Guys and gals,

I am safe; and hope all are. As you may have heard or read there have been a series of blasts in London this morning. While it is highly likely - and there is a strong indication - that these were the act of terrorists, it is still to early to speculate; but these multiple blasts have caused meyham and confusion. A large number of casualties have been reported and police claim that the situation is now under control.

My thoughts and prayers are with our Nepali brothers and sisters who may have been caught in this tragic event!

This editorial in Monday's Kathmandu Post is worth reading:

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Prevent terror



- The horrific explosions that killed over 50 people and injured over 700 the other day in the cosmopolitan city of London is a reminder that the world is no longer a safe place and that the value of human life has fallen to such low levels that killing of human beings is being taken as a legitimate means to attain political, social and religious ends. It would be a folly on the part of the world to treat the London explosions as nothing more than acts of terrorism without really defining what constitutes terrorism. The definition must be universally acceptable: one man's act to attain the so-called freedom must not be another man's perception of terrorism. Killings of innocent people will continue, no doubt, until there is a universal acceptance of what constitutes terrorism and what does not. There must be no double standard in judging terrorism.

International and national human rights bodies take no time in judging and condemning explosions and other forms of weaponry mechanisms that kill. However, they too fail to define what constitute terrorism and when the use of force in all its forms ceases to be a legitimate method to attain political, social and religious ends. The world is perceived to be an unequal place and there is always a reason for conflict that often results in violence. The cause can be anything from poverty and neglect to social discrimination to religious beliefs. Yet all agree that until people feel secure in all respects, they cannot really be free. It is imperative that the people feel a sense of security and the only way to do so is to ensure that the people do not have to fear any danger from any quarter, especially the rich and the powerful, about their way of life and their beliefs. In short, there must be no imposition either by individual countries or even by the United Nations about what constitute the rights and wrongs.

As long as the concept of might is right holds ? whether such might is in the form of economic or military prowess ? people will have enough cause to feel discriminated against and could resort to violence. In this respect, the Western countries need to do some soul searching whether they adopt double standards when describing acts of violence as terrorism. South Asia has been a hot-bed of violence for the past few decades with violence also being perpetrated in Nepal in the past decade. The need surely is to determine what kind of violence is terrorism and which is the legitimate means to gain the desired objective to fight terrorism.

- http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=45408

despicable terrorist apologists! if you think this puny attack phases the brits, it just shows your WILLFUL ignorance of reality and history, more specifically. brits are made of far stronger stuff than most, and if the blitz didn't break 'em, then this surely won't. anyone spouting trendy moral equivalence stuff is beneath contempt. trying to excuse this scum and their savagery makes one nothing more than a sympathizer who should be treated as such.

Hasn't the definition of terrorism been as clear as it can get?

WILLFUL AND INTENTIONAL TARGETTING OF INNOCENT CIVILLIANS!

The notion of "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" can/should only be applied to the tagging of "terrorism" to attacks on military personnel/facilities, which the West has done abundantly in the past. However, nothing, I mean NOTHING, should justify DELIBERATE killings of innnocent civillians at WHATEVER cost!

Agreed that terrorism normally has deep roots in legitimate social and political grievances; and in this regard, METHODS to tackle terrorism, if it does not encompass addressing those root causes of terror, can be highly questionable. Nevertheless, the very act of terror itself cannot, and should never be, justified!

Oh, KTM Post! Lord have mercy on thee!

While I strongly condemn any attacks on civilians, I do want to think the London blasts as inevitable. The country is at war, so attack like this was imminent. Who do you think the Brits and Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan are killing, if not many innocent lives? This was just their way to retaliate. Again, I want to emphasis that I condom such acts, so don?t get me wrong.

Sajhakoraja and Anilji,
I think TKP's message implied something like this:

Create a palestinian state, Withdraw occupation and military presence of the west in Gulf and Arab states, do not exploit their oil and let them take full control of their wealth, don't force to change their governments by military intervention-the public are there to decide the fate of their rulers, leave them alone in their own backyard, let them have sense of justice and non-aggression, let the muslims not be humilliated everywhere.

These are the solutions to control and prevent Islamic terrorism. Wild use of force cannot stop muslim youths from joining terrorism. In fact, it encourages. You know what? 3000 British born muslims are trained by AlQaeda in Afganistan and Pakistan, they can train further thousands in Britain. They can make home made devices and attack similarly, without leaving a trace of evidence to get into them. So where does the solution lies? How to prevent such senseless killings of innocent civilians?

Majority of the British people understand that these attacks were self inflicted by the government in here. The anti-terrorism drive, the unnecessary use of force by Americans at Guantanamo Bay, the Iraq war : These are the reasons for the loss of innocent civilians in London. Iraq has seen far more casualties almost in a daily basis, and most of them are muslims.

Hence the Londoners have shown extraordinary resilience to get on with their life. Many living in London accept that there life is in the hand of murderes every time they get into the train and bus. But what can they do? Its the overall policies that should take a major shift. Address the roots of the problem everywhere including in Nepal. May be TKP editor wanted to convey this. And this doesn't mean sympathy to the terrorists.

the terrorist apologetics and sympathizing can go straight to hell, where they rightfully belong, no ifs, ands, or buts. that tkp piece is absolute rubbish and mere proves terrorist apologist who wrote it doesn't have the foggiest notion of what the real world is like. the us and uk and other free nations are not going to let a bunch of two-bit punk islamofascists dictate policy for them. anyone who blames these attacks on anyone other than the terrorists themselves is totally unserious, without shame, and should be called on it EVERY DAMN TIME. as for addressing "roots" of the problem, it's safe to say that uk, us, and many other countries are doing FAR more than, say, nepal, in addressing root causes. things get tough in nepal, and the first places people wanna flee are afghanistan, iraq, iran, syria, etc? get a friggin' clue!

why such a big talk?? people kill and die min Southaisia and Africas like mosquitoes nobody gives a damn..when it comes whitearsses there's such a a huge fart...

Sajhakoraja,
While I do understand your stand against terrorist, I would also like to tell you that attitude like yours, only encourages and breeds more terrorists. With more violence in Iraq each day, don't you think US and its coalition should think of an alternative strategy to deal with these terrorists? It is clear that these terrorists are a different breed and mere force won?t stop them, instead promotes them.

I agree with what Hurray says on this one.
If British public had such hatred, London would have seen communal riot already. And hundreds of people would have died in the new wave of violence. Remember Ayodhya and Godhra in India.
Love for human beings is the best weapon to deal with the evils of humans.

The Britons have demonstrated how to react at such barbarism. Read this piece by one of the most respected journalists of Britain.

- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4671577.stm

...The huge crowds who watched and joined in Sunday's parade were London's answer to all the fear and anger and excitability of the past few days; a Churchillian hand-signal to the bombers.

Walking in the hot sunshine in the Mall with my family, I could see that the people round me felt much as I did: they were quietly celebrating their freedom. Not chanting or burning flags or screaming insults at enemies real or imagined, just enjoying themselves...

i think its not al-qieda..i'm thinking more like the IRish punks who looted the bank some times ago anyways..

keep apologizing for and appeasing terrorists. it has worked so very well in places like nepal and afghanistan. it won't make a whit of difference anyway, as your taliban and al-qaeda buddies are making enemies faster than they can kill them. i'm sure your pacifist attitude will save you when the salafist wolf comes calling at YOUR door. your kind of lousy attitude only gets many more innocent people killed. maybe you prefer for all the democracies donating to nepal to just cut and run and leave nepal to fend for herself. don't want to impose any policies that might piss off the maoists, y'know. just remember to ask yourself "what did I do to deserve this?" when they cut your throat like a goat.

Sajhakoraja bro, you are being disgracefully rude now.

Taleban and AlQaeda buddies re.
ha ha ha ha.

Bin Laden is Jimmy Carter's buddy, if you go through the history. I am not kidding mate.

''what did I do to deserve this?" when they cut your throat like a goat.''

The Bigley family had the answer to this question - Ken Bigley did nothing, the sacrifice was for Bush's and Blair's anti-terrorism heroics in Iraq.

The answer will be same again. For the heroics of Bush, if the murderers are AlQaedas. For the heroics of Gyanendra, if they are maoists.

Extreme measures foster political violence and terrorism. Your sort of attitudes only help the terrorists to prepare brainwashing tablets for the impoverished.
:)

first off, i am and never will be in any way, shape, or form your "bro" or "mate", so take your smug, snotty, snide, trifling one-liners and shove it right up that phony smiley face. i make absolutely no pretense of acting polite or graceful with disgraceful and ignorant attitudes such as those shown by YOU and other pathetic, depraved souls who use this tragedy in London as just another excuse to spout their petty political views and cast blame on anyone except the terrorists themselves. it's your choice to be willfully ignorant, as it mine to call you and others out on it every damn time.

if you want a nice, graceful refutation, then read this.

http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/37745

Newuser,

As an ex-student of Middle Eastern Politics, and as someone who passionately held the cause for the Palestinians very dear to his heart (until the politics of home began to overwhelm my passion), I can relate to YOUR sentiments COMPLETELY and WHOLE HEARTEDLY.

However, YOUR sentiment is not reflected on the KTM Post editorial. When the nation's most respected English daily try to indulge in such politically charged issues as global terrorism, "implications" are not sufficient. To a simple reader (even to myself who is fairly aware of intricacies of global issues), the above editorial does nothing but makes him/her suspect the KTM Post is indirectly condoning terror attacks on innocent civillians.

If they had meant to present it the way YOU did, and had done so clearly, all the glory would have been theirs.

terrorist sympathizing. absolutely no excuse for it. period.

for those looking to do a little summertime reading, i recommend:

"the secret agent" by joseph conrad