No Terrorist organization has claimed responsibility for the Mumbai blasts, but home minister P Chidambaram said many previous attempts in Mumbai have been foiled, but “unfortunately, this one slipped through.”
“We live in the most troubled neighbourhood.. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the epicenter of terror.. Being in a troubled neighbourhood, every city (in India) is vulnerable,” Chidambaram said.
He said he wakes up every day in the fear that there might be another attack. “At the end of every day which has passed without incident as a day of satisfaction.. I treat every day as a new day,” he said.
The attack, carried out with improvised explosive devices (home built bombs) in three crowded areas yesterday night, had killed 21 people and injured over a hundred.
Chidambaram responded to queries on “failure to police” and expressed satisfaction in the Mumbai Police’s track record over the last 31 months since the Taj attack.
“There are inherent difficulties in trying to police every inch of Zaveri Bazar and Opera House.. There were people sitting right there, they did not notice it.. There are inherent difficulties in crowded places,” he pointed out.
“Every city in India is vulnerable.. Cities all over the World are vulnerable,” he said, reading out statistics to show that every months, tens of terrorist attacks take place across the World.
He said the Mumbai police had managed to foil or prevent several bomb blasts in the past 31 months, after the terror strike. “Unfortunately, this one slipped through,” he said.
He also dismissed questions on whether foreigners were unsafe in India. “The target is India.. None of these blasts is aimed at foreigners or tourists. The target is India’s unity, prosperity and integrity.. They don’t want India to prosper,” he said.
