The biggest group on Facebook, ‘Mumbai terror attacks: I condemn it’, has 27,502 members, while Orkut has around 80 communities devoted to the cause in India itself. All deplore the mindless killings and honour the security personnel who died fighting the attackers. Most rail against governmental failure and intelligence weaknesses of government agencies incapable of fighting terror.

One member of a Facebook community recommends introducing private commandos to ensure security in “metropolitan areas”. Another discussion thread vacillates between whether the government forces are under-overworked, under-over paid or just badly trained. The rhetoric is often overwhelming—the description of one Orkut community reads: “Then it was the sin of Onan/And the sin of Sodom/Now it’s the sin of Osama/And the sin of Saddam”.

In an effort to deflect the obvious aspersions that are being their way, Pakistanis have launched a separate group condemning the attacks. The Pakistani group, ‘All Pakistanis condemn Mumbai terrorist attacks’, has 2,225 members.

The people of Mauritius too have a separate forum to express their grief, with special mention of a fellow citizen who died in the attack. Not all are convinced by the Indian government’s attempt to pin the blame across the border—a community floated by a “proud Indian” is named ‘Stop blaming Pakistan for terror attacks’. Some vigorously assert their Islamic identity while decrying terror, for example, “Yes I am a Muslim and I condemn the November 26 &27 attacks”. Some wholeheartedly advocate war—’Let us bomb the country responsible for Mumbai attacks’—while others set themselves lofty targets—’How can India be a strong nation?’

... contd.