MEDIA REACTION: MUMBAI TERROR ATTACKS; NEW

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 NEW DELHI 003059

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SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: MUMBAI TERROR ATTACKS; NEW
DELHI.

This cable reports on relevant media reaction from
India's large non-English press. Embassy New Delhi
reports on English-language media via email in the daily
"Early Edition." USG customers please write to Geeta
Krishali (KrishaliG@state.gov) to subscribe to the "Early
Edition."

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MUMBAI TERROR ATTACKS
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1. "LET PAKISTAN BE DECLARED A TERRORIST STATE,"
editorial in the November 29 Leftist Agartala (Tripura)
Bengali daily, TRIPURA DARPAN. "Pakistan should
immediately be declared a terrorist state. All sorts of
relations should be snapped with this country. Merely
pointing fingers toward Pakistan will not do. Pakistan
has now become the homeland for Jaish-e-Muhammed,
Lashkar-e-Toiba, the Taliban, and al-Quaida. It is common
knowledge that the Pakistani Army and ISI are directly
and indirectly supporting all these organizations. Our
nation is now facing a grave danger. Setting aside
individual ideologies, all political parties should stand
united and eliminate terrorism at all costs."


2. "COST OF COMPLACENCE," editorial in the November 28
centrist Agartala (Tripura) Bengali daily, SYANDAN
PATRIKA. "The police and intelligence agencies must
remain more alert about attempts of the Pakistan-harbored
terrorists and their local agents. The Mumbai killings
have made it clear that either they are stronger than us
or we are careless about our internal security. The
country will suffer more losses if the situation is not
dealt with firmness."


3. "CRYING IS NOT THE LAST WORD," editorial in the
November 29 centrist Agartala (Tripura) Bengali daily,
DAINIK SAMBAD. "No doubt, the terrorist attacks in
Mumbai were perpetrated by Pakistan. The terrorists were
desperate and the conspiracy well-planned. Still,
shedding tears for the Mumbai victims cannot be the last
resort. A handful of terrorists will never succeed in
stalling the march of civilization. A united and
patriotic nation will dig the grave for the terrorists."


4. "DON'T EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM PAK," editorial in the
December 04 left-of-center English daily DECCAN CHRONICLE
(circulation: 1 million). "The irony cannot be more
pronounced. By the time America's Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice had spelt out at her press conference in
New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon that Pakistan must be
transparent and cooperate with India over last week's
horrific terror strike in Mumbai, Pakistan's President
Asif Ali Zardari had just finished announcing that the
attackers were not from his country. Clearly, then, there
is not much more to say as far as Pakistan is concerned.
Islamabad has washed its hands off completely from the
whole affair. India will no doubt thank the United States
for rushing its high-profile foreign minister to express
her country's solidarity with it in the aftermath of the
terror attack, but clearly there are limits to what US

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intervention can do. Islamabad can afford to be brazen
because it is only too aware that the US would counsel
India restraint. America, it is well known, does not
favor a muscular Indian response since that would make
the Pakistanis move their forces from the Afghan front -
where they are meant to fight the Taliban who cross the
border and attack American troops in Afghanistan - to the
Indian border. Nevertheless, Islamabad may be expected to
make the appropriate noises in fighting terrorism
together with India through mechanisms such as
intelligence-sharing and joint investigation."


5. "INVOKE 9/11 WITH CAUTION, IT LED TO DISASTROUS BUSH,"
Op-Ed by Amitav Ghosh in the December 04 left-of-center
English daily DECCAN CHRONICLE (circulation:1 million).
"Since the terrorist assaults began in Mumbai last week,
the metaphor of the World Trade Center attacks has been
repeatedly invoked. When commentators repeat the metaphor
of 9/11 they are in effect pushing the Indian government
to mount a comparable response. If India takes a hard
line modeled on the actions of the Bush administration,
the consequences are sure to be equally disastrous. If
9/11 is a metaphor for one kind of reaction to terrorism,
then 11-M (as it is known in Spanish) should serve as
shorthand for a different kind of response: one that
emphasizes vigilance, patience and careful police work in
coordination with neighboring countries. This is exactly
the kind of response India needs now, and fortunately
this seems to be the course that the government, led by
the Congress Party, has decided to follow."


6. "ZARDARI'S ATTITUDE WON'T HELP INDIA DEAL WITH THE
SITUATION," editorial in the December 04 left-of-center
English daily DECCAN HERALD (circulation:350,000).
"Pakistan's elected President Asif Ali Zardari has
disappointed a concerned India and an anxious
international community. His outright denial of any
Pakistani hand in the last week's terror attacks in
Mumbai has far-reaching consequences. By questioning the
veracity of the captured terrorist, he has shut the door
for any cooperation between the two countries in
unraveling the conspiracy behind the unprecedented acts
of terror. Zardari did not merely cast doubts on the
nationality and other details of the captured Pakistani
terrorist as provided to Islamabad by New Delhi, he went
to the ridiculous extent of saying that those involved in
the Mumbai attacks, could be a gang of 'stateless'
people. The familiar 'denial mode' of Pakistan that
Zardari too chose to adopt doesn't leave India with much
option to deal with the situation that has arisen in the
aftermath of the latest terror attacks on Mumbai."


7. "TILT TOWARDS INDIA," editorial in the December 04
independent English daily THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
(circulation:300,000). "Not since the days of direct
conflict between India and Pakistan have bilateral
relations been so low as at present. The fact that there
is no clarity on the next move on the diplomatic front
has made matters worse. The recourse to punitive action
has been mentioned as well as denied. While no one
seriously believes that there will be any dramatic

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deterioration in the situation, the present tense stand-
off also cannot continue for long. The problem, as
before, stems from the sense of mistrust in India of
Pakistan's intentions. It is this wariness which seems to
stand in the way of a joint probe, which Pakistan has
been suggesting. In any event, few believed that the
Pakistan army was exerting its full pressure on the
Taliban and al Qaeda in the northwest a lapse which the
US tried to make up with its own incursions. Much of the
way forward now depends, therefore, on the international
pressure on both countries. While India is likely to be
dissuaded from taking or even talking of any drastic
action, Pakistan may be asked to do its best to assuage
Indian anger and frustration. Islamabad will know in this
context that the world community is not very well
disposed towards it, as the description of the country as
an 'international migraine' by Madeleine Albright has
shown. Unlike the days of Nixon and Kissinger, the tilt
is now unmistakably towards India."


8. "WILL AMERICA PRESSURE PAKISTAN?" editorial in the
December 03 Mumbai-based Gujarati afternoon daily
JANMABHOOMI. "America has issued astern message to
Pakistan to fully cooperate with India in bringing the
guilty of the Mumbai terror attacks to justice.
President Bush has also sent Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice to reinforce America's solidarity with
India in this hour of grief and also amidst the fears
that rising tempers between India and Pakistan might
spill over into a conflict. President-elect Barack Obama
has already stated that America stands with India as it
deals with this grave menace.... Despite all this, it
would be naove to believe that Pakistan will take any
concrete measures against homegrown radicals and
extremists.... Considering that even the U.S. government
is under transition phase, it might not be possible for
India to count on its active support if India considers
any stringent action against Pakistan. Hence, it would
be appropriate at this point of time for India to
pressure America in order to compel Pakistan to act
against terrorists organizations in Pakistan."


9. A similar editorial appeared in the December 04
Mumbai-based right-of-center Gujarati daily 'Mumbai
Samachar.'"HAVE WE UNDERSTOOD THE PURPOSE BEHIND THE
MUMBAI TERROR ATTACKS?" editorial in the December 4,
2008, Mumbai edition of left-of-center Marathi daily
LOKSATTA. "Many in India have not yet gotten the scale
and the rationale behind the Mumbai terror attacks.
People are too angry and passionate to see the larger
global conspiracy. This terrorist conspiracy is beyond
the usual India-Pakistan dynamics. India, in the real
sense, is now on the world terror map and the solution
does not lie in bombing off Pakistan. Little will be
achieved by zeroing in on the terror training camps in
Pakistan because such camps exist and are scattered
worldwide. On the contrary any drastic action may
aggravate the situation. India has to be extra-alert now
to judge whether these attacks are the beginning of an
identifiable series. They are not the first of their kind
but, unfortunately, they are certainly not the last of

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their kind. The mastermind behind the attacks has
achieved the primary target of creating a nationwide
scare. Now it is in our hands not to let the instigator
further vitiate the atmosphere with communal tension...
That's precisely why we have to discard the rhetoric of
military action against Pakistan. Both India and Pakistan
are nuclear-empowered nations and Pakistan might use
nuclear weapons against India if it fears defeat in the
traditional warfare. India will then have to strike back
in retaliation, resulting in a nuclear war. That war
again will serve the terrorists' agenda... More than India,
the U.S. seems to have grasped these intricacies.
Secretary Condoleeza Rice's India visit is a telling
comment on how well the U.S., which includes both
Democrats and Republicans, understands the larger global
design in the latest attacks..."


10. "WAS IT ONLY MUMBAI'S TAJ THAT WAS ATTACKED?"
editorial in the December 04 CPI (M) Organ GANASHAKTI
Bengali daily, Kolkata. "Mumbai has become freed. The
commando operation has been successful. Yet the media war
has not ended. Competition of 'exclusive' and 'breaking
news' is still raging especially in television channels.
But what sort of news is being telecast? What is the
focus of that news and how does it impact viewers? Will
not the television viewers and newspaper readers be
misled at the cost of so many lives? Why did the
television anchors remain busy projecting horrific
devastations at Taj or Oberoi only? We cannot ignore the
damages done to these hotels or to Leopold restaurant.
But could we afford to ignore the terrorist strike on
CST, one of the heritage railway stations in the country?
Will the television barons be concerned only about the
aristocrats? Does it mean that the media have now become
more sensitive to people, who go to luxury hotels,
restaurant, and spa? Interestingly, BBC has shown its
double-standard by choosing not to use the word,
'terrorist'. Instead, it used 'gunmen' or 'militant'.
When London had been attacked it did not hesitate to use
the word, 'terrorist' but why did they choose a different
word while reporting on Mumbai? Because of the editorial
policies, common men's tragedy failed to get proper media
attention."


11. "WHO WILL ADVISE, WHAT SHOULD BE DONE IN THE EVENT OF
A CRISIS?" editorial-page article in the December 04
independent Kolkata Bengali daily, ANANDABAZAR PATRIKA.
"The Maharashtra administration has seriously ignored the
issue of mass communication. A number of spokesperson
spoke differently at the hour of crisis. People lose
their common sense in the noise of different versions and
that generates rumor. Sometimes these rumors manage to
find its place in the media too. But common people want
to know about their own role during a crisis situation.
People want to know whether anyone can volunteer to
assist the wounded or whether all the terrorists have
been neutralized. Has any terrorist fled away? Can people
help the police and in which manner in nabbing those
terrorists? Senior officials did not care to answer any
of these questions. Ordinary people in Mumbai are
aggrieved. They feel: enough is enough! Lack of effective

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mass communication is one of the reasons behind people's
annoyance."


12. "ACROMONIOUS INDO-PAK RELATIONS", editorial in the
December 03 right-of-center Urdu daily "HAMARA SAMAJ",
New Delhi: "There are apprehensions that hasty
initiatives of the ministry of foreign affairs and Pranab
Mukherjee's statement may adversely affect Indo-Pak
relations. Pranab Mukherjee has said that strings of
Mumbai terror attacks seem to be connected with Pakistan.
He should not have given such irresponsible statement at
such a crucial juncture. Zardari has already said that
terrorist elements are hell bent on to pitch both the
countries against each other by sabotaging their
bilateral relations. Indian media should also be diligent
in this regard. It should not publish or telecast
anything, which may make the mutual relations
acrimonious. Pakistani Prime Minister, Syed Yusuf Raza
Geelani is making efforts to establish better relations,
but only future can decide the success of his endeavors."


13. "WAIT FOR HARSH STEPS", editorial in the December 03
right-of-center Urdu daily "URDU TIMES", Mumbai:
"Yesterday, Indian government asked Pakistan to hand over
20 extremely wanted terrorists, who are supposed to be
present in Pakistan. Pranab Mukherjee said that the world
community including the President-elect, Barack Obama is
with us. In fact, a war between India and Pakistan will
be entirely against the interests of both the countries.
Both will be at loss. Some elements in both the countries
do not like friendly relations. In the present
perspective, Pakistani leaders should act responsibly so
that bilateral trade, which will be ultimately beneficial
for the people of both the countries, could not be
affected. These initiatives will bring prosperity too.
Moreover, mentality of anti-India people will change."
MULFORD