Often the identity of the actors behind some events remains obscure but the effects of these events are evident to all. There is debate and doubt even now about the real perpetrators and the planners of the attacks on New York on 11th September 2001 and it will probably remain so for long. This is because those responsible for the investigation are neither themselves ‘neutral’ nor are considered to be so. But the world is conversant with the ‘war against terror’ launched by the American administration after these attacks. In its course, America and its allies militarily occupied first Afghanistan and later Iraq.

It seems as though the armed attack in Mumbai on 26th November is going to run a similar course. On 26th November ten armed people attacked Mumbai and shook not only the local police and administration but the entire Govt of India. This was discussed not only in India but in the whole world and the discussion is continuing. The Govts. of India and those of  America and Britain and their media used these attacks for building war hysteria against Pakistan. Through this war hysteria pressure was built and it is still being built on Pakistan to intensify its drive against ‘terror’. Using the fear of an attack by India, rulers of America and Britain want to blunt the opposition in Pakistan to their acts of aggression and want to solve their increasing military difficulties in Afghanistan with the help of the Pakistan Army.

The area of the Khyber Pass has been the stage of many such historic events which have served to turn the tide of history. The victorious campaigns of historic renowned military commanders –Alexander and Chengis Khan- were halted in battles here. This area also halted the westward expansion of British colonial empire. This area also became the graveyard of the attack by soviet social imperialists and today this area is giving sleepless nights to aggressive American imperialism and their British imperialist allies. It has grounded thier chariot of world conquest. Threat of defeat is staring in the face of  the attacking imperialist armies. For sure the American imperialists have not gone to Afghanistan to count caves or smell asfotida. In this strategically important area they have come to set up their military base in the middle of the biggest continent of the world- Asia. Behind this, definitely, a major strategic aim is to control the Indian subcontinent. The national struggle of the Afghan people is sanding in the way of their strategic drive.

Questions Raised By The Mumbai Attacks

The sequence of events of the Mumbai attack has raised many questions. Ten armed persons, of whom the security forces claim to have killed nine and arrested one, continued an armed fight in Mumbai for more than two days. Many aspects of this armed attack have surfaced. First, these armed attackers killed many ordinary innocent people at Chatrapati Shivaji Terminal (CST) and some other points. However this aspect  of the attack was most neglected by  the media in the coverage of this attack. Second, the head of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of  Maharashtra Mr. Hemant Karkare along with two other senior officers , was killed. The ATS of Maharashtra was investigating the Malegaon blasts. In the course of this it was investigating  involvement of accused Hindutva organizations in other blasts and the threads of these investigations had reached not only Hindutva organizations but also many of their ‘people' in the army and police. Hindutva organizations- RSS, BJP, Shiv Sena, all- had unleashed a campaign against the investigation  which had given official proof of the involvement of Hindutva organizations in the blasts. Many people had and have difficulty in believing the  killings of Karkare, Kamte and Salaskar to be accidental and not targeted. There are many unanswered questions linked to this. Even in his report to the Cabinet on 27th November 2008 the then Union Home Minister had said that the killing of Hemant Karkare was the central issue of the attack. (ET 28th November 2008)

Another major aspect of the Mumbai attack was the attack on two elite hotels of India's financial capital- Taj and Oberoi. The armed attackers held fort in these hotels for two days and the NSG commandos could kill them after fierce fighting. The separating out of American and British citizens and their killing was also propagated about this attack though the citizens of countries other than Britain and America were also among those killed. Taj and Oberoi are very expensive hotels and only upper class Indians and foreigners go there. Definitely that is why the emphasis of media had been only on these.

One remarkable aspect of the informations related to the Mumbai attack was that some information was quickly removed from public domain. These were those which either did not correspond to the theories being built about the Mumbai attack by those who own and control the media, or were hurdles in taking this event towards the conclusion they wanted reached. On 27th November 2008, there was information on an internet site that American and British intelligence officials were staying at the Taj Hotel. This information was quickly removed. However, it is reinforced by the high level meeting at the White House in Washington on the same date in which senior officials of intelligence, foreign affairs and defence dept. participated. News of this meeting was published in many papers. Later, Rashtriya Sahara also carried a news item to the same effect. Was India’s Govt aware of the presence of American and British intelligence officials in India? The Govt of India has neither acknowledged nor denied this news. That the aim of the Mumbai attack was to destroy the Taj Hotel has been refuted by the Chief of the NSG himself who stated that the attackers did not possess the ammunition required for this.

Another major target of the Mumbai attack was Nariman House which is a centre of the Jewish organization ‘Chabad.’ The head office of this organization is near Brooklyn in America. Nariman House was a Jewish centre and according to available information the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad has good penetration in this organization. The NSG killed two armed people in Nariman House and five people were killed there. According to Israeli media the NSG action was ‘immature’ and lives of some of the inmates could have been saved. Several pieces of information related to Nariman House were also not allowed to be in news. According to some Gujarati eyewitnesses, the firing started from Nariman House. According to Arun  Asthana of CBC, the attackers were staying at Nariman House for the past fifteen days. According to another report, for some days food for about 35-40 people was going to Nariman House. According to a police officer the attackers  at Nariman House were white.

Many other facts associated with the Mumbai attacks were ignored by the media. According to an employee of the Cama Hospital the killers of Hemant Karkare were speaking chaste Marathi. (Maharashtra Times 27th November, 2008). Later this employee appeared on a TV channel to contradict this report. According to a BBC report,according to Pappu Mishra, owner of a café in CST, the attackers were white youth who looked like foreigners. In the same report, an Iraqi tourist said that the attackers did not look like Indians. They looked like foreigners and one of them had blonde hair. Along with were published reports that Malaysian, Mauritian, American, and British passports were recovered from the sites

Many guesses are being made about the identity of the attackers. According to Govt. agencies they were all foreigners hailing from Pakistan. The identity of the one arrested has also been announced but Pakistan has yet not acknowledged him as its citizen. The bodies of the other nine have also been found but not much has been officially informed about them. On Pakistan’s demanding evidence, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that the investigations are still on and evidence could only be given once they are complete.

Many questions remain unanswered regarding the Mumbai attack and common people definitely want to know the answers to these. Some questions have been mentioned above, but there are several others. All four aspects of the Mumbai attack –the killings of senior officers of the ATS; killings of innocent people; the targeting of Taj and Oberoi and especially the targeting of British and American citizens; the attack on Nariman House, the centre of the Jewish institution ‘Chabad’ and its role – have yet to be linked into one story. Which were the actual targets among these and which were accidental or done to camouflage the real target/s? Were there only so many attackers or were there others? The figures being given out by the Govt. quoting the arrested have also continually changed. Was this one attack or were there other elements active who used this to achieve their own end and got away? May be the answers to these questions will not be found, because the investigators are themselves not ‘neutral’.

Media in foreign countries paid special attention to one aspect of the attack. That was to a red thread/ band on the wrist of one attacker. This thread is linked to Hindu religion thus this attack was considered linked to Hindutva elements. Later the police publicized a purported statement from the arrested to the effect that they had worn the thread to hide their identity. Which of the two aspects is true?

According to the Govt of India the attackers were Pakistanis who reached Porbandar in Gujarat from Karachi in a ship and from there came to Mumbai. Does not the use of Porbander as a centre expose the claims of Narender Modi? Or is there something else in all this?

An extensive and open investigation is needed into the entire sequence of events and all aspects related to it.

In the context of the Mumbai attack the Central Govt. and its ruling party, the Congress, forced some leaders to quit their posts. Resignation was taken from Home Minister Shivraj Patil and also the CM (Congress) and Deputy CM and Home Minister (NCP) of Maharashtra were made to resign. It is clear that the resignation of Home Minister Shivraj Patil  was not sought as part of answerability, but to pacify people’s anger. On the other hand, from the very beginning the Central Govt. started pointing fingers towards Pakistan. Govt. and media named this attack as India’s 9/11 which implied offensive action against Pakistan. Hover before this, rulers of India had also declared the attack on Parliament as India’s 9/11. Pakistan’s Army and its intelligence agency, ISI, have been especial targets of  attack. In this the American media led the Govt. of India and India’s media. On 27th November 2008 itself, even before the statement by the Govt. of India, New York Times and Wall Street Journal wrote articles apprehending an attack on Pakistan by India. American administration and newly elected President Obama started referring to India’s right to ‘self defence’. Condoleeza Rice reached Delhi. Later there was a beeline of American and British leaders. In between the President of Russia visited India on a scheduled visit. However he suggested that instead of any unilateral step, India should submit all evidence to the UN Security Council.

Govt. of India’s anti–Pak rhetoric began sharpening. The major parties of the ruling classes, Congress and BJP, started talking about ‘teaching a lesson’ to Pakistan. All parties of the ruling classes advocated increasing pressure on Pakistan Govt. CPM leader Prakash Karat advised Govt. of India to put pressure on Islamabad jointly with other countries. In Parliament, BJP leader Arun Shourie criticized the repeated appeals to the America and advocated unilateral action against Pakistan. If the BJP leaders, who in the period of their own rule repeatedly ran to America, are now cricisizing running to America, it can only be because they are quiet clearly understanding what America wants.

Assembly elections were on in the country both during and after the Mumbai attack. BJP had made ‘terrorism’ its major plank in this election and particularly intensified it after Mumbai attack, but in the elections held after the Mumbai attack they faced defeat. Definitely their ‘anti-terrorism’ weapon was either not effective or worked in reverse. BJP-RSS leaders who stood in support of the accused in Malegaon have rendered their weapon ineffective. Even otherwise, making of ‘terrorism’as the main issue by the ruling class parties is to sideline the main problems of the people of the country. Everyday forty six peasants in the country commit suicide; lakhs are entering the ranks of the unemployed every month; since the past three years sharp anti displacement struggles are on against displacement of peasants for foreign companies or for big capitalists of the country; in various parts of the country landless and poor peasants are fighting for land and for basic rights; but these are not even issues for the parties of the ruling classes and the corporate media. In the name of ‘terrorism’ strengthening the machinery of repression to crush the struggles of the people and are attempting to pile on black laws and further strengthening the police and security forces.

After the Mumbai attack the ruling UPA Govt. and the opposition BJP are one on the need for more stringent laws. On the one hand the Govt is calling this attack  the work of ‘suicide squads’ and on the other, in its name it is attacking democratic rights by making new legal provisions. In a way, the police raj machinery of the ruling classes is being strengthened further. The corporate media does the work of blunting peoples’ opposition to attacks on democratic rights by its heightened and hamhanded propaganda of such incidents. Two reactions of the ruling classes in the context of the Mumbai attack– the attack on the democratic rights of the people and building war hysteria against Pakistan- though appear separate are actually interrelated. This interrelation is linked to the attempts of the ruling classes of India to tie the country to US imperialism’s hegemonic strategy.

Whichever prevalent opinion about the Mumbai attack is considered, its threads are linked to American imperialism’s increasingly aggressive drive in the Indian subcontinent, which will definitely make the countries of the subcontinent the battleground for rising disputes between imperialist powers. In this, India’s ruling classes- especially Manmohan Singh Govt.- is making India the strategic partner of US imperialism. India-US Nuclear Deal was one link in this. As America’s drive to secure world hegemony– war against terror- is getting stuck in increasing difficulties, America’s deepening economic crisis is becoming another obstacle in this, support for this is declining in America itself, the challenges posed to it by other imperialist powers are increasing, America’s rulers are intensifying efforts to include India’s ruling classes in their drive. One may recall the pressure brought about the then Soviet rulers on Mararji Desai Govt. to attack Pakistan in order to relieve their aggression in Afghanistan as admitted by Morarji Desai himself. Against the tradition of anti imperialist struggles of the people of this country and against the interests of the people of the subcontinent, ruling classes of India are dreaming and selling the dream of becoming a ‘superpower’ by strategic partnership with US imperialism.

American  imperialist rulers have used the Mumbai attack to increase pressure on the Pakistan Govt. and people and for this attack they are blaming ‘non state actors’ by which they imply those organizations which are not under control of the Pakistan Govt. Govt. of India has also started speaking in the same tune. Actually, Pakistan has emerged as a major arena of America’s strategy. The vast majority of Pakistani people are against American attack on Afghanistan and against Pakistan’s participation in it. Under the patronage of rulers of America, Pakistan’s President Zardari and his party have come to power after an agreement with erstwhile military ruler Parvez Musharraf. Today, the large section of Pakistani people are against Zardari Govt. and its support to America. The US Govt. wants to intimidate the people and other sections of ruling classes of Pakistan from opposing the US war drive in the region. Definitely, American rulers’ target is not the present Pak. Govt. but Pakistan itself. The broken-up map of Pakistan published in the American Air Force journal has placed American intentions under suspicion both in Pakistan and outside. Pakistan’s nuclear weapons have also become an issue of ‘worry’ for American rulers. Iran’s nuclear programme is already on their target.

Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan; the theatre of American world strategy is increasing. The drive of American administration is changing West Asia and South Asia into a single war zone (as it is both these areas are under American Army’s Central Command). India’s comprador ruling classes are tying India to the American war drive. This definitely is an issue for concern for all progressive, patriotic and democratic sections of our country. It is also an issue of concern that the Mumbai attack should become a piece on the chessboard of the world strategy of US imperialism.