in India, where we begin to have a wider democracy, where those who were never really considered as votes (read the sarcastic remarks made in the last few days by some of the politicians) would join the political process and contribute with their ideas, energy and common agendas.

We are all thinking about you, Mumbai. We're with you. Thank You deeply for joining hands with fellow citizens who are hurting like you. However, "war on terror" just doesn't make sense. It's an oxymoron. We need to dig deeper and unravel the roots. We're angry but we have to quench it for now to create a sustainable solution. We must never forget nor deny our story as a common people. That's what makes us human. Anything less makes us inhumane. With love from the other side of the globe.

I think this is wake up call for us, and take it as learning, though at the cost of many lives. We have exposed ourselves to vulnerability and to possible attacks.

The think tanks of India should be taking this as warning, as we have a huge coast line and are surrounded by unfriendly neighbors to our North (China), West (Pakistan), East (Bangladesh) and to the south (LTTE) assassinator of our ex PM.

Lets admit it, though we pride ourselves as a booming economy where does our first line of defense stand, be it, – Surveillance, Medical Support, Fire fighters, Police, Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air force, RAW, Intelligence community or Politicians?

We talk big about nuclear deals, booming economy, Bollywood and million other things.

Without actual training, support, exposure or equipment we still stand to lose even big.

We only stand to lose going to war. So again my brothers and sister take this as an opportunity to look at ourselves understand our gaps and bridge those with learning from the experts.

We all know that pakistan is involved in these terror attacks inspite of a million denails from them. I am not sure if the palistan govt is directly involved but it has no control over various terror outfits running their activities in their country. But this can't be an excuse as this terror is spilling out of the country. Indian govt has to retaliate and give a fitting reply if this kind of attacks repeat. Pakistan may have faced terror attacks from with in their boundries in the past but it is their nuisance to deal with. Other coutries neednot suffer the brunt of this nuisance.

There was a difference this time.The voice of the people was loud and clear -we will not tolerate terrorism anymore,we will not tolerate a government who will not make the lives of indians secure.People do not want words.They want action to ensure security of its people.

MUMBAI'S AGONY AND SOLIDARITY

The virtual "seizure" of Mumbai city by terrorists, raises many unanswered questions. Clearly, there are forces that wish to demoralize and discredit India. The country is doing well economically and could possibly become a superpower in the next 25 years. Some fanatical groups cannot stomach India's progress.

Nevertheless, the attacks and India's management of the same, underscore that much homework is yet pending, e.g.: How could a bunch of 20/25 youngsters armed with guns and grenades, hold India's premier city to ransom for 48 hours? Why are we not guarding our seas and coastlines? We do know, that during an earlier bombing of Mumbai city, the explosives were smuggled via sea routes. How can we forget lessons of the past?

Elementary security collapses!

The attacks in Mumbai clearly reveal that we do not even have basic security systems in place to guard our borders. The fact that the Chief officer of the anti-terrorist cell of the police force, was killed with three bullets in his chest, within one hour of the illicit landing in Mumbai, of some unknown 10 terrorist-criminals, tells the entire story of Mumbai's shame and failures. Clearly there are no closed circuit cameras at hotels or railway stations to monitor events. These cameras could have recorded the movements of all the terrorists in detail. Cities like London and Dubai are literally controlled and managed by cameras monitored by the police.

The quality of communications to the media and the public, during the siege, was miserable. There were conflicting reports by the Government on the number of terrorists. How many men entered Mumbai via boats? How many are killed? Are there some of them yet loafing in the streets or hiding with sympathizers in Mumbai? Is the ordinary citizen of Mubai safe and secure?

On the 28th November, the information was that the operation at Nariman House is complete. Thousands of people of the streets in front of the building, erupted into spontaneous celebrations!! It was a festival!! Then it was announced that the operation is not over!! But multitudes of people continued to mill on the streets! This was a major security risk. What if some terrorist in the building lobbed a grenade into the crowd?

Modernisation required:

Why are our police, at railway and airports armed with over 40 year old, World War I type of arms, rifles, with only 1 or 2 rounds of ammunition? The international media has carried pictures of one of the terrorists walking brazenly, fully armed, at Chattrapati Shivaji station! Why did a railway policeman just not shoot him dead? Whilst we praise out security services and commandos, we cannot forget that 10 terrorists managed to kill about 183 innocent citizens, injure over 300, including 17 police and security service personnel, and the top brass members of the anti-terrorist team and commandos. This is not a particularly scintillating assessment.

How could the rooftop, and the tomb of the prestigious Taj Hotel burn away, with the fire brigade unable to reach even the 5 or 6 floors? Are there no arrangements to deal with fires in towers and skyscrapers?

Why were the public and media allowed so close to the operation theatres at Taj Hotel or Nariman House? These were commando/army operations, not carnivals or picnics!

Why were all security personnel not wearing helmets for protection? Why were so many policemen, not wearing bullet proof vests? Why do we not invest in adequate number of well equipped ambulances? Single decker buses were being used as ambulances.

Security needs:

All malls, hospitals, hotels, theatres, should have mandatory metal detector gates. Why is there no rigorous security at the entrances of public places like hotels and hospitals? Even in a town like Dammam, in Saudi Arabia, the Sheraton Hotel has large concrete girders, to slow down the pace of all cars. Guards with mounted mirrors check every vehicle on the undersides for bombs. All baggage entering a hotel or a hospital, should be scanned through X ray machines.

We also need to train our spokesmen, be they civil officers or political leaders to learn to communicate more effectively. Many government officers, responsible for public statements, spoke poorly and their grammar was incorrect. When the world is listening to you, need to speak to speak cogently, for the world is listening and judging.

Besides arming our police better, we need to remunerate them so well, that the best men should want to join the police and army. Our biggest challenge is to draw our brightest youngsters to the police and security services. There are many vacancies in the police at senior levels in India, for which we do not have adequate officers. It is a lamentable tragedy, that our brightest youngsters work in foreign lands, and we are unable to offer them adequate opportunities within the country.

In the current global crisis, the world is looking to India and China to lead the way out. India will have to harness its security and armed forces rigorously, to be considered an economic superpower. And, India is rich today. Our foreign exchange reserves are almost USD 300 Billion, whilst even USA is USD 11 trillion in debt. So, we can afford to spend more on arming our policemen, soldiers and commandos, with automatic weapons and surveillance systems.

We have advertising campaign, "Incredulous India" and "Shining India". But we will lose credibility, unless we can guard our country and safeguard the common people.

Work with Pakistan:

It will be a serious mistake, if the Government or the people of India, take any steps to precipitate fragile relationships with Pakistan, due to the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. It is possible that some fanatical groups could have sponsored or supported this violence. However it is highly unlikely that the Government of President Zardari would support this attack. He himself is weak politically, and is not necessarily very strong with the military elite.

Indian and Pakistan have had a violent past, but laced with serious attempts to make peace. There are significant economic benefits, if these two countries can ensure peace. For the last decade there have been serious endeavors to ensure peace between the countries. These efforts must continue, and not get adversely impacted by the violence in Mumbai. This is not easy, for there is tremendous anger, hurt and loss of life in Mumbai. However, these are hard testing times, when sagacity and courage of character is called for.

Pakistan is going through a very difficult time economically. It's foreign exchange reserves are down to about 6-7 billion USD, which give it moneys to pay import bills for a couple of months only. Pakistan has sought money from IMF and friendly neighboring countries to make ends meet. Pakistan has also been ravaged by terrorism and the problems with Taliban. If Pakistan and India misunderstand each other and stop talking to each other, the terrorists would have achieved their goal, i.e. of damaging the peace process between these countries.

Terrorists are international criminals and have no religion or ideology, except death and destruction. They have to be tackled internationally. India and Pakistan must join hands to get rid of this virus. There are enough fundamental groups in both countries, who can use the current situation, to their political advantage. We should strengthen defenses against terrorists, and continue the process of concretizing solutions to pending problems, for lasting peace. This is a time for wisdom and statesmanship.

by: Rajendra K. Aneja

When every "COMMON INDIAN CITIZEN" becomes a "TERRORIST ASSASSINATION" target,Rich or Poor, we indians protest and not react.
MAKE ARMY OR N.C.C TRAINING COMPULSORY FOR EVERY INDIAN AND NOTICE THE 'TERRORIST ATTACKS" BECOMING HISTORY AND NOT A REGULAR INDIAN SITUATION.
MAKE YOUR ENEMIES FEAR YOU.

I am sick and tired!!!

Well!! Not just with the government… but with the common people.. with me! We knew that the politicians are not doing a good job, that the police and other security systems are not well equipped but we react only when such an incident takes place. We have the voting right, but do we use it to the best of our abilities?

When the entire nation should be channeling their energy in finding out the root cause of this incident and bringing down the perpetuator, the government is busy filling up positions. We need change!! But right now, we need to get some answers. It’s been more than a week since the ‘Mumbai Terror Attack’ took place, but have we received any concrete answers? Different media channels are showing different views and I am completely confused. I need a responsible authority to tell us what actually happened, who is behind this attacks and what will be done in future to avoid such situations.

I want to know why US is taking a special interest, this time. Are they trying to use us for their benefits? Media has helped us a lot in getting us the truth, but they should understand the fact that, we are a very responsible nation and blaming Pakistan or any other nation, until and unless we have a concrete proofs, is not right from our end.

No need for lengthy solutions.Only 1 solution for a peaceful India.Stop state terrorism of Indian forces against its own people.Give Kashmiris the right for self determination.