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India: Jaipur blasts, Terrorism and the Government

Categories: South Asia, India, Citizen Media, Disaster, Governance, Politics, War & Conflict

On 13th May, serial blasts rocked Jaipur [1]. Reports suggest that more than sixty people were killed, and another 150 were injured. MyZone [2] writes about Jaipur, which as a city has been relatively peaceful, and the sheer panic the blasts created.

Disbelief turned into shock as over the fifteen minutes the number rose from two to five, and the magnitude of what had happened started sinking in. For the first time in its almost three century old history had Jaipur been terrorized. Cell phones started buzzing with anxious parents and relatives enquiring about our whereabouts and asking us to return home immediately. We were among the fortunate few whose calls managed to go through. As the clock ticked, the networks became jammed. The lounge emptied within minutes, and a place buzzing with youngsters had a deserted look in no time.

While terrorism is not new to India, and various cities have seen terrorist attacks, Jaipur has never been attacked on this scale before. The blasts have exposed the vulnerability of cities and its citizens, and the failure of intelligence. There are hints that the attacks were coordinated by “other countries”. A blogger from Pakistan [3] expresses solidarity and hopes that the Indian Government doesn't rush through things and point fingers at Pakistan.

Ha's Blog [4] expresses concern for team members in Jaipur.

There were some signs that our colleagues were afraid that we from the Dutch side would consider Jaipur to be less safe because all of this. But I see it as my responsibility to show our Jaipur team that we are committed to support them, as they are one of us!

Hindustaniat [5] takes a closer look at why Jaipur was a target for the attacks.

Jaipur is one of the foremost symbol of India's cultural heritage. Lakhs of tourists come to the Pink City every year and Rajasthan is the face of Indian tourism worldwide, along with Agra. The anti-national forces must have been desperate as there was no major communal or casteist issue in the country for long.


Indian Muslims [6]
writes about the failure of the government to resolve previous terrorist attacks.

One of the reasons the government is so ill-prepared to either prevent or solve such terrorist attacks is that there is no follow-up on the previous such attacks. Case in point: Mecca Masjid Blasts. Andhra Pradesh government constituted an inquiry commission under Justice Bhaskara Rao in June 2007 to submit its report on the incident within three months. It has been more than 11 months since then and we didn’t hear anything.


Off Stumped [7]
voices similar concerns about government inaction and apathy. Cynical Indian [8] emphasizes that people need to be more vigilant.

DJ Fadereu [9] twitters updates from Jaipur. A group on Facebook [10] is discussing the events as they unfold.

The flipside of the solidarity that is expressed across the blogosphere is that some people appear to be jumping to vitriol. Some of the message boards in the main stream media have been filled with allegations against Muslims.