blasts: a reaction in Dubai

As with you all, I also felt profoundly saddened by the Mumbai blasts and incensed at the sheer moral wretchedness of the perpetrators. Many bloggers have done an exceedingly fine job of covering the entire episode and I thank them for keeping NRI’s like me fully informed about all that has been happening. That Mumbai has recovered and returned to normalcy so soon after the blasts in a tribute to her fighting spirit and we all can take a leaf out of her book.
As can be guessed, there have been swift developments in the investigations so far. Calls from mobile phones to Dubai and Karachi were recorded immediately after the blasts from the blast locations. This would point to an involvement from across the border, not necessarily of the ISI; maybe even private operators. In any case, what is clear is that planning and executing an attack of this magnitude would be possible only for a handful of terrorist organizations. SIMI and Lashkar have denied any involvement and there is yet no concrete proof implicating them. Something has got to give, and soon at that. These blasts are also being linked to the cache of RDX that was recovered in a raid in Aurangabad earlier this year. It is but a matter of time before the jigsaw pieces fall in place.
Here in Dubai, people are more concerned with what they see as Israeli atrocities in the occupied territory as well as in Lebanon. Over the past couple of days, there has been an upsurge of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, with casualities on both sides. Of course, the papers here only hi-light the casualities on the Arab side and the editorials are full of thinly veiled invectives at Israel and America.
My Pakistani friends, while being sympathetic towarde the people of Mumbai and while firmly denouncing the actions of the terrorists who are responsible for the Mumbai blasts, are also a little defensive as they feel that the first thing India will do is point a finger at Pakistan. While we have been fairly restrained so far, I can also see that happening, especially when the investigations reveal some clear connections from across the border. Manmohan Singh has also made strong statements about Pakistan not being able or capable of fulfilling its commitment of 2004 of not allowing any terrorist activity on its soil against India.