Security Issues

Safety has become something that we have thought about a lot lately - not just how to keep ourselves safe, but how different it seems that the Indians view it. For example, our apartment has one door. All of our windows are barred and we have no fire alarm. We were told that we don't need one since cement houses don't burn. Okay. Yesterday we were driving home from church and passed a tow truck pulling a car. Standing, that's right, standing on the back of the truck only holding on to one cable was a man watching the car, apparently to make sure it didn't fall off. We were going about 45 miles per hour so this was no small feat.

A bit more pressing in my mind is that in the month that we have been here there have been several bombings, one in Hyderabad and several in Guwahati. The one in Hyderabad was of a mosque at the end of prayers. Several people were killed, but more were killed by the police firing into the crowd of protestors. The bombings in Guwaharti have been done by a group called ULFA or the United Liberation Front of Assam. Assam is the little bit of India that sits off by itself between Bhutan and Bangladesh and it is suspected that ULFA is backed by Taliban camps in Bangladesh. Kashmir is another hotbed area. When India received its independence, the Maharajah was given the choice as to whether Kashmir would align itself with India or Pakistan. Apparently, he didn't take into account the fact that the vast majority of people living there are Muslim and wanted to be Pakistanis. From what I understand, it is absolutely beautiful there and the rugs are gorgeous but we had to promise that we would not travel there in order to get our visas. We have made sure to register with the Embassy and High Commission to make sure we know where is safe and where we should stay away from. The amazing thing is that nothing shuts down after a bombing. Markets don't even shut down for a day. People go back to work and get on with their life. We view it very differently.

On a funny note, yesterday at church a talk was being given on faith. The young man giving it was talking about Noah and how the people reacted to him. He said (I paraphrase), "They thought, what the h--- is he doing?". Classic.