Bombay Train Blasts

[quote]nik19 wrote:

Tell me about it, I have grown up accepting that bombings are just an everyday thing…

This is the chronology of major bomb blasts in Mumbai since 1993:

March 12, 1993: A series of bomb blasts ripped through 13 places in the city, killing 257 people and injuring 713. These were the first blasts in which RDX was used and the explosions were allegedly planned by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

December 2, 2002: Two persons were killed and 31 injured when a powerful bomb exploded in a municipal bus outside Ghatkopar suburban railway station in north-central Mumbai.

December 6, 2002: Twenty-five people were injured when a bomb exploded in a food plaza at Bombay Central railway station. The bomb was planted in an air-conditioning duct.

January 27, 2003: Thirty people were injured when a crude bomb planted in a bicycle exploded at a shopping complex outside Vile Parle railway station in north-west Mumbai.

March 13, 2003: Eleven people were killed and 65 injured when a powerful bomb exploded in a ladies special train when it was entering Mulund railway station in the peak hours.

August 25, 2003: Two blasts occurred one after the other at the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar, killing 46 people and injuring more than 160. RDX was planted in taxis parked at both these places.

Me and my dad just passed by the Gateway of India when the bomb exploded, our windscreen was shattered.
this was just 5 days before I left for england to attend university which started in september

[/quote]

I follow world events fairly closely. Off the top of my head I can’t recall hearing about any of these attacks in the news media here in the states.

I hope all goes well.

Dustin

nik, I hope your friend are all OK.

zap, this is not about islam. this is about land. it’s about kashmir.

militant islamic and pakistani groups condemned the attacks. people are fighting for land. it’s all political.

[quote]silencer wrote:
zap, this is not about islam. this is about land. it’s about kashmir.

militant islamic and pakistani groups condemned the attacks. people are fighting for land. it’s all political.[/quote]

That is the same argument being used in dozens of places around the world.

The only unifying factor is radical Islam.

Hatred is being preached in mosques around the world.

As I said it is not all Muslims. It is the radicals that are causing the problems.

Until the moderate Muslims toss these bums out the problems will continue.

What are you doing to stop it? Do you speak of hatred of the infidel when among friends or do you condemn the hate speech and terrorism in the name of Allah?

[quote]nik19 wrote:
Imagine going to the local hospitals and looking through a list of the dead to see if your loved one is on it…

I hope the bastards who did this burn in hell[/quote]

Agreed.

[quote]Dustin wrote:
nik19 wrote:

Tell me about it, I have grown up accepting that bombings are just an everyday thing…

This is the chronology of major bomb blasts in Mumbai since 1993:

March 12, 1993: A series of bomb blasts ripped through 13 places in the city, killing 257 people and injuring 713. These were the first blasts in which RDX was used and the explosions were allegedly planned by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

December 2, 2002: Two persons were killed and 31 injured when a powerful bomb exploded in a municipal bus outside Ghatkopar suburban railway station in north-central Mumbai.

December 6, 2002: Twenty-five people were injured when a bomb exploded in a food plaza at Bombay Central railway station. The bomb was planted in an air-conditioning duct.

January 27, 2003: Thirty people were injured when a crude bomb planted in a bicycle exploded at a shopping complex outside Vile Parle railway station in north-west Mumbai.

March 13, 2003: Eleven people were killed and 65 injured when a powerful bomb exploded in a ladies special train when it was entering Mulund railway station in the peak hours.

August 25, 2003: Two blasts occurred one after the other at the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar, killing 46 people and injuring more than 160. RDX was planted in taxis parked at both these places.

Me and my dad just passed by the Gateway of India when the bomb exploded, our windscreen was shattered.
this was just 5 days before I left for england to attend university which started in september

I follow world events fairly closely. Off the top of my head I can’t recall hearing about any of these attacks in the news media here in the states.

I hope all goes well.

Dustin

[/quote]

It’s the lead story at the top of the hour on FOX and CNN. ABC ran with it last night also. Also heard it on a number of radio stations yesterday while travelling.

I don’t think the US MSM have a lot of people on the ground in India to fully cover this story. Most if the news is coming via coorespondents.

This thread, to be honest, seems to be quite informative and up to date.

[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
Radical Islam has declared war on the world. When is the world going to realize that what is happening in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia… is all related?

Hatred is being preached in mosques all over the world. It is past time for the millions of good and decent Muslims to step up and say “No More!”

No more murder in the name of Allah![/quote]

Stop being naive. They’re rebelling against decades of colonialism by foreign powers.

[quote]Nominal Prospect wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
Radical Islam has declared war on the world. When is the world going to realize that what is happening in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia… is all related?

Hatred is being preached in mosques all over the world. It is past time for the millions of good and decent Muslims to step up and say “No More!”

No more murder in the name of Allah!

Stop being naive. They’re rebelling against decades of colonialisation by foreign powers.[/quote]

It has been decades since that ended.

I think I will set off a few bombs in the Tokyo subway to protest Pearl Harbor.

[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
It has been decades since that ended.

I think I will set off a few bombs in the Tokyo subway to protest Pearl Harbor.[/quote]

It hasn’t ended. Not throughout the Middle East. The U.S. is still in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, etc…

But regardless, the balance of power was shifted away from the Arabs after WWI. Muslims have been living under the thumb of foreign powers ever since that time.

The situation in Pakistan/India differs little from the Israel/Palestine debacle or even Iraq. In all cases, the root causes of the problems can be traced back to imperialism and foreign colonisation. Israel, Pakistan, and Iraq were all artificial states created arbitrarily by foreign diplomats. Those events paved the way for all of the problems seen today. It is completely ignorant to try to judge them outside of this historical context.

Tough conditions breed extremism. Arabs have been living under such conditions for nearly a century.

[quote]Nominal Prospect wrote:
Stop being naive. They’re rebelling against decades of colonialism by foreign powers.[/quote]

Like the mughals? Shouldn’t it be the Hindus bombing the Muslims, and not the other way around?

Most people dont really know what goes on in India… its probably because there are so many conflicts going on in the world today and that it probably gets overlooked, its no body’s fault I guess… its just the sad state of the world that we live in.

I just listed a the ‘Major’ Bombing Incidents. If I was to list all the bombings not to mention terrorist attacks pakistani militant outfits have perpetrated in India… this thread will be a thousand pages long… and Im not even joking… just to name a few

Indian Airlines flight IC 814 Kathmandu-New Delhi was hijacked on Saturday 24 December 1999 at about 1730 hours shortly after it entered Indian air space.The hijacking ended on New Year’s Eve after India released three terrorists in exchange of the hostages.
The plane was hijacked by pakistani extremist groups who were a part of the Taliban and the plane was flown to Kandahar. Sadly the Indian Govt released the prisoners after tremendous pressure and one of the prisoners then turned out to be bin ladens right hand man in 9/11.

October 2001
Indian police say at least 29 people have been killed and many more injured in an attack by militants on the state assembly building in Srinagar, the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir.
A suicide attacker drove a hijacked government jeep that had been loaded with explosives up to the main entrance and detonated it, while at least two other militants wearing police uniforms entered the complex and seized control of a building.

December 2001

5 gunmen stormed the indian parliament and opened fire.The militants, armed with guns and hand grenades, burst into the red sandstone parliament complex shortly before noon local time and started shooting.

The gunbattle raged for an hour as police and security forces rushed to the area.

According to witnesses, one of the gunmen blew himself up in an apparent suicide attack.

Two hours after the gunbattle, officials exploded a bomb found in the complex in a controlled detonation

Indian government officials said all five gunmen had been killed along with six police officers and a gardener.

No members of parliament or ministers were hurt, but Vice-President Krishan Kant had a narrow escape.

September 2002
Attack on the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar, in which 35 people, including three elite security guards, were killed

Two policemen were also killed in the attack and more than 80 injured when militants dressed in army uniforms opened indiscriminate fire on devotees in the temple premises.

I can go on and on… I have all the stats and figures… because all my uncles are in the indian army, my grandfather was the police Commissioner of Bombay during british India, he knew Gandhi personally. My maternal uncle was in the airforce and he was captured and taken as a POW during the 1971 india pakistan war aswell… so maybe you can understand why I feel so passionately about India and Pakistan… I guess its in my blood.

[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
nik, I hope your friend are all OK.[/quote]

I finally got an email from my mates back in India, they are all ok, 2 of them that were in hospital escaped with a few stitches. Telephones are slowly starting to work now as the lines are getting cleared up after that initial burst. Im soo relieved!.

Thank you so much for you concern.

Nik

[quote]silencer wrote:
zap, this is not about islam. this is about land. it’s about kashmir.

militant islamic and pakistani groups condemned the attacks. people are fighting for land. it’s all political.[/quote]

Thats a fair point mate, I personally dont feel this has anything to do with the muslims in the middle east. This is specifically a India Pakistan problem… the pakistani militants attack India for various reasons not just kashmir.

I wouldnt however really give much consideration to militant islamic and pakistani groups condemning the attacks… this is their double bluff just to look good infront of america since they are america’s Ally.

In Zaps defense… it is still a pretty heartless thing to do and it has been done by fanatic islamic militants nonetheless.

There are outfits in pakistan that want kashmir to be a part of Pakistan… when majority of the people in Indian Kashmir want to be a part of India… I am gonna give a detailed explanation of the Kashmir issue once I finish replying to some posts, for anyone thatis interested k

[quote]It is completely ignorant to try to judge them outside of this historical context.
[/quote]

That’s true. Had the British not come when they did, what might the Mahrathas have done to the Mughals to repay them for centuries of brutal repression? I guess we’ll never know, but I would bet we wouldn’t be talking about Indians and Pakistanis, because the payback for all that tyrrany wouldn’t have left a lot of Muslims around.

[quote]Nominal Prospect wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
It has been decades since that ended.

I think I will set off a few bombs in the Tokyo subway to protest Pearl Harbor.

It hasn’t ended. Not throughout the Middle East. The U.S. is still in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, etc…

But regardless, the balance of power was shifted away from the Arabs after WWI. Muslims have been living under the thumb of foreign powers ever since that time.

The situation in Pakistan/India differs little from the Israel/Palestine debacle or even Iraq. In all cases, the root causes of the problems can be traced back to imperialism and foreign colonisation. Israel, Pakistan, and Iraq were all artificial states created arbitrarily by foreign diplomats. Those events paved the way for all of the problems seen today. It is completely ignorant to try to judge them outside of this historical context.

Tough conditions breed extremism. Arabs have been living under such conditions for nearly a century.[/quote]

You make some fair points mate… I have met some americans who have told me that muslims hate the american way of life and hate their country because of the freedom given to people in america… but as far as I know that is not true… the majority of muslims that I have met have a thing against America because of what America is doing in the Middle East. However good America’s intentions have been, there have been alot of mistakes made and that hasnt helped the cause one bit. Also America’s support for Israel isnt really conducive to warm relations with muslims for obvious reasons.

So in that respect Muslims are definitely angry about bieng ’ under the thumb of foreign powers’.

Pakistan was created in 1947 by the british when they partitioned India into Pakistan and East pakistan (which later became bangladesh). This my friends was one of the biggest fuck ups of all time, not only does India now have two bordering countries with hostile elements in them, the world also now has a islamic republic with a large population of fanatic lunatics. There are scores and scores of militant pakistani outfits with strong links to Bin laden. It is a well known fact that these outfits supported and funded the Taliban and are continuing to do so. I personally feel General Musharraf has to do a lot more to crack down on these people.

When I worked in silicon valley I had coworker friends who were from India. One of them fell in love across religious lines and actually tried to smuggle her out and marry her. That didn’t happen. He was married off shortly after… and he seems happy these days.

Okay, now that’s just a side story really, but he described how from his point of view India has been “colonized” by Islam and that there are growing conflicts over time between the two groups.

I really can’t remember all the details and hope I’m not getting it all mashed up… it’s been quite a while

Regardless, it is very similar to the “home grown” terrorism cells that we hear about in western nations. Radical Islam can spring out of Islam very easily, anywhere, independently. Since the world is fairly full, we’re going to have some problems because there is no room to expand and ignore each other anymore.

[quote]vroom wrote:
Regardless, it is very similar to the “home grown” terrorism cells that we hear about in western nations. Radical Islam can spring out of Islam very easily, anywhere, independently. Since the world is fairly full, we’re going to have some problems because there is no room to expand and ignore each other anymore.[/quote]

It is very similar to home grown terrorism cells in western nations, but what annoys me the most is that… These muslims are in India because they are greedy… because India is richer and the quality of life is alot better in India than pakistan, India also is more popular among other nations as compared to Pakistan/Bangladesh. I remember how when ever India Pakistan cricket matches would be on… they would be muslim familes in my area actually supporting pakistan…even when we fought a war in 1999 there were muslims supporting pakistan… I was absolutely livid!.. I mean how can you have the audacity to do that!. Their grandfathers chose to be a part of India in 1948 when they had the chance to go to pakistan, the least indian people demand is loyalty to your own country!.

There have been a number of cases where local muslims have helped pakistani militants and that just makes me furious…traitors!!

We even have an organisation called SIMI that confessed to doing so.

What is SIMI?

The Student Islamic Movement of India, or SIMI, is a fundamentalist student organisation that was formed at Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, in 1977. Mohammad Ahmadullah Siddiqi, now a professor of journalism and public relations at Western Illinois University, Macomb, USA, was its founding president.

SIMI activists say they want to convert India to an Islamic land. SIMI was outlawed in 2001 under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Thought the Act has been scrapped by the United Progressive Alliance government, the ban on SIMI holds.

Where is Siddiqi now?

In the United States.

In an exclusive interview to rediff.com in 2003, Siddiqi said he founded SIMI in 1977 as part of his mission to educate and enlighten the Muslim community. He is also a founding member and secretary general of the North American Association of Muslim Professionals and Scholars. Siddiqi said SIMI was set up to study Islam like in a study circle and to present Islam through lectures and seminars to students at colleges and schools.

Siddiqi now says he has no links with SIMI because the organisation has been hijacked by radical elements.

Police investigations revealed that in 2001, SIMI activists were responsible for the communal riots in Pune and Kanpur and for the bomb blast on the Sabarmati Express on Independence Day. Then, the Maharashtra police arrested nine SIMI members who attempted to bomb the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad offices in Nagpur in May 2001.

The police say SIMI has links with the Jamaat-e-Islam and the Hizbul Mujahideen in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. They also say SIMI is connected with Pakistan’s Inter-State Intelligence.

Reportedly, SIMI activists have had close links with other Pakistan-based terrorist groups such as the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed.

It is believed that SIMI secures funds from the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, Riyadh, and gets financial assistance from the Kuwait-based International Islamic Federation of Students Organisations.

The police say SIMI has some 400 ansars (full-time cadres) and 20,000 ordinary members. But after the outfit was outlawed in 2001, most of the active members are in jail. Students up to the age of 30 years are eligible to become members. SIMI cadres consider Osama bin Laden a ‘true believer of Islam’ and regard him as an 'Islamic hero.

[quote]ChuckyT wrote:
It is completely ignorant to try to judge them outside of this historical context.

That’s true. Had the British not come when they did, what might the Mahrathas have done to the Mughals to repay them for centuries of brutal repression? I guess we’ll never know, but I would bet we wouldn’t be talking about Indians and Pakistanis, because the payback for all that tyrrany wouldn’t have left a lot of Muslims around.[/quote]

Im very very impressed with your knowledge of Indian history sir!.

I am a Maratha… that along with the fact that the majority of my family are in the armed forces probably is the reason why I feel so strongly about India… so I guess it is in my blood,

the Maratha’s were fierce warriors and are one of the main people responsible for preserving the Hindu identity of India, there was a strong chance of India becoming an Islamic State during the Mughal Rule… The Mughals did some good things in India and the Mughal emperors were the richest in the world at that time… but my god , did they do some terrible things to the local non muslim population!.

[quote]nik19 wrote:
a bunch of good stuff…[/quote]

Nik,

Thanks for taking the time to tell us so much about the issues from your point of view and helping us understand things better in that region of the world.

[quote]vroom wrote:
Nik,

Thanks…
[/quote]

I thank you even more for taking the time to read my posts and replying to them. Im just going to keep posting on this thread because it makes me feel better!.

Nik