A look at the Mumbai attacks
• 190—The death toll in the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai has been estimated to be approximately 190. Iran's Tehran Times says that reducing tensions between India and Pakistan is a critical piece of a necessary and larger regional framework toward Afghanistan—which has historically been the proxy battlegrounds between the two countries in the past.
• 14,729—Since 2001, there have been 14,729 fatalities as a result of terrorist violence in India, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP).
• 41 percent—SATP reports that nearly 41 percent of fatalities resulting from terrorist violence occurred in the regions of Jammu and Kashmir, with more than 40,000 people losing their lives in the conflict since 1989.
• 6,000—More than 6,000 Muslim clerics in India endorsed a fatwa against terrorism on Nov. 8. The minority Muslims condemned recent terrorist attacks, but also warned against linking terrorism with an entire religion.
• 20 suspects—On Tuesday, Indian authorities presented Pakistan with a list of 20 senior militant suspects based in Pakistan that it wants immediately extradited to face justice in India, Time Magazine's Tony Karon reports. Pakistan declined the request. Karon explains that in spite of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's assurance that Pakistan is now ruled by a democratic civilian leadership, President Asif Ali Zardari is not truly in control—it is Pakistan's military. Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence must be persuaded that its own interests lie in standing down from confrontation with India and reorienting itself to fight the jihadists, Karon argues. He also warns against India being too patient in addressing the attacks in Mumbai.
• 9/11—In The New York Times' "India's 9/11? Not Exactly," Amitav Ghosh cautions against the media and politicians treating the attacks in Mumbai as India's 9/11 when there are completely different circumstances in comparison to the United States Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. "When commentators repeat the metaphor of 9/11 they are in effect pushing the Indian government to mount a comparable response," Ghosh writes. "If India takes a hard line modeled on the actions of the Bush administration, the consequences are sure to be equally disastrous."
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