The apologia has started, and concern is shifting towards the geopolitical fallout of the attacks in Mumbai. We should remember some of the details of the attacks before they become just “one of those things”. In time, a short snappy title will condense all the horror and suffering into a short hand used in news articles, editorials, and ultimately conspiracy theories. Abstracted from the reality it represents, the shorthand makes it easier to discuss the atrocity without having the blood and fear distracting you.
Here’s one detail from a British survivor.
Lynne Shaw, from Penarth, Wales, was being led through the Taj Mahal hotel by staff, with her husband Ken, because the conference room in which they were sheltering was coming under. During the short journey they were seconds away from the gunmen. Mrs Shaw said: “All of a sudden gunfire broke out in the corridor and they had executed a six-year-old in front of his parents”. The couple dived into the nearest room and hid under a table for six hours.
Exactly how anti-imperialist or concerned about Palestine do you have to be to murder a six-year-old?
