In the aftermath

Mata Bharat is in a righteously foul mood, and with good reason. Indian Home MInister Shivraj Patil and National Security Advisor MK Narayanan have resigned in the immediate aftermath of last week's terrorist attacks in Mumbai that has left 183 people dead and about 300 wounded. It has also wounded the already bad relations between India and Pakistan. The Pakistani government denies involvement and at this early stage in the investigation it is unknown if the Pakistani government either backed or had knowledge of the attacks.

At this point the particulars seem clear, terrorists claiming to be members of a group called the Deccan Mujahideen hijacked a boat, and with a great deal of planning and precision targeted two luxury hotels and a Jewish community center in an area that was known to be frequented by western visitors. Evidence currently points to an origin in Pakistan and that their plan was in fact to create indescriminate murder and carnage.

The current questions are what did Indian authorities know, when did they know it, why didn't they do anything, and what are they going to do to prevent another incident like this in the future? What also seems clear is the inadequacy of India's police and homeland security apparatus which appears to be undertrained, underequipped, and underfunded. Whomever replaces the Home Minister, I'm sure there are plenty of Indians who might prefer it if the next person in the position were the avatar of Maa Durga.