Time for India to Decide

After spending a good part of the last 24 hours or so exposing myself to all the media coverage of the latest "11/26" terror attacks in Mumbai, one thing is clear to me right off the bat - This time the international coverage of a terror event in India has been widespread, and genuinely concerned. The NY Times, LA Times and SF Chronicle have been consistently flashing top headline stories of the happenings over the last two days. I can understand a terrorist attack in Pakistan or Israel getting this extent of coverage in western media, but a hostage terror crisis in an Indian city getting this much western media attention tells me two things - that India has gained sufficient international clout as an emerging world power these days, and Mumbai is now seen as a truly international city with happenings there shaking the sentiments of Indian diaspora and foreigners alike worldwide.

I would like to think India (and Mumbai) has perhaps faced deadlier terror attacks than this in the past. I have no doubt in my mind citizens of a great City like Mumbai will quickly put this episode behind them, and recuperate to full normalcy within a matter of days. Again, what seems remarkable to me about the terror episode this time is not the extent of damage it caused, but the extent of global attention it is attracting in a post 9/11 world. Needless to say, there is widespread speculation that modern "islamic" terrorism may be at work here as well. Names such as Deccan Mujahudeen, Pakistan-based islamic groups, etc. have been mentioned. While the Indian and global intelligence agencies dig deep to unearth the real people behind the attack and their real motives, certain larger thoughts come to mind.

The history behind such terror attacks have now brought India to the threshold of a moment of truth and reckoning - having to make some critical decisions as to what path the country should take even as it stands at the doorstep of (re)emergence as a global power. On the one hand, there is modern India - the world's largest and thriving democracy, the IT superpower, the motherland of brilliant technical minds that prosper worldwide, the energy-hungry domestic economy keen to engage with global trading partners, a proud nation that recently launched its moon mission, and so on - and on the other hand is the India of old and the poor with all of its age-old social ills, a considerable muslim population always second-guessing India's nationhood and commitment to plurality, a communist-minded political and social mindset that is deeply suspicious of US influence in Indian politics, and the not-exactly-friendly immediate neighbors (China and Pakistan) who are envious of India's rising stature as a global power. A terror attack like this poses a sathya-sodhanai question to India's polity. Which direction is India going to go? Are we going to succumb to such sectarian, terrorist-driven hatred for western-style democracy and general rule of law, and embrace a path of retraction by distancing ourselves from globalization led by the western world, or are we going to put down with an iron fist such divisive ideology-driven radical elements from our secular society and continue with our march to international stature no matter who likes it? Are we going to keep appeasing fringe social elements that keep blackmailing us in the name of "respect for minorities" or are we going to stand up and put an end to this menace for good? The answer needs to be more than an all-too-familiar punch-line this time. It is time for India to put its foot down and take a stance so that there is no more fooling around as to what our future direction is.