Bollywood Stars: Strike Terrorists With Iron Hand

Could you ever imagine seeing a reaction such as this from Hollywood? Sure, after 9/11 we had a brief period rallying around the flag and President Bush, but that didn't last very long.

Wake up and strike terrorism with an iron hand, say Bollywood's stars shocked by the brazen terror attack that targeted Mumbai's poshest areas. From Hema Malini, who worries about her daughters, to Bipasha Basu, who narrowly missed the Vile Parle blast, this terror strike has shaken them all.

Shveta Salve: Please send me Raj Thackeray's number, if you can find it. I don't know where he is when we need him. We want him to go and save 'Amchi Mumbai' along with his MNS (Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) men. After all they are the 'sons of the soil', aren't they? The army, the commandos who are right now battling to save Mumbai are not all 'Marathi Manoos', are they? I wonder why they should risk their lives for us!

Hema Malini: I think the Mumbai police rose to the occasion. It is very sad that we lost some brave officers. Hats off to the army for rescuing people. It's really sad that Mumbai has become so unsafe. I wait with my heart in my mouth until Esha and Ahana are home. We desperately need more security.

Raveena Tandon: We were in a restaurant in south Mumbai having dinner with friends when we started getting calls to leave immediately. We still waited. But then a policeman called and advised us to go home. We headed home in groups and stayed on the phone till each of us reached safely. It's time for the corrupt politicians to wake up. Stop thinking of your vote banks and think of what's happening to the country.

Bipasha Basu: It's shocking and scary. We're going through a very disturbing and inhuman phase. On Wednesday night, I travelled on the highway two minutes after the Vile Parle blast. There was mayhem on the roads. John's (John Abraham) aunt, who works at the Taj (Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotels), reached home at 7 a.m. Thursday. I wonder where and when it will end.

Stange seeing such reaction and noboody is asking what they did to bring it upon themselves. No hand-wringing over how the world views them and if only they wre nicer to people, none of this would have occurred.

Of course, if it escalates into a wider conflict, maybe we'll see Bollywood churn out an endless stream of money-losing antiwar bilge.

Although now, however, if we happen to be struck by terrorists and a President Obama reacts with an iron hand (we can hope, can't we?), I suspect Hollywood will be very gung-ho with the effort.

Meanwhile, it appears the siege at the Taj hotel is finally over.

Indian commandos killed the last remaining gunmen holed up at a luxury Mumbai hotel Saturday, ending a 60-hour rampage through India's financial capital by suspected Islamic militants that left more than 150 people dead and rocked the nation.

Orange flames and black smoke engulfed the landmark 400-room Taj Mahal hotel after dawn Saturday as Indian forces ended the siege in a hail of gunfire, just hours after elite commandos stormed a Jewish center and found six hostages dead.

More than 150 people were killed and several hundred wounded in the violence that started when more than a dozen assailants attacked 10 sites across Mumbai Wednesday night. Fifteen foreigners were among the dead.

"The Taj operation is over. The last two terrorists holed up there have been killed," Mumbai Police Chief Hasan Ghafoor told The Associated Press. J.K. Dutt, director general of India's elite National Security Guard commando unit, told reporters outside the hotel that his forces would continue to search and clear the hotel.

With the end of one of the most brazen terror attacks in India's history, attention turned from the military operation to questions of who was behind the attack and the heavy toll on human life.

I'm glad these terror scum are dead. One can envision the reaction here. The ACLU would be caterwauling about harsh police tactics and fretting over the rights of the dead terrorists.

Thanks to Hot Air for the link.