Mumbai. You Are Not Alone.

The support pouring in for Mumbai right now is outstanding. Thank you world for finally acknowledging that bloodshed in India is not always random acts of communal violence. We are facing the same terrorism everyone else is facing. From New York to London, Madrid and Bali, we are all in the same boat here, bobbing about on the same stormy waters.

While Mumbai slowly heals from yesterday's horror, the focus quickly shifts to finding the culprits. And right now SIMI and LeT are in the running.
If you are like me and hadn't really heard much about Al Qaeda pre 9/11 here's what you need to know:
This information is from the South Asian Terrorism Portal. (excuse me? what portal? yes I had the same reaction.)
"The Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) is an Islamist fundamentalist organization, which advocates the ‘liberation of India’ by converting it to an Islamic land. The SIMI, an organisation of young extremist students has declared Jehad against India, the aim of which is to establish Dar-ul-Islam (land of Islam) by either forcefully converting everyone to Islam or by violence. "

So that's settled then. Jihad is not just reserved for America.

"The Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), reportedly one of the largest terrorist outfits operating in Jammu and Kashmir is the military wing of the Markaz-ud-Dawa-wal-Irshad (MDI). The LeT’s professed ideology goes beyond merely challenging India's sovereignty over the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The Lashkar's ‘agenda’, as outlined in a pamphlet titled 'Why are we waging jihad' includes the restoration of Islamic rule over all parts of India. Further, the outfit propagates a narrow Islamist fundamentalism preached by its mentor, the MDI. It seeks to bring about a union of all Muslim majority regions in countries that surround Pakistan. Towards that end, it is active in J&K, Chechnya and other parts of Central Asia."

There's a pamphlet on 'why are we waging jihad' ??? God help us.

For the average person living in Mumbai, terrorism is what many a Bollywood movie depicts over and above the singing and dancing around trees movies. And besides it's comforting to know that Kashmir is so far away and really, who wouldn't prefer to remember Kashmir for the snow-capped mountains and the honeymoon haven it once was? Terrorists are the scary guys running through deserts or jungles and hiding behind mountains...
Wrong.
They are riding our trains, sipping chai at our local cafes and breathing the air we breathe, maybe even shopping at the same stores we do...