View this link:

http://www.counterpunch.org/tariq11272008.html

Tariq Ali on the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai:

Why should it be such a surprise if the perpetrators are themselves Indian Muslims? Its hardly a secret that there has been much anger within the poorest sections of the Muslim community against the systematic discrimination and acts of violence carried out against them of which the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom in shining Gujarat was only the most blatant and the most investigated episode, supported by the Chief Minister of the State and the local state apparatuses.

Add to this the continuing sore of Kashmir which has for decades been treated as a colony by Indian troops with random arrests, torture and rape of Kashmiris an everyday occurrence. Conditions have been much worse than in Tibet, but have aroused little sympathy in the West where the defense of human rights is heavily instrumentalised.

On that note, too, the action-packed coverage in the media (particularly, CNN’s “Terrorism in India!”/Quantum of Solace coverage) is completely preposterous. Not to say that acts of terrorism ought to be celebrated or anything like that, but it’s unfortunate that the kind of coverage we’re subjected to is listening to ex-FBI consultants ramble on about what the proper procedure is for securing evidence in a crime scene, all as a thinly veiled effort to promote their various private defense consulting firms.

Decrying the media for promoting broad, unintelligent, half-assed coverage is something of a common place on the blogosphere, but would it really be that difficult for a network to, you know, do some real journalism? This might entail, for example, focusing on how the terrorist attack impacts the structure of wealthy, urban “space,” of which the Taj Hotel functioned as the epitome of, against public/poor space directly outside the area surrounding Mumbai. Instead we get an endless repeat of the hostage count and how many U.S. nationals may or may not be impacted by the attack, which then allows the media to conveniently segue into a pathetic series of human interests stories.

Via Matthew Yglesias.