Mumbai was always regarded as a diverse, tolerant city. Maybe that is why it has been targeted so often by terrorists. In Wednesday’s attack, three bombs went off, thought to have been activated by timers, and 18 people were killed.
In 2008, a group of ten Muslim gunmen murdered 165 people in attacks on hotels, a station, and other places frequented by foreigners. Back in March 1993, more than a dozen bombs made from plastic explosives and detonated by timers killed at least 257 people, while the terrorists also threw grenades at Mumbai airport.
Ten years later, bombings killed another 50 people, while in July 2006, seven bombs were set off on rush-hour trains during a period of 11 minutes, claiming 209 lives. Police blamed an outlawed Indian Muslim organisation, Lashkar-e-Toiba (‘Soldiers of the Pure’), but said the outrage had been planned by Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI.
A trial of 13 people accused of involvement is still wending its way through the Indian justice system, with judgment now expected before the end of the year.
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