Bombay terror
Like many of you, I've been hooked up to minute-by-minute reports on the Bombay terror attacks on tv and the internet. I spent December 07- Jan 08 in all the places that were hit - The Taj, The Oberoi, Leopolds Cafe, VT Terminus etc.
Its interesting that the hottest breaking news site now is a tiny operation that is only based on Twitter - BreakingNewsOn - a breaking news aggregator.
Throughout last night it was consistently several minutes ahead of CNN (which routed through to its India sister network for most of the time), the online wire services (Reuters, AP etc), the BBC, Sky etc. in terms of body count, latest developments etc.
For some backstory on BNO's disruption of the wire-services paradigm, click here.
The UK Guardian finally caught on to the ongoing nature of events by firing up a live-blog at 8am this morning - here although again it is not a patch on BNO's twitter feed.
The analysis on the rolling tv news stations has yet to be well rounded. I've heard no mention of how Shiv Sena must be factored in to the Islamist's targetting of India's commercial capital for instance.
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20 comments:
Do find the decency, will you, to refer to that city by its name - Mumbai.
Else, you come across either as uninformed or stuck in a British Empire long dead. Take your pick.
Many Indians still refer to the commercial capital as Bombay - which you'd know if you travelled around the country. The renaming of Bombay was a move by the Shiv Sena, a controversial hard-line/militant organisation based in Bombay. The same name issue applies to the main train station, alternately known as 'VT' (Victoria Terminus) and 'CST' (Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) by Bombay citizens (who are also known as Mumbaikers!).
Its a similar issue to Burma. Many refuse to recognise the name Myanmar as contestation against those who renamed the country.
The difference between Mumbai and Bombay is reduced in everyday speech in India. Not sure if this is Indians hedging or it is genuinely phonetically driven..
I wonder where this event would leave India's 'renaissance'. That country has deeper problems than the media acknowledges...
Darn! How did the world get this crazy?
Your response there Jeremy should have included a Batman style 'KAPOW' at the end
Bombay or Mumbai...what we call it is besides the fact right now. I like India. I visited 5 cities in india on a project (bombay inclusive) about 5 years ago and so I know the Taj Palace, the Oberoi, Leopold’s (naija joint), VT Terminus. The whole situation is just unbelievable!
India's democracy is a robust one that has successfully withstood all the challenges presented before it to date. I'm sure this will be no different. Though it is rather ghastly, that people will massacre innocent civilians in the belief that it will further their political goals - SHOCKING!!.
I think Chxta had a point. With over 1 billion people, with different cultures, languages etc, you will surely have problems.
Anonymous @ 1.21 - you're too bad, that was too funny!! (It still makes me laugh now).
welcome back contranon baby ;-)Where ya been?
What are we (humans)really fighting for? Measuring lives on the scale of triggers and detonators. It's appalling.
BNO sometimes gets stories out 20 minutes before the main news agencies. As someone has already commented on their site - does this really make a difference? Does this really make them special? Given that their story checking is almost certainly not as rigorous as the main agencies and they do produce a lot of non-stories then maybe they are not really so impressive?
I just finished working in India and virtually all of the Indians I met called Mumbai Bombay. Oh and Gandhi is not as popular there as we might think in the West...
"Oh and Gandhi is not as popular there as we might think in the West..."
Is Naijablog part of the West? I didnt realise that...
These attacks on India are on an alarming increase. I am beginning to fear that that too might come into our own country, after all, we have sharia states who ae unwilling to let go of their practices....
99.9% of Indians do not care about what you call Bombay as.
'99.9% of Indians do not care about what you call Bombay as.'
Outside of beer parlours, it is not acceptable to brandish figures such as '99.9%' without providing a reference.
I see Jeremy has been working hard at recruiting yet more yes Men (aka arse lickers).
@Aronke
Thanks. Been about, but avoiding controversy lol.
Jeremy, naturally I disagree with you about BreakingNewsOn. As Mike said, they don't have the same strictures we have, we place emphasis on accuracy, rather than speed. If we can get both - great, otherwise it's more important that people are well informed.
Another point is context. One line doesn't give you context, which you'd surely get on a BBC, CNN, Al-Jazeera news report.
If you think Shiv Sena should be factored in, you're assuming that the gunmen are 'Maharashtra-grown'. But of course what everyone knows for sure is, they don't know who's behind the attacks for sure. Whatever it is, it's Islamist militancy MO, attack the commercial heart of a country. And it would probably happen Shiv Sena or no.
On naming conventions, I'm personally not a big fan of renaming places, simply because doing so rewrites history. However, if a legitimate government renames a place, who are we to complain? That's the distinction with Burma - a military government renamed it. And Nigeria has it's own renaming issues...
Hey Jeremy, what's latest on burning of churches in Jos?
As for the allegation that you have been recruiting arse-lickers; its a matter of taste.
I for one remain grateful that I've penetrated your inner circle.
Modibbo
@Controversial anon, I think you take yourself too seriously. What is the difference between the discussion that happens here and what takes place in beer parlours? If you consider this message board a venue for serious academic discussion, then you need to get yourself a life. You have not successfully rebutted the contention Arun made about 99.9% of Indians, instead all you tried to do was to cast aspersions on him and attack his credibility, while making yourself look ridiculous in the process..
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No matter how many terrorist attacks there are, we must never fear, resist or mock the precious and ever peaceful Islam. Who are we to say that raping 6 year-olds is immoral? Who are we to say that stoning gays and rape victims to death is evil? Who are we to say that killing hundreds of people every month in the name of Allah is the height of evil? That is just their culture and ideology and it MUST be respected. Morality is all relative, we must remember that.
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/
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absurd thought -
God of the Universe wants
all planets Islamic
Earth is one of many
in process of conversion
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absurd thought -
God of the Universe wants
many Taliban planets
stonings and beheadings
billions served daily
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
allow Islamic conquest
enjoy the dhimmi life
of second class citizens
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absurd thought –
God of the Universe says
convert the infidels
or make them pay a tax
if they don’t want to die
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All real freedom starts with freedom of speech. If there is no freedom of speech there can be no real freedom.
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Philosophy of Liberty Cartoon
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Help Halt Terrorism Today!
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USpace
:)
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BJP are the killers
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