Mumbai Attacks: In the Cafés, Fear Gives Way to Anger at Weakness of Warring Politicians

In the winding back streets of south Mumbai, there is a palpable sense of relief that the city's bloodiest and most brazen attack for a quarter of a century is over.

Fear, however, is quickly giving way to anger with the political establishment who had promised repeatedly to protect people from terror only to have India scarred again and again by bombs and bullets.

The first signs of this anger came after the siege of the Jewish center ended on Friday - a victory tinged with the realization that even India's crack commando unit could not save the lives of the rabbi and his family. Cries of 'Long Live Mother India' and 'Victory to India' were replaced with a more sober question: 'Is anywhere safe?'

In Café Mocambo, just north of the Taj yesterday, a group of diners argued about how life could continue in the shadow of terror. They said the booming sound of gunfire as the commandos fought gunmen room by room had become a part of the nation's collective memory.

'The Taj, the Oberoi, were the best eating spots in the city. The rich and famous went there and they are now dead. If you cannot protect these guys, then who can you?' said Venky Nair, a businessman. 'I blame the politicians. They talk about being tough, but what do they do?'

Outside, people ran through the argument that Pakistan was to blame. 'We have sent rockets to the Moon and [Pakistan] has sent terror to us,' was one of the pithier replies to questions about who bombed the Taj.

There's little faith that the political class has the will to do anything about the 'terrorism problem'. 'The government spends so much money and nothing happens. Then these people come and do whatever they want,' said Richard Madhavan, 34, who lives near the Jewish centre. The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party, India's main opposition, took out front-page advertisements accusing the ruling Congress party coalition of failing to defend the nation.

'Brutal terror strikes at will. Weak government. Unwilling and incapable. Fight terror - Vote BJP,' said one advertisement, showing a blood-red stain on a black background.

Just as the images of billowing smoke from the twin towers have become a 'never forget' memory for the United States, the fires on the roof of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel have been seared into the minds of Indians.

Mumbai is familiar with the stench of death. In 2006 synchronized blasts ripped through commuter trains during the evening rush hour, killing 187 people. In 2003 bombs in taxis blew up outside the city's main arch - the Gateway of India, built for King George V's tour - killing 52. In 1993, in the nation's worst terror strikes to date, a series of 13 bombings across the city killed 257 people.

'People are worried, but the key difference is anger,' Rajesh Jain, chief executive officer at a brokerage firm, Pranav Securities, said. 'People are worked up about the ineffectiveness of the administration. Does the government have the will, the ability, to tackle the dangers we face?'

No one is in any doubt that last week's bombings will have political consequences. Front-page editorials have thundered about 'India's 9/11' and the determination not to politicize the issue of terrorism.

In the past, both Congress and the Bharatiya Janata have accused each other of being soft on national security.

A front-page editorial in the Indian Express, signed by Shekhar Gupta, the editor-in-chief, argued 'while one [party] railed endlessly against "jihadi" terror, the other searched for "root causes" of terrorism ... [the] time had come a long time ago to depoliticise our response to terror, just as other great democracies around the world have done.'