Indians, and especially Mumbaiites are very angry. They are seething and grinding their teeth and want to hit back hard at the terrorists and their perceived supporters and take strong measures to attack the ‘sources’ and 'supporters' of terrorism. This is very similar an atmosphere to what existed after 9/11 in the US and in fact many parallels are being drawn to the two attacks and the Nov 26 incident is being called as India’s 9/11. Like the US, India has the sympathy of the world and the entire world is behind India in trying to get the terrorists to justice.
What the US did later, that many sensible people at that time tried to restrain and reverse, was to fan the flames of hatred and instead of using the opportunity to get to the roots of terrorism they started a neanderthal revenge cycle and started hitting back at anybody whom they thought would not be in alignment with US interests. The worst part was how the government managed to brainwash a gullible public and embedded hatred in their mind for a big portion of the earth by characterising those countries as against the US and responsible for 9/11. A typical US resident of the heartlands who would not be able to point out Afghanistan from Armenia was deceived into thinking that the common man in a big swath of the earth (and anybody looking like them) hated them and that they hated the freedom that Americans enjoyed and that was the reason why they were attacked. Their minds were twisted for evil benefits into thinking that Saddam Hussein was in cahoots with Bin Laden and that his country should be attacked to take revenge for 9/11. These actions were taken by the very taken by the very government whose elected officals were chosen for the offices because they should think with a more balanced insight, be calm under difficult situations, and do what is right and just for the country and the world, and not be swept away into rage and fervour like any ordinary citizen. It was deception and betrayal of the highest order and sadly many Americans still think that going to war with Iraq was the right thing.
What the Americans did not do was focus on why things came to such a head and why there was so much hatred in the world, albeit by fringe elements always. They did not analyze in a rational manner as to what was the history behind the Al Qaeda movement and the reasons for their enmity with the US. In fact anybody who tried to discuss that or said anything about the ‘roots’ of terrorism was branded a traitor and a left-wing radical pacifier. I hope and pray that the Indian government and the Indian citizens have realized from the aftermath of 9/11 that uniting all the citizens of the country and forcefully chastising any biased, prejudiced or ‘spur of the moment rage’ actions of citizens against each other is critical. Also critical is disseminating information in a way that does not translate in any way as pointing a finger at a religion or community and strongly criticizing any such innuendo from the press, media or individual. Let’s unequivocally make this a fight for the right against the wrong and not allow it to be cast in any other light.