As the only Indian among the guests, I was not only mortified but, very embarrassed. Adding salt to injury, one of the invitees, a very senior OECD official casually said: “Its time you Indians had military rule in your country”.

Now, that was humiliating and offending, and in my rebuttal, I said our Constitution did not allow that and we were very proud of our democracy. All of last week, the TV channels across Europe gave a live account of the destruction and death in the city of Mumbai. Europeans watched the high-drama with shock and horror.

Twenty-four hours after the attack, the Europeans watched Dr Manmohan Singh, making one of the most tame, unimpressive, lacklustre addresses to the nation — telecast all over Europe. Mr Shivraj Patil, who has just resigned as Home Minister, made a standoffish statement to the people of the nation. Europeans watched both these men with incredulity.

The Maharashtra Chief Minister, the Union Home Minister and the Prime Minister had clearly failed in their responsibility to save from harm the people of the country. The President of India conveniently disappeared on an overseas trip. And even the Shiv Sena’s Raj Thackeray was nowhere to be seen.

Europeans are keenly watching how India will deal with the aftermath of the terror attacks. They are wondering if the incident will put India’s rising economy in jeopardy — and if it is a harbinger of more violence to come. The problem is that there is no unity to preserve and there has never really been any in this country. This would have been a fantastic opportunity to show the nation that the political parties are indeed, together.

But they are preparing for an election campaign, where the attractions of power are more powerful than the appeals of reason. It is crisis time for the nation, which is being sucked into the whirlpool of the worst-ever global economic depression and terror threat. In such circumstances, the Congress party and the BJP must rise above their petty squabbles.

The forthcoming general elections must be postponed. A National Government — a coalition of the two major parties — must be formed. This alone will send a clear signal to Indians and the rest of the world that India means serious business.

The terrorists killed about190 people and took hostages, in a series of attacks in Mumbai. An estimated 327 people were hurt. Islamist outfit Deccan Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to news agencies.

The existing police and the paramilitary forces can do little against the terror problem. India has 1.2 million police personnel and about one million paramilitary troops. While this sounds like a huge security force, possibly the largest in the world, given that India’s population hovers around 1.2 billion, it is actually measly.

In India, there are just 126 domestic security personnel for every 100,000 people. In most Western countries, that ratio is closer to 400-500 to 100,000.

Expenses on the Special Protection Group (SPG) protecting Dr Manmohan Singh and the other VIP politicians, including UPA chairperson, Ms Sonia Gandhi, totalled Rs 250 crore. The SPG has about 3,000 personnel and includes recruits from the police and commandos of the National Security Guards.

Former Prime Ministers, Mr I. K. Gujral and Mr Deve Gowda, are provided SPG security and dozens of cars. Even Rohit, son of Priyanka, is provided with SPG protection. We need to cut back on such a high level of security for politicians and re-direct some of it to protect the masses.

No European government gives such facilities to its politicians, retired public servants, or their relatives. Politicians in Europe are judged and protected by their words and deeds!

Neither the number of victims of the terror attacks nor the associated hostage scenario is sufficient to explain why the world is staring at Mumbai spell-bound. The fact is, terror acts in India have become part of daily life.

From the European perspective, these attacks represent something new. They clearly prove that the problem of jihad-inspired terror has not reduced — even though no bombs have recently exploded in European cities.

Some European editorialists have already suggested treating India with more caution in the near future. Furthermore, Europeans find the country has no over-arching strategy to confront the problem. A far-reaching strategy to combat terrorism remains non-existent.

Indians have long known that their cities and landmarks are vulnerable. But no year on record has seen so many bloody attacks. In Bangalore, Jaipur, Delhi and Ahmedabad, since March, more than 500 people have been killed by terrorists.

A meticulous, premeditated attack of the scale we saw last week could not have been executed without ‘local’ help. I am sure the investigation will reveal this.

It might be understandable that India wants to avoid losing its hard-won status as a rising economic power. But, in the long term, it is going to suffer greater damage if the word spreads that the country’s politicians shut their eyes to reality. Europeans are keenly watching.

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