America and India are now joined by tragedy. The attacks by Islamic extremists on Mumbai have made it clear--if it had not been before--that the United States, as the world's richest democracy, is in solidarity with the world's most populous democracy. Both our nations, along with the world's oldest democracy--Great Britain--are joined in a fight against those who hate the very freedoms that have made us great.India gained its independence from Great Britain 58 years ago and has Asia's oldest stock exchange in Mumbai. English is its language of business. India maintains good relations with Britain and the U.S. as a member of the Commonwealth. In India there is freedom of religion--rare in that part of the world. For all these reasons, India too has now become a target of religious extremists.
India's Prime Minister has taken a strong stand against the violence and terror that has shut down Mumbai--the city Westerners call Bombay. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told his people: "We will take the strongest possible measures to ensure that there is no repetition of such terrorist acts. We are determined to take whatever measures are necessary to ensure the safety and security of our citizens."
India has the third largest military in the world and one of the best trained. Together, the military might and the intelligence strength of our two nation's are unbeatable. Working together we can defeat an evil that targets women and children, hospital and hotel, Westerner and Jew, Hindu and Christian.
Said Prime Minister Singh: "We will go after these individuals and organisations and make sure that every perpetrator, organiser and supporter of terror, whatever his affiliation or religion may be, pays a heavy price for these cowardly and horrific acts against our people."
We're ready India. Just ask us and we are there.
1 comment:
To Ms. Robin Chapman
I am very much happy to read article on India.
I India, thanks to some visionary individuals, people have been fortunate to taste some of the fruits of freedom. But the entire record is not satisfactory; the Kashmir issue and Naxalite uprising in various pockets, mainly in poverty-stricken areas, have spoilt the taste of freedom.
In the countries that have got freedom during last five decades, the poverty has become the root cause for discontent against the state machineries. The same discontent gives birth to the terror groups. The hungry and uneducated youths are desperate to have a shelter under any umbrella; may it be functioning under any name, religion or sectarian. Eventually the terror groups, assisted by internal or external elements, trap them and use them for their horrible purposes. Asia and Africa are full of such terror groups.
If the disease of the terrorism goes on unchecked at this moment, it would shoot up in future. And it is beyond doubt that “…our children will face a region dominated by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons”. Yes, there is such a possibility, as more and more terror groups, equipped with arms and ignorance, are waiting to capture power in some countries. They will use or misuse the democratic apparatuses, too, to come in power.
Naval Langa
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