Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Attack in Paris is a condemnable act' that was published in Newsband

Attack in Paris is a condemnable act

With more than 125 people dead and many more wounded, Paris may take longer yet to come to grips with the scale of the tragedy that took place when people were out in the City of Lights for a concert, a meal, a football game, a stroll even. The terrorists had chosen their targets with chilling care, picking sites where strangers share an unspoken camaraderie. But Paris has the strength of spirit to carry on as the great city it is. Just as India saw Mumbai bounce back, even as it mourned the toll of 26/11.

Islamic State threw down the gauntlet to governments in a more threatening fashion than could have been expected. The attacks are the latest in a series of massacres the group has carried out in different countries. The IS jihadists have demonstrated their capability to strike anywhere. IS says the attacks were its response to the French air strikes in Syria.

France should seriously ask itself why radical groups are finding recruits from its soil. The Charlie Hebdo attackers were an example. They were born, raised and radicalised in Paris.

The attacks in Paris must be condemned strongly and one should think of the victims. There is no doubt that the assaults were a declaration of war by ISIS. A declaration of war on all in Europe, on the way they live, on their political, human and social understanding of freedom. The President of the United States has rightly described the terror attacks in Paris as attacks not just on the French but “on all of humanity and the universal values that we all share”. The purpose of the attacks is entirely psychological and political, to create fear, horror, confusion and an illusion of chaos.

Unlike the Charlie Hebdo attack, which raised a controversy about the right to satire in its wake, this attack was against anonymous people from any walk of life, thought or community, the victims a typical model of mixed society.

India and crores of Indians support the French in their hour of difficulty. Be that as it may, just recall our own experience of 26/11. Neither did the nations worldwide express shock at that horror nor did the world press scream as it does now. Not a single nation condemned Pakistan which perpetrated the 26/11 horror on India. There is thus one rule for European nations and another for Asian ones. See another difference. France vows to put down the enemy mercilessly. In our 26.11 case we did not retaliate at all and remained passive.