It led to "segmented and uncoordinated policymaking," in which offices covering India and Pakistan in the State Department and White House were unable to reconcile opposing viewpoints, became overly turf-conscious, and took on client-like relationships with the countries they worked on.
The memory of the attacks lingered, and lethargic legal systems in both countries meant justice was slow. In , India eventually sentenced to death and hung Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving attacker. But the case against Pakistani facilitators involved in the attacks still lingers in the Lahore High Court.
As for so many other terrorism cases, Pakistani civilians and law enforcement shy away from investigating the LeT for fear of their safety. The Pakistani prosecutor investigating the attacks showed up dead in Levy and Scott-Clark succeed in introducing us personally to the people who died and were injured, and the police officers and government officials who failed in their rapid response.
Readers will finish the book knowing what it felt like to be there, smelling the smoke and hearing the gunfire. The Seige forces all of us to understand the visceral and violent nature of the never-ending India-Pakistan rivalry. When attackers Ajmal, Ismail, Shoaib, and Umer hijacked an Indian fishing trawler while traveling from Karachi across the Arabian Sea, their Pakistani handlers told them to kill Solanki, the Indian captain they held hostage. All of them were blooded. Just as shocking as the raid itself are the chapters tracking the footsteps of David Headley, the troubled Pakistani American who performed the reconnaissance, and the lives of the LeT militants who conducted the attacks.
The poverty and disenfranchisement that Kasab and his fellow attackers came from in Pakistan is even more worrisome for India. Given its troubled economic trajectory, Pakistan will always have plenty of Kasabs wanting to fight India — no matter how scared of blood they really are. Finally, groups like LeT will always find a way to get God on their side. When it comes to the involvement of the Pakistani security establishment in the Mumbai plot and more broadly in terrorism, The Seige calls LeT a "tangled ball of wool" that created "cover for the machinations of the deep state.
For example, which parts of the Pakistani military deal with LeT? How high up the chain of command do the relationships go? Does LeT ever resist Pakistani directives? The reader becomes more aware of these problems but not much smarter as to their answers.
In all fairness, answering these questions may be beyond even Levy and Scott-Clark, who prove themselves to be worthy investigative journalists. Just as Levy and Scott-Clark paint a vivid picture of the life of the Pakistani militant, a parallel narrative on developments within the Pakistani security establishment would have filled in the gaps. Such an account would show that changing patterns in terrorism are redefining some perspectives within the Pakistani security establishment towards LeT and similar organizations.
In this case, Shooting for a Century does a better job of analyzing the conundrum Pakistan is in; Cohen believes that the threat of Islamic terrorism in both countries could potentially bring India and Pakistan closer together. The reader experiences the attacks with the same sense of terror and confusion that the people of Mumbai did. Mumbai residents were the eventual casualties of a bilateral relationship gone awry. Shooting for a Century offers the intellectual arguments behind those dynamics, while The Seige stands out powerfully as a narrative about the tragic impact of terrorism on people — states, perpetrators, and victims alike.
Like the India-Pakistan relationship itself, the books represent two separate and psychologically traumatized parts of the same complicated and violent story. Shamila N. Follow her on Twitter: ShamilaCh.
Shusha was the key to the recent war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Now Baku wants to turn the fabled fortress town into a resort. What if their boss, the United States, gets involved in a clash with China and summons them to help out in the conflict? They will have to go. India and Pakistan, who share much more in common than England and France do, instead have their triggers ready at each other. Both countries are mired in poverty yet spend billions in arms every year to outdo one another.
Just like the French have accepted that the memory of Joan of Arc and Napoleon has faded away with time, so too Indians and Pakistanis must accept that the ghost of Aurangzeb and sundry other marauders has evaporated with time. These guys are not coming back. Why keep invoking their memory? So many Indians who subscribe to rightwing philosophy love Bollywood songs and Mughlai food.
The most celebrated actor in Bollywood once remarked in Pakistan that Urdu had become an orphan in India. He was wrong. Urdu is alive and kicking more in India than in Pakistan. And with the orthodox Urdu that Bollywood songs are laden with, sometimes I wonder if the target audience for these songs is not Indian but Pakistani. So no, Urdu is not dying anytime soon in India. There is no point in denying the undeniable. And in turn we have influenced it greatly. What has emerged is a fusion of cultures.
Nobody in our country seems ready to let go of their love for Bollywood and Mughlai cuisine. So why cling on to hate? Can Mamata go national? Successful coalitions at the Centre have been usually headed by leaders with weak power bases. Is a green Diwali possible? Ultra right and wrong: Women in India face a new threat to their freedom of choice. Nehru, Iqbal, cricket and the question of Muslim identity.
Hate smug liberals? The dusty plains of rural Punjab are the same on both sides, complete with crop burning. Lahore looks no different from any major north Indian city. The old city, with its maze of by-lanes, motorcyclists grazing your elbow and little children narrowly avoiding falling into drains, will instantly remind you of Lucknow or Chandni Chowk.
This correspondent was part of a group of Indian journalists invited by the government of Pakistan to cover the opening of the Kartarpur pilgrimage corridor. The security detail was significant. Our Lahore hotel, located on MM Alam Road — named after a fighter pilot and hero of the war with India — was swarming with security personnel.
Vehicles with armed men and blazing sirens escorted our bus. Unless you are used to it, this kind of security can be a bit unnerving.
It can feel like attention is being drawn to you, the swirl of red and blue lights marking you out as a target. Pakistan does security a little differently from India. Not for them the commandos in safari suits or plainclothes. The idea is to secure, but also to dissuade with the display of force. When you drive through the cities, the horrors of the past come alive. As we pulled into the Islamabad Marriot, which was bombed in , a fellow journalist who was posted in the city at the time, reminisced about how the explosion had blown away all the trees on that street.
Driving around Lahore, a friend pointed out the spot near the Gaddafi stadium where the bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked, also in Shopkeeper Imran Niazi is a hardliner for peace. ETPrime stories of the day Logistics How sustainable supply chains helped companies stay afloat in the pandemic.
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