US pundits have portrayed the Mumbai attacks as the 9/11 of India, a terrorist test of Barack Obama, and a deliberate attempt to go after US citizens abroad. "Sorry, it is not always about America," writes Indian native Isaac Cheriyathu in SpliceToday. Devastating, yes. But this was a domestic attack on India, one of countless such assaults over the years. "Just because you weren't paying attention until now does not make it any more significant."
India has been under "an incessant assault from Islamic fundamentalist organizations" since its inception. Mumbai itself lost 200 people just two years ago in terror attacks. Fear is understandably present, but "India is not Afghanistan, it is a success story—a stable democracy over six decades," writes Cheriyathu. "Even as the media want you to believe that this event has the same effect on India that 9/11 had on America, it is simply not the case. India will take this blow in stride and will move on." (More Mumbai stories.)