Mumbai: A Series Of Terrorist Attacks ... - Thorn Tree travel forum

Mumbai: A Series Of Terrorist Attacks Today: Hotels & Victoria Station

Replies: 361 - Last Post: 30-Dec-2008 09:21 Last Post By: KenI

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Posted
29-Nov-2008 01:09
by: wanderlust_77

Posts: 51
Registered: 13/11/07

195

Thank you for pointing that out Jak #194. People on this forum can be so naive/abrupt/ignorant sometimes about situations. 12 or so terrorist attacks so far this year in India and these people are so self-righteous - oh of course they could never come to any harm! And then they have the cheek to belittle other people in here, who are actually concerned (and rightly so!) about their impending trips to India! It's ridiculous!

There are FCO warnings for a reason......

Edited by: wanderlust_77

Posted
29-Nov-2008 01:34
by: andrewbingham7

Posts: 79
Registered: 01/02/06

196

I don't find any problem with people changing their plans if they are worried, but even with the rise of bombings in India, but lets be real clear, your still WAY more likely to die driving your car to the airport, having a heart attack or one of the hundreds of other little things that kill people. I visited Thailand two years after the Tsunami and saw first hand how devastating the aftermath economics can be. I'm not saying you should be wandering around the financial center of Mumbai right now, but not going to India seems like overeacting. How many million tourists visit India each year and return home safe and sound???

Posted
29-Nov-2008 01:49
by: nijkerk

Posts: 2,674
Registered: 15/04/05

197

This is true but for luxury tourism , customers will be leary for some time now of going to India and staying in top hotels in the main cities. It will put a serious dent in the profits of Indias high end tourism for some time. To say that independent travellers should think 2x about going to India because of putting a strain on resources or consulates is a bit silly imo. Unless such attacks continue there wont be a foreign office warning to avoid India.

Posted
29-Nov-2008 02:16
by: tony_b

Posts: 12,776
Registered: 20/07/05

198

Andrewbingham. The trouble is that the majority of tourists visiting any country tend to congregate in the same few locations and those places become an obvious attraction for terrorists who want to target tourists (as in Bali). A peaceful backwater in Kerala thus poses less of a danger than, say, Agra. However, to get to that peaceful Kerala backwater...you get my drift.

On the other hand, when the embassy of country x informs their equivalent of the FCO that non-essential travel is discouraged and a warning is issued, consular officials in that country must raise their eyes skywards when the brown stuff hits the fan and hundreds of their citizens come bleating for assistance. They might be excused for thinking "I feel like telling them to bugger off".

But I have to say that some of the statements to the effect of "I'm not going to be deterred by...(fill in the gap)" do seem like macho posturing. They should try macho posturing when there's a big gun pointed at their forehead: it's unlikely to impress the person at the business end of the gun. Actually, I thought I was brave but it kind of made my knees wobble and my bladder weak when it happened to me and I think it showed.

Seven locations in Mumbai were targetted - that's quite a lot by any measure. I have friends in Belfast. When seven car bombs went off in one day in Belfast during the Troubles, I said to myself "No, I think I'll give central Belfast a miss this year." Do you blame me?

When you ask "How many million tourists visit India each year and return home safe and sound?", you used the wrong tense. You should have used the past tense, not the present. We know millions have done but that's no guarantee that they will continue to do so. Situations change and peoples' travelling habits should change with them. I'm not telling people not to go to India, ever: that would be stupid. I am saying that they should heed the warnings and plan accordingly.

Atmospheric, peaceful rural hotel near Ronda Charming bijou hotel-restaurant in Zahara de la Sierra

Posted
29-Nov-2008 02:56
by: kate88

Posts: 354
Registered: 11/06/03

199

Think we all need to get a grip and understand that these people are one group of many disadvantaged/unhappy groups of young people around the world that are probably using the banner of religion to vent their anger, (we’ve seen this many times around the world e.g. Bali, Morocco, London, Pakistan etc). It can’t be mitigated against, you can’t stop it and you can’t hide from it. All you can do is try to restructure our world so everyone is equal!! Until this happens (which is, in reality, will be never) we will just have to take our chances.

If we run and hide we’re doing exactly what they want us to do….be scared.

I’m from the UK where we’ve had this shit for decades with the IRA and other groups of angry young men throwing their weight around using guns and bombs, and It’s never crossed my mind to avoid London. Let’s keep this in perspective and not have some knee jerk reaction and flee India like rats from a sinking ship.

Posted
29-Nov-2008 03:01
by: DrugStoreCowboy

Posts: 471
Registered: 30/03/05

200

The FCO is advising against non-essential travel to Mumbai only. I am sure the advisory was the same for New York in the days following 9/11.
Most terrorist attacks in India target Indian nationals. We should not forget that a hospital and the train station were among the targets. It is unrealistic to think that tourists can stop terrorism or improve the security situation simply by cancelling their travel plans. If every western tourist, diplomat and business traveller were to leave India today and never return terrorists would simply continue targeting Indian nationals as they have in the past.

Posted
29-Nov-2008 03:01
by: loubbylou

Posts: 562
Registered: 03/06/07

201

well said kate88...I agree completely with you.

Our blog - http://www.travelblog.org/bloggers/donna-and-neil

Posted
29-Nov-2008 03:17
by: jak_dafool

Posts: 1,437
Registered: 24/03/06

202

kate88:

If we run and hide we’re doing exactly what they want us to do….be scared

Is it wrong to be scared? Is it wrong to think of our families the burden that might be placed upon them if we were to become yet another victim of a terrorist attack in India?

No longer posting on TT because TT sucks.

Posted
29-Nov-2008 03:24
by: jak_dafool

Posts: 1,437
Registered: 24/03/06

203

If every western tourist, diplomat and business traveller were to leave India today and never return terrorists would simply continue targeting Indian nationals as they have in the past

Maybe India should try to address and resolve the issues that supposedly cause people to turn to terrorism rather than simply blaming others.

No longer posting on TT because TT sucks.

Posted
29-Nov-2008 04:17
by: dougv

Posts: 612
Registered: 18/08/05

204

there's nothing wrong with being scared - fear can keep you alive. false bravado is another matter and I thought #198 (tony_b) stated it quite well. anyone who has been shot at or seen human carnage up close and personal can probably relate and would probably modify their behavior to try and limit exposure regardless of whether they decide to go to India or not.

Posted
29-Nov-2008 04:50
by: nijkerk

Posts: 2,674
Registered: 15/04/05

205

Quite simple , for many tourists its a question of "where shall we spend our holiday this year". India ??, Hmm, maybe not for a while.....I hope that the positive signs from the new Pakistani administration are reciprocated by the Indian Govt. and that serious attempts are made to settle their disputes. If this horror is based on the Kashmir question then its time for Indo /Pak govts to put their heads together and to make a serious attempt to resolve this issus. Good grief, its been dragging on for more than 1/2 of a century and the longer it continues themore intractible all parties become. Its time for concessions and losing of face from both sides to bring peace to the region.( dont hold your breath, until a politician (s) with vision appears on the scene I fear that we will be seeing more of the same

Posted
29-Nov-2008 05:28
by: Mandobaz

Posts: 16
Registered: 18/06/08

206

I apologise to rby & tony-b for my earlier macho posturing, I've no idea why I should be offended by the underlying sentiments they expressed. And for your information I've travelled for over 30 years in africa and asia and am a lot less naive than you might think. As for tightening security for tourists??? Surely, that would be expected after such a tragedy whether tourists were present or not. Let’s all just stay away as you suggest and let businesses that rely on tourism go to the wall and the terrorist win. Nobody's actually suggesting ignoring government advice and walking into a war zone so please stop being so sanctimonious.

Posted
29-Nov-2008 05:48
by: wanderlust_77

Posts: 51
Registered: 13/11/07

207

Ok Kate #199...Ok firstly, how old are you? And secondly, I think you're being slightly over-dramatic!!!! What part of the UK are you from??? I'm Irish, I AM IN NO WAY SYMPATHISING with the IRA, I hate the rotten scumbag bastards (excuse my french)...but you can't really compare the UK with what's going on in India at the moment and over the last couple years!!! The IRA carried out less than 30 attacks in England...that's over a 30 year period. (if my memory of secondary school history serves me correctly). What's happening in India is completly different! 12 attacks in one year is slightly more worrying than the "troubles". I don't think the troubles had any effect on tourism in the UK, although it did most definitely have a catastrophic effect on N. Ireland's tourism....

Again, I do not sympathise with the IRA (INLA, UUP, Sinn Fein, UVF, or any of the republican or loyalist paramilitary organisations!!!) They were, IMHO, fighting over a lost cause, something that could never be achieved. And now that the troubles are over, they've come down south and start drug wars and are going around behaving like hooligans and killing more innocent people, I do not condone their activities whatsoever.

I am also not belitteling what any of them did up the North. They caused terror and fear, many hundreds of deaths and casualties and years of conflict. But some people need to have a little perspective. The troubles in the North had as lilttle to do with the citizens of the UK as little as they did us in the Republic!!! And I don't think you can go making comparisons between Northern Ireland and India!

Posted
29-Nov-2008 06:58
by: Lincoln

Posts: 926
Registered: 06/12/00

208

You know what wanderlust ? i agree with vast , overwhelming part of your argument except where you say that the troubles in N Ireland had as much to do with Ireland as they did in the UK during the conflict.

I dont remember kids being killed going out to the shops to buy their mums a mothers day card in the republic like they were in Warinngton.

That being said I get the general vibe from your post and its a positive one, so thanks for that.

Feel free to disregard anything i write on a Friday or saturday-and wednesdays ,chances are I'm pretty stoned.(1 day until i go travelling again-come on !)

Posted
29-Nov-2008 07:21
by: wanderlust_77

Posts: 51
Registered: 13/11/07

209

No I didn't mean to make little of what happened in the UK or the Republic (the Republic was attacked as well you know!). I know there were innocent victims killed and injured, or even just affected by the troubles in the Republic and the UK...but in saying that, it's not like we were constantly living in fear, waiting for the next attack, like the citizens of Northern Ireland were! They were terrorised for 30 years.

I don't really know how to convey exactly what I'm trying to say in words, but I think you did get the jist of what I was saying above. I'm not trying to be derrogatory in any way, but the two situations are completly different spectrums and I don't think there's any call for comparisons between what's happening in India at the moment and over the last couple years and what happened in the UK and the Republic for that matter in the past!

Edited by: wanderlust_77

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