Terror feasts on India -- worst victims

The figure is startling. Since 1994, over 50,000 have died in terrorist-related violence in India. According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), 23,955 terrorists, 19,662 civilians and 7,320 security force personnel have been killed in such incidents between 1994 and June, 2005.

At present, Iraq scores higher on the daily violence scale. But then, Iraq may be considered to be in a different category: it’s a country at war.

Unlike recent victims of terror like the US and UK, countries such as Israel and Sri Lanka have a long history of fighting such violence. So has India, which has borne the brunt of the scourge since the late ’80s.

As security analyst C Uday Bhaskar points out, "India has one of the highest numbers of terrorism related incident, both quantitatively as well as on the temporal spectrum."

The weapon haul further illustrates the enormity of India’s problem. "We have recovered 30,000 Kalashnikovs and 60,000 hand grenades and tonnes of RDX in Kashmir alone," says G C Saxena, former governor of J&K.

Former intelligence brass B Raman is of the view that the recent spurt in such activities, including Saturday’s serial blasts in Delhi, could be the outcome of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent successful visit to the US.

"One has to take into account that the Al-Qaida and other terrorist outfits like the International Terrorist Front might now target India because of its open alignment, as seen by them, with the US on matters affecting the vital interests of the Islamic Ummah," he says.