India: Terror Strikes Pune

At around 7:30 pm on Saturday (February 13, 2010) a bomb blast at a restaurant popular with tourists in India's western city of Pune killed 9 people and left 57 people injured. The bomb was in a backpack and it exploded when an waiter tried to inspect the left luggage. Shashi Bellamkonda at My Digital Thoughts reports:

A few hours ago (Feb 13th 2010) a bomb went off popular cafe ‘German Bakery” in Pune India. At the time of posting this the press were reporting that 8 people had died and about 40 injured in this blast which left the bodies charred beyond recognition. The bakery is a popular spot with foreign tourists.

Shashi has also these observations:

• This comes a day after both India and Pakistan agreed to resume talks that had been halted since the Mumbai attacks in 2008. ( 14 months ago )
• David Headley currently in a Chicago jail had visited Pune to surveyed the Osho Ashram near the blast site
• The blast site is near the Pune Chabad house and the Mumbai Chabad House was a  target in the 26/11 attacks in 2008.
• The blast area is near the Osho Ashram frequented by tourists another similarity to the Mumbai 2008 blasts.

Pragmatic Euphony warns:

The jehadis have struck again on the Indian mainland; this time in Pune, albeit more than a year after the horrendous terror attacks on Mumbai in November 2008. The initial response, while going with the most plausible and popular assumption that the blast was the handiwork of Pakistan based jehadi groups, is one of indignation. Perhaps understandably so as tempers are bound to run high. And this emotion is likely to be further amplified as the Indian mainstream media hyperventilates and virtually runs amok with its over the top coverage of the incident.

People are already finding links to Pakistan. Offstumped informs that the Pune blast followed a Laskar-e-Taiba threat. A top leader of the Lashkar-e-Taiba named Pune as a target city at a permitted public rally in Pakistan. The Acorn says:

Despite the Lashkar-e-Taiba threat, it is too early to definitively attribute the attack to the Pakistani military-jihadi complex. But it is clear that the Pakistani military-jihadi complex has every reason to escalate tensions with India through the use of terrorism. Without the excuse of “tensions to the east”, Pakistan would have nothing left to explain to Washington its double-dealing on the taliban.

Dilip D'Souza at Death Ends Fun reminds that India should also do something about the homegrown terror:

Until we recognize homegrown terror for what it is — no less than anything from abroad — and until we stand against every kind of terror, we will never defeat terrorism.

The Twittersphere was abuzz with tweets and retweets spreading the news. Here are some of the reactions:

IndiaHappening: Nine killed, 32 hurt in Pune terror blast http://bit.ly/arLssZ #India
r_shekhawat: Terror strikes at my home - ‘Pune' : Once again, innocent people killed by some mindless terrorists. Pune, a great city, hurt and bruised.
pragmatic_rebel: Must be a sad start to Valentine's day in #Pune! Still aghast at the blasts, I wish #India does something really different this time.
bhuvan_chelsea: We need a vigilante like Batman here in #India . ;-)
tweetSAMRAT: Is praying for the victims of the recent Pune bomb blast.
nehasasi: RT @deepitganjoo: Please RT This Jahangir Hospital Pune Needs Blood AB+ve and B+ve Contact : 1066 Those who are in Pune…. Please
_india_: Pune blast casts shadow on talks with Pak

No doubt the blast in Pune will impact the recent goodwill talks between India and Pakistan. But it seems that the terrorists are being given the upper hand as emotions are running high everywhere.

First published in Global Voices Online.