19 February,2010 08:48 AM IST | | Hemal Ashar
Just a couple of days after Pune's German Bakery bomb blast, I overheard two young men discussing the murder of top Hamas official and arms dealer Mahmoud al-Mahbouh. The thriller might make fiction pale in comparison.
Mahbouh, who had killed two Israeli soldiers years ago, was a marked man for over a decade. This time, he ran out of luck. A professional hit team, disguised as tennis players, followed him to the Al-Bustan Rotana hotel in Dubai and killed him by administering electric shocks. They exited with the same lethal silence with which they had come. Precise, ruthless and efficient, the hit had what many say are the hallmarks of Israel's Mossad, though this is being hotly contested.u00a0
The Israel-Palestine problem was on the periphery of Indian consciousness earlier, but now it's moving into the mainstreamu00a0
The controversial killing notwithstanding, what is vital is that ordinary Mumbaikars were actually discussing the thrilling story. There is a real thirst amongst ordinary people to learn the roots of global terror.u00a0 Just a couple of years ago, the Israel-Palestine problem was on the periphery of Indian consciousness, today it is moving into the mainstream. The heightened awareness is not just a result of the Internet, because the Internet has been around for many years now, much before 26/11.
It is probably because of so many bomb blasts in India. The common man is now asking why India is being repeatedly targeted. While the 1993 bomb blasts were attributed to anger over the Babri Masjid demolition, other blasts were said to be revenge for the Gujarat atrocities, which followed Kar Sevaks being roasted alive in a train.
Yet, post-Gujarat, terror in India has followed a global patternu00a0-- the 26/11 Mumbai attacks brought the Israel-Palestine problem into sharp focus. For the first time, Jews in India were systematically attacked and killed.
Post 26/11, an Indian police team went to Israel to learn more about the functioning of the country's security system. Smelling opportunity, professional Israeli security agencies have come into India and are tying up with security firms here. Israeli firms are also a big draw at theu00a0 Defence Expo being held in the capital.
Globalisation has a deadly connotation. when it comes to terror. India finds itself in the vortex of this global terror. Even laypersons are now waking up to the fact that the genesis and probably the end of terror in cities like Mumbai and Pune may have more to do with Israel-Palestine than it does with Kashmir.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
