The Times of India published from Mumbai has some of the most detailed and interesting stories as the battle rages on between Indian security forces and terrorists for the third day. Commandos airdrop at Nariman House to rescue Israeli hostages, reports the Indian Express. The terrorists at Nariman House have food for at least three days, says DNA (Daily News and Analysis), another newspaper published from Mumbai.
An FBI team is on its way to Mumbai to help in the investigation, says the Times of India.
The Times of India reports Greek millionaire Andreas Liveras was one of those shot dead in the Taj hotel. French nuclear scientist George Vendryas and his wife were among the lucky survivors. Vendryas is known as the father of the fast breeder reactor and won the Indian Nuclear Society's first lifetime achievement award this year.
Pakistan paper brings up Kashmir
The Pakistani newspaper, Dawn, has been quick to link the terrorist attack to Kashmir.
As the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan met in New Delhi, France — like Barack Obama — said peace in Afghanistan depends on a Kashmir settlement, said Dawn.
A word about Pakistan and Afghanistan
The problem with that view is that Pakistan is not one happy family which would live happily ever after once it gets its own way on Kashmir. That would not settle the problem in Sind where Pakistanis regularly fight among themselves. And Pakistan has also had to fight separatists in Baluchistan.
As for Afghanistan, throughout history Afghans have fought foreign incursions. Peace in Afghanistan has never had anything to do with Pakistan, even when the latter was part of British India. Only when the British invaded Afghanistan did all hell break out.
Suketu Mehta, author of Maximum Bombay, writes in the Guardian: The terrorists attacked my city because of its wealth. Mehta now teaches journalism at New York University.
There is also sympathy for India's Muslims.
The Wall Street Journal writes: India's Muslims… are among the country's poorest communities…
Al Jazeera has been broadcasting some interesting commentary using video from the Indian news channel NDTV and posting
clips on the web using YouTube. It has reported complaints of discrimination against Muslims.
Does that give the terrorists a carte blanche to kill people?
As for those worried about a communal backlash, not every terrorist incident in India has led to Hindu-Muslim riots.
The fact is India has one of the world's largest Muslim populations and Hindus and Muslims have to live together.
And, because India is a democracy, Muslims can vote against political parties which discriminate against them. That is one reason why the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has come to power only thrice: May 16 -31, 1996; March 19, 1998 – October 13, 1999; and October 13, 1999 – May 13, 1994. Not even Hindus vote en bloc for the Hindu nationalists.
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