India's vulnerabilities

As is the routine practice, a section of the Indian media has started pointing fingers at Pakistan. Not satisfied with the claim of the attackers' spokesman who told the media that he belonged to Hyderabad Deccan, he was asked if he came from Pakistan's Hyderabad. The Daily Hindu said the attackers had sneaked into the city through sea, which, according to it, constituted a conclusive proof of their being foreigners. The paper also decided that they spoke in a Pakistani accent. Pakistan is totally engrossed in fighting its own extremists and terrorists who have conducted several suicide attacks in the country's major cities. For the last three months, Pakistan Army is conducting operations in the tribal areas. The militants have declared that they would target President Zardari and his allies at the centre and the provinces. It is therefore inconceivable that any militant group could have left Pakistan to conduct attacks inside India and that also with official blessings. That those who also conducted the strikes knew precisely where to go in the big city indicates that the attacks were the doing of one of the several militant groups of Indian origin.
India needs to look within and set its house in order. It is highly condemnable that so many innocent people have been killed. New Delhi should however realize that there is a dire need to resolve the grievances of India's minorities, religious as well ethnic, to bring peace to the country. The incident exposes security lapses and a massive intelligence failure on the part of the central as well as state administrations. That so many attackers could enter the city along with weapons unchecked is a reflection on the performance of Indian security agencies.