India's Youth Vote Rises From Ashes Of Mumbai Attacks

[Coventina]

Source: Washington Post

MUMBAI -- Before the November terrorist attacks on this city left three of his friends dead, Kaizad Bhamgara, 19, spent his evenings jamming with his hipster goth-rock band or chilling on the wave-sprayed boulders along the high-rise-ringed shoreline.

But the pain of his loss and his frustration over the ineptitude of the government's response to the attacks moved Bhamgara to put down his drumsticks and pick up his laptop.

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The three-day siege that left more than 170 people dead and more than 230 wounded has spurred India's disillusioned middle-class youths to previously unseen levels of political action. At a time when young Indians have rising aspirations for their own futures, the attacks forced them to question why their expectations for their political leaders have fallen so low. Indian political analysts say young voters will play an unprecedented role in this year's vote, which will determine the composition of India's next government.

Known as India's 9/11, the assault on Mumbai exposed governmental dysfunction and security gaps that allowed 10 gunmen to bring one of the country's largest cities to a standstill. Tips about the attacks were ignored; untrained police lugged rusted muskets to the crime scenes; and members of India's elite National Security Guard spent nearly two hours stuck in traffic.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/06/AR2009040604017.html