Mumbai siege continues

We continue to be shocked by the enormity of the long-drawn-out carnage by a group of terrorists in Mumbai that has left over 125 people dead and over 300 injured. As of writing this comment it has not come to an end yet as terrorists continue to keep hostages in some buildings. The Indian intelligence has claimed that the home grown terrorist outfit Deccan Mujahedeen has links with a bigger militant group based in Pakistan, which was also hinted at by Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee. But in a positive development Pakistan prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has responded to the request of Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh and agreed to send the ISI chief to India to assist in the investigation. In a separate telephone call to Manmohan Singh on Friday Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari had also talked about extending cooperation with India "in exposing and apprehending the culprits and the masterminds behind the attack". Pakistan foreign minister has also said India and Pakistan should join hands to defeat a common enemy, requesting India however not to play politics over the attack.
We believe this is the first sign of a constructive engagement between Pakistan and India, which sharply contrasts with the pattern of accusation and denial the two countries pursued in the past. We hope this time around the call for cooperation will be seen and utilised in full earnest by both the countries to fight a common enemy - terrorism. Pakistan has its own home grown terrorist groups working relentlessly to destabilise the state. The country's involvement in Afghanistan has not been something very pleasant and it has come home to haunt them. Today, the government is calling terrorists its enemy and is ready to join hands with India to get to the bottom of the terrorist attacks. We hope such spirit of cooperation between India and Pakistan will extend to other SAARC member countries and they will get their resources together to destroy terrorist networks in the region.
We hope the latest terrorist attack in Mumbai has left governments in other South Asian countries including Bangladesh wiser than before, as we have witnessed manifestation of many home grown terrorist outfits in the region. Pakistan is paying a heavy price today for not having acted early on against its home grown militant groups. We have said yesterday and we say it again that Bangladesh should not suffer from the illusion that it is immune to such terrorist attacks. We recall the bomb blasts in 63 districts a couple of years back and the recent arrest of a top JMB leader with a large quantity of explosives and weapons. Politicians of the two major parties must work together to fight the menace without ever using them to materialise their selfish interests, regardless of the outcome of the coming election. We have to be preemptive in dealing with the armed militants without giving them the opportunity to strike first.