• Listen to this segment

A series of coordinated attacks on tourist spots in South Mumbai over the Thanksgiving weekend, left 174 people dead. Starting at the busy train station of Shivaji Chatrapati Terminus, and moving on to the upscale hotels, Taj Palace and Oberoi, as well as a popular cafe frequented by foreign tourists, the attacks were carried out by masked gunmen toting Kalashnikovs. While the target areas were most commonly frequented by foreign tourists, only a handful of the victims were foreigners – the vast majority were Indian civilians. A group called the Deccan Mujahadeen has claimed responsibility but the lone gunman who was captured alive confessed to have been trained at camp in Pakistan run by the militant organization, Lashkar-e-Taiba. The Indian government has followed up by making strong statements that Pakistan was the origin of the attacks. A TV news channel had reports warning of a possible strike on Mumbai by sea in the months leading up to the attacks. While the facts of the 2 and a half day siege are still up in the air, many reports suggest as few as 10 gunmen were involved in the attacks.

GUEST: Badri Raina, former professor at Delhi University, writer, and columnist for Znet.

Read Badri Raina’s article about the Mumbai attacks here: http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/19789.

Read Badri Raina’s poem about Barack Obama here: : http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article1059.html.