The Pakistan Syndrome

When I came here from New York in 1993, there wasn't much love lost for Pakistan but no one here hated the country. Things changed in March 1993 when 17 bombs ripped across some of the busiest locations in the city, killing over 300 people. The blasts were revenge for the killings of Muslims during communal riots a few months earlier.

Since then, we've had several instances of Pakistani agencies targeting this city. There were bomb blasts in August 2003 and July 2006, when bombs were detonated in local trains . The most audacious attack on the city came on November 26, 2008 when 10 terrorists took the sea route and attacked ordinary citizens in south Bombay.

The point is that these attacks were all carried out by Pakistani state and non-state actors. In the case of the 2008 attacks, ordinary Pakistanis insisted that Hindus and Zionists were the masterminds!

So we, Bombayites, are all the more sensitive when we hear about peace talks with Pakistan. The onus is on the Indian government to protect Bombay from Pakistani terrorists and the Pakistani state.

As for Pakistan, I wish the ordinary people of the country well. But seriously, stay the heck away from us and leave us alone.