On the evening of November 26th, Bombay – one of the world’s most important financial cities – was rocked by violence. The coordinated attacks occurred in at least seven locations starting around 9:30 PM. So far, 160 people are confirmed dead. A little know group calling itself the “Deccan Mujahideen” is claiming responsibility for the attacks.
On a personal level, these attacks resonated with me. During a visit to Bombay in 2006, I had spent some time at two of the locations targeted this week. These spots include the lobby of the famed Taj Mahal Hotel (owned by the Tata Group) which is a frequent meeting area for ex-pats living in the city, and Leopold’s Cafe along Colaba’s chaotic thruway made famous by author Gregory David Roberts in his best selling novel Shantaram.
A Farewell Dinner to Remember
The day after the incident, Unilever announced that its current CEO, its incoming CEO and a number of senior executives from its Indian subsidiary Hindustan Unilever were in the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel when it came under attack. The executives were attending a farewell dinner for the company’s outgoing CEO, Patrick Cescau, when the terrorists opened fire in the lobby and restaurant. All representative from Unilever safely escaped the attackers, according to a press release on the company’s website.
A Growing Hotbed of Political and Religious Extremism
This latest incident in Bombay follows five bomb blasts on September 13th, 2008 in a shopping area of New Delhi regularly frequented by western tourists and ex-pats. And on May 13, 2008, seven bombs ripped through the centuries-old Indian city of Jaipur (the “pink city”) killing 60 people in a jewelry market on the steps of a Hindu temple. The spot is a popular tourist destination. Islamic fundamentalist groups have claimed responsibility for all three of these incidences in 2008.
Terrorism in India has been in the rise in recent years and it is coming from a multitude of sources. Probably the most widely documented threat involves allegations by the Indian government, journalists and political scientists that Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (or the ISI), is actively playing a direct role these attacks. Recently, both the US and Afghanistan have also publicly accused the ISI of carrying out terrorist acts in Afghanistan.
Moreover, tensions still exist between the Indian government in Delhi and ongoing separatist movements in the northeast region of the country. For example, in the Indian state of Manipur, militants with the People’s Liberation Army clashed with Indian security forces during much of the 1990s. In the state of Assam, the United Liberation Front of Assam has actively clashed with the government for the past four decades. The primary goal of these groups is to establish independent states governed by the local tribal populations.
In addition to these groups, the well document conflict in Kashmir has gone on for the last thirty years pitting Hindus against Muslims, the Indian army against the Pakistani army, along the famed “line of control.” Perhaps most worrisome for government officials, however, is the rise of the Naxalite movement, an informal name given to Maoist rebels which originated in the state of West Bengal and which is rapidly spreading through rural areas along the eastern side of the country.
“This is Sad”
Three weeks ago I received an email from a good friend. Ritu is a former colleague of mine from when I lived and worked in India back in 1998. Believe me when I tell you that she is not someone who is not easily frightened or intimidated. But the escalating violence in 2008 has even put her a little on edge. She wrote to me on October 30: “Things have become so insecure with bomb blasts happening every month. For the first time I have started feeling a little insecure while traveling on trains, visiting shopping centres and sitting in railway stations. It’s so sad.”
The Next Front on the “War on Terror”
Make no mistake; India is the world’s next battleground in the so-called “War on Terror.” For years, my Indian friends have been pointing out to me that they, too, have been under siege by religious fundamentalism and political radicalism. The government of India has repeatedly requested formal diplomatic support from the US and Europe in combating this growing insurgency and for years these requests have fallen on deaf ears by the international community.
Now is the time for Western governments to wake up and begin supporting the world’s largest democracy and the world’s second most populated Muslim country in their campaign to uproot religious and political extremism from within. India is one country the global business community cannot afford to tip in the wrong direction.
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