The terror strikes in Jaipur have come as a rude reminder of the fact that India continues to be a target for many organisations and outfits, from within and outside the country. More and more places across many states are coming under attack from terrorists; their methodology is getting more sophisticated, explosives more lethal and the results more deadly.

The Jaipur blasts were an act of cowardice that we must condemn in the strongest possible manner. This, like other terrorist attacks, is not just an attack on a city and its people. Rather, it ought to be seen as an attack on our nation itself.

We have been facing this menace for a long time — long before the West was rudely woken up to the reality of terrorism and long before the global war on terror was waged. But the ambit of the terror network and attacks in India has increased from the traditional areas infested with cross-border insurgents to other parts of the country.

Every successful terrorist attack is not just a loss of life and property but also a blow to the values of free society, secular beliefs and democratic traditions. Extremists and terrorists aim to make headlines and instill fear in people’s hearts. But we all should be proud of the way the people of Jaipur responded to these ghastly attacks. Fellow citizens in private vehicles rushed the victims to hospital, volunteers swarmed hospital premises, doctors worked round the clock shifts.

To give an example of how quickly the people reached out to those in need of help, while visiting the victims at the Sawai Mansingh Hospital on the night of the blasts, I was informed that there might be shortage of blood. But when I asked the chief medical officer, he told me that within hours of the blasts they had received more than one thousand units of blood from volunteers in the city and that now there was no shortage at all. I think the people also exercised calm and showed great restraint by not getting provoked. We all know that such mindless killing of innocent men, women and children can never be justified no matter what the motives or convictions.

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