[Reader-list] Protest this article

[V Ramaswamy]

Dear Friends

I was shocked to read an article in the current issue of The Economist 
(London), about the recent bomb blasts in Hyderabad.

I am copying the article below; it is also accessible on-line at:

http://economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9725391

The last paragraph of the story begins with the line:

"It is not known what role India's 150m Muslims ...play in the violence."

As a citizen of India, I considered this highly objectionable, offensive and 
provocatory. Some might even consider it inflamatory and incendiary.

For a journalist to blithely label an entire community of a nation, 150 
million, "suspect" - is simply astounding!

An immediate retraction and apology would be in order.

You may write to The Economist at:

letters at economist.com

Yours sincerely

V Ramaswamy
Calcutta
cuckooscall.blogspot.com

....................

India

Mad and Hyderabad
Aug 30th 2007 | DELHI
>From The Economist print edition

Nameless, ruthless and pointless


IT IS a strange terrorist who prefers to remain anonymous. Yet this seems to
be the signature of the bombers who, every few months for the past few
years, have exploded crude bombs in India's cities. The latest blasts were
in pleasant southern Hyderabad on August 25th. In quick succession,
explosions in a park during a laser show and at a crowded food-stall killed
43 people and injured scores. Another 19 bombs were discovered planted
around Hyderabad, and made safe. The government of Andhra Pradesh, of which
Hyderabad is the capital, leapt to blame the customary suspects: "terrorist
organisations based in Bangladesh and Pakistan".

It may be right. Informed sources accuse Shahid Bilal, a Bangladeshi
Islamist, of orchestrating the bombing. Mr Bilal leads a Pakistan-based
militant group, called Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, that has fought Indian
troops in Indian-controlled Kashmir. In May he was alleged to have been
involved in another bombing in Hyderabad, that killed 11 people.

Then again, maybe not. Indian officials, especially at the state level, tend
to blame terrorist atrocities on the neighbours without much, or any,
evidence. So it was in February, after a bomb killed 68 people on a train in
Haryana in the north. Yet no claims of responsibility, compelling evidence
or significant arrests have ensued.

One possible reason for the culprits' coyness is that they are indeed
friends of Pakistan. With Pakistan currently struggling to stay friends with
America and make friends with India, it may have ordered its former-or
present-proxies not to cause it too much trouble.

Also uncertain is what the bombers might be hoping to achieve: an end to the
peace process between India and Pakistan; or perhaps to commit just enough
murder against an old enemy to keep their networks alive. Either way, the
violence is worrying for India. The attacks tend to reveal the ineptitude of
the police. They also serve as an unwelcome reminder that India-a new
favourite with foreign investors-is a violent place. In each of the past two
years, according to American government figures, India lost around 1,300
lives to terrorism, putting it second only to Iraq.

Most of these deaths were in its north-eastern and eastern states, wracked
by nationalist and Maoist insurgencies. Hyderabad is different. It is a
centre of the burgeoning computer-services and pharmaceuticals industries
that have lured foreign investors and driven India's recent boom.

It is not known what role India's 150m Muslims, who include 40% of
Hyderabad's population, play in the violence. Probably a supporting one at
most. But that could change. India's Muslims have long suffered politically
inspired communal violence and casual discrimination. Were they ever to
become seriously riled, India would have a problem indeed.