Vaibhav Gangan: Solidarity gives Indians strength

A survey in the Reader's Digest found Auckland to be one of the most polite cities in the world. The same survey found Mumbai to be one of the rudest - but it certainly did not behave like one when seven blasts rocked Mumbai on July 11.

Mumbai has come out the winner on more than one account - empathetic helpfulness, religious maturity and a pragmatic attitude towards life.

New Zealand's Indian community almost mirrored that courageous behaviour.The initial feelings of fear, horror and shock were soon replaced by mixed feelings of anger, sympathy and grit.

People were angry at the cowardly act of a handful of extremists with misplaced faith. Messages of condolence and offers of help crossed regional boundaries. Internet images of Good Samaritans gave much-needed confidence to the peace-loving community who had frantically been trying to contact friends and relatives in Mumbai.

For many New Zealanders, the blasts were one of the news items in the world section. For Indians here, there was an insatiable hope that no one they knew was hurt in the blasts.

Within a day, a common feeling was manifest. There was no attempt to blame anyone.

An email addressed to the terrorists circulated in New Zealand's Indian community. It said: "We are not Hindus and Muslims or Gujaratis and Marathis. We are Mumbaites. We will not allow you to disrupt our life like this.

"We live like brothers in times like this. So do not dare to threaten us with your crackers. The spirit of Mumbai is very strong and cannot be harmed.".

The feeling of sadness was soon replaced by anger, and many questions were raised, the most common being: why did they do it and what did they achieve?

One Indian suggested that jealousy may have been the reason.

But Mumbai showed maturity. Instead of communal tensions, Muslim and Hindu groups were seen marching together on the city streets to express their solidarity.

New Zealand's Indian community, as well, stuck together like a family.

Immediately after the London blasts, the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand condemned the attacks, probably to pre-empt a backlash against the Muslim community. Despite that, some mosques in New Zealand were vandalised.

This time no such thing has happened - in India or New Zealand. That maturity probably flows from the top.

In reaction to the London bombings, British police were given "shoot at sight" orders, which resulted in the killing of an innocent Brazilian.

The Indian Administration has not issued such a barbaric order.

People in Mumbai are busy reassuring each other of their communal harmony. Taking a cue from that, New Zealand's Indian community is seeking a way forward.

Some see the need for a more extensive dialogue to solidify and build bridges among Indian communities. They feel that the media can play a role as important as that of religious and community leaders and politicians.

Sure enough, the "developing story" was covered by almost all media in New Zealand. But it was reported as "world" news rather than a tragedy that has affected 100,000 New Zealanders.

Mumbai is a city to which people from throughout India migrate, so almost everyone in New Zealand's Indian community has friends, relatives or colleagues in Mumbai.

One community member commented that One News could have used its CNN and BBC links for coverage of the blasts.

If we look at the London bombings coverage as an example, the Herald's online edition filed 40 blast-related stories in one day (July 8) and provided a message board.

But the Mumbai bombings generated only a couple of stories, although more people died in those bombings than in the London blasts.

The media are leaders of opinion, especially in a small country like ours.

For example, one Indian here said he felt lucky to be living in Auckland and not Mumbai. He felt the crime rate here was low.

That's a perception created by the media, both Indian and New Zealand. The per capita crime rate in New Zealand is higher than in India. New Zealand recorded 111,000 crimes for each one million of population in 2000, while India reported only 1720.

In a wider frame of reference, the blasts in India are seen in the West as a manifestation of India's internal conflicts.

After the 1993 blasts in Mumbai, Indian intelligence agencies warned the world of the increasing threat of global terrorism, but nobody listened.

India will surely take measures to prevent a recurrence. But other countries can use the information from the blasts to review their internal security. And India will be happy to share that information.

We all are in it. Let's be in it together.

* Vaibhav Gangan is managing editor of The Global Indian, a monthly ezine (theglobalindian.co.nz), for Indians in New Zealand and Australia.