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Militants Planned Attack On Indian Software Firms

Alien54 writes "Militants killed in an encounter in New Delhi on Saturday night planned to attack leading software companies in Bangalore in addition to the Indian Military Academy in Dehra Dun, Delhi police said on Sunday Indian police claim the men were members of Lashkar-e-Toiba - a Wahabi militant group fighting for an independent Kashmir. Apart from maps of call centers police also recovered 100 kilos of dynamite, 10.5 kilos of RDX explosive, 450 detonators, three AK-56 rifles and a satellite phone."

29 of 599 comments (clear)

  1. Re:What is the world coming to? by AnFraX · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, you see. The militants then proceed to take over the call center, giving out bad advice and in general being mean spirited, causing much grief and sorrow. It is their new method of destroying Western society.

  2. Re:What is the world coming to? by vranash · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's different from the normal Call Center *HOW*? For another example read all the phone support stuff from BOFH :)

  3. How they got caught by TelJanin · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Abdul! I tried to call tech support for the explosives, but all I got was one of those damn foreign Americans! Bloody outsourcing!"

  4. Attacking a major software company! Great! by bcmm · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oh, wait. Physically attacking a software company? Where's the fun in that?

    --
    # cat /dev/mem | strings | grep -i llama
    Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
    1. Re:Attacking a major software company! Great! by killjoe · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you have a small decentralized and poor army attacking hardened military targets would be useless execize. For terrorists it just makes sense to attack civillian economic targets. If anything it causes even more damage and of course increases the amount of terror. As a bonus it also forces undustry to implement extra security measures which increases their costs and erodes their competitiveness.

      The idea is to weaken the entire country and hurt/scare the general population who will eventually give in. I say eventually because terrorists are usually thinking in timespans that take generations.

      Whether it works or not is debatable. Terrorism was a key component of the establishment of Israel as a state. It also worked in Afghanistan against russia. In other places the record is spotty at best.

      --
      evil is as evil does
  5. Re:I bet... by 0x461FAB0BD7D2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    For the same reason that Al Qaeda attacked the WTC and Pentagon - to make themselves heard.

    Terrorism is not about sense or economic benefits.

    I'd like to thank the New Delhi police for a job excellently done.

  6. Re:I bet... by ArsenneLupin · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Attacking companies that brings prosperity to the region hardly seems a way to inspire support from the locals or anybody else.

    That was the point. Those were Kashmere terrorists blowing up Indian call centers. Al Qaeda was not overly concerned that 911 might be harming NYC's prosperity either, on the contrary!

  7. ... I disagree with the tactics used here but ... by Truth_Quark · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Surely an independent Kashmir is a damn fine solution to the bloody tug-of-war that India and Pakistan have been playing for the last 57 years.

    Just do it. It's got to be cheaper than the fisticuffs.

    Another brilliant post by Truth Quark! 60 years of conflict suddenly resolved!
    Now, about Palestine ...

  8. With my luck, I would have to file the bug report. by IvyMike · · Score: 5, Funny

    Bug 133925: Primary source code archives at Bangalore outsourcing site destroyed by Lashkar-e-Toiba militants.
    Priority: Critical/Stopper

  9. Re:What is the world coming to? by MysteriousPreacher · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Having worked in a couple of call-centres, trust me. Some people really can be this heartless in real-life.

    In my previous job, I had someone pretend to be calling from the hospital with news that the manager's wife was dying in hospital in a bizarre attempt to speak to them. Note sure what they expected.

    Manager: Hi, my wife, how is she?
    Caller: Oh, I was just joking about that so I could speak to you. Now, here are some problems I'd like fixed. Hello?.... Hello?

    --
    -- Using the preview button since 2005
  10. ...wow by Tethys_was_taken · · Score: 5, Insightful

    11 of 25 posts so far have been about Call centres and outsourcing.

    I know most of it is humour (of some sort), but don't you think this is being just a bit insensitive? Mod me down if you must, but there must be a limit to self-centredness, even for Americans.

    </karma-suicide>

    1. Re:...wow by quarkscat · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The correct term is "gallows humor". Apparently you missed the /. memo regarding the recommended 2nd degree for a Comp-Sci student: plumbing -- because it is one profession that will not quickly be offshore outsourced. That said, there is some "strategic" advantage to having a US-based call center, after all, like not having a swarm of Wahabist militants running around with explosives (, at least not yet).

      I wouldn't call it "a bit insensitive" if some of these MBA "salary and bonus-whores" running American corporations that are doing so much offshore outsourcing had THEIR jobs outsourced too. Imagine! - an Indian or Chinese CEO of an American company that was compensated at 6 - 10% of what their American counterpart demanded, and liked it! I would find such a situation deliciously ironic instead of "a bit insensitive".

      Instead, the USA actively promotes the "Peter Principle". How else to explain Carley Fiorina getting $45 Million USD in compensation after leaving HP in such a shambles? I understand that Fiorina is lined up for a sweet job in Dubya's regime (instead of a prolonged visit to Camp XRay for sabatoging a good chunk of American technological prowness).

    2. Re:...wow by onyxruby · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Really, only Americans have suffered at the hands of outsourcing in India? What about all those poor Europeans and Asians that have also suffered from Indian outsourcing? I know, another chance to bash America for something that has nothing to do with America. Damn intolerant bastards.

  11. Gee, Officer Krupke by Detritus · · Score: 4, Insightful
    The article does say that they were members of Lashkar-e-Toiba.

    Would you prefer that we called them disaffected individuals with poor impulse control?

    --
    Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
  12. I'm surprised it took this long. by ttys00 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When work is outsourced to countries that are not very stable, or have terrorism problems, or civil wars, it makes portions of that country wealthy. Those wealthy portions become a target for the local Bad People, simply because it will hurt their enemies more than bombing the poor portions.

  13. Re:i guess this just shows... by wannabgeek · · Score: 5, Funny

    many a time i wanted to throttle the fool on the other end of the phone in bangalore...

    I guess you are not a member of open source community. In our community it is always the user who is the fool!

    --
    I'm much more funny, interesting and insightful than the moderators think
  14. Wahabis by panurge · · Score: 4, Insightful
    It's quite significant that these are Wahabis, the dominant sect in Saudi Arabia, and that presumably the "Independent Kashmir" they want would be a Taliban run Afghanistan type of place, not a place that most Kashmiris would want to live in. Because the Wahabis are obscurantists, attacking manifestations of the modern world - like software companies - would fit in fine with the overall strategy. It's inevitable that people here will make jokes about Dell technical support - but it will not be funny if it is your turn next.

    It is a pity that words like "Militant" are used for these groups. We really need a word that summarises "Organised criminal gangs that want to steal entire countries". Of course {flamebait} this word would be useful because we could apply it to the Bush/Rumsfeld/Wolfowitz/Rice/Blair/Berlusconi gang as well as the insurgents in Iraq, the part of the IRA that is opposed to the peace process, and the Taliban.{/flamebait} But words like "militant", "terrorist" and "insurgent" conceal rather than illuminate reality.

    --
    Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
    1. Re:Wahabis by deimtee · · Score: 5, Funny

      We really need a word that summarises "Organised criminal gangs that want to steal entire countries".

      The word is Government.

      --
      I'm guessing that wasn't on their radar screen...
  15. It's not that easy I'm afraid... by WIAKywbfatw · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Uh, I'm guessing you have no idea about the history behind the India-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir because, if you did, you'd know it's not that simple.

    When India was struggling to achieve independence, it became clear that the religious unrest would likely drive the country apart. The solution to this was partition, which divided India into two countries, India and Pakistan (literally "land of the pure"). Kashmir, which was then a kingdom, decided that it didn't like either choice, and its ruler declared Kashmiri independence for itself.

    Everyone accepted Kashmir's position but shortly after independence and partition took place, Pakistan unilaterally invaded Kashmir claiming it for itself. Kashmir, with no hope of surviving by itself, and with no other help coming from elsewhere, asked India for assistance. This call for help put India in a bind, because it didn't want to provoke Pakistan unnecessarily (partition itself had been a bloody affair) and so it presented Kashmir with the only viable option: become part of the sovereign state of India.

    Kashmir chose India over Pakistan, and officially became part of India. Hence, legally at least, Kashmir is Indian territory. However, Pakistan didnt (and still doesnt) accept this, and refused to withdraw its claim on the region.

    Whether or not Kashmir should become independent is a very stickly question. Personally, I'd like to see it happen but, frankly, there's too much at stake - not least of all national pride - for either India or Pakistan to seriously consider it. So the status quo, with part of still Kashmir occupied by Pakistan, remains and probably will continue to do so for some considerable time. Certainly, until Pakistan readopts democracy, its unlikely to change.

    By the way, while the India-Pakistan division was based on religion, it's a fact that India now has a bigger Muslim population than Pakistan. And, apart from a few religious zealots on either side, most Hindus and Muslims (and Christians, Buddhists, etc) manage to co-exist peacefully in India.

    --

    "Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
    1. Re:It's not that easy I'm afraid... by Xross_Ied · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Your version of history isn't entirely correct/complete..

      1. Yes the raja (roughly translates to king but is more like a local lord) of kashmir wanted to maintain his monarchy (didn't want either pakistan or india as both's political systems were shaping up to be purely parliamentary, i.e. no monarchy).

      2. Under the terms of partition (agreed upon by muslim and hindu political parties..
      a) in states where a popular majority (muslim or hindu) exists, that decides which country that state joins (geographical limitations allowing).
      b) in a state where no clear majority exists, the ruler of the state will decide.

      3. In the case of Kashmir..
      a) there was and still is a muslim majority.
      b) when the political reality of keeping kashmir as an independent monarchy wasn't possible, the raja choose india (against partition rules).

      That is one of the major seeds of discontent that has lead to two wars between the two countries. All this is history.

      For the last 20 years, in an attempt to stamp out terrorism as an excuse, the indian army has been targeting any muslims who raise a political voice; arrest, torture without plausible cause (sometimes leading to dead). It has only created a new generation of terrorists (freedom fighters) and only leads to lend weight to the calls for seperation from india.

      I can only dig up one reference right now:
      http://www.amnesty.org/results/is/eng?queryT ype=0& searchIn=0&query=kashmir&start=1&num=10&max=25&sor tBy=date

      --
      This sig space tolet, reasonable rate.
    2. Re:It's not that easy I'm afraid... by thej1nx · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Unfortunately that is completely incorrect and essentialy a propagandic rewriting of history by the British.

      The region now known as in Indian subcontinent had been fragmented into small kingdoms (much like US districts ofcourse)... ruled by small kings (same status as say mayors ? )... now every now and then there would arise some particular king that would conquer the entire sub-continent over his reign i.e. Chandragupta Maurya ... or King Bharat and s on... but after their death the smaller kingdoms would break away again. So it went on till the muslim invaders came in and conquered literally all of India, forcing all the smaller kings to pay taxes to them and recognize them as the true ruler.

      It was during the period of Emperor Aurangjeb that the British came in and asked permission to set up a trading outpost, from which they went on to capture small kingdoms one by on through their policy of "divide and rule". As such India and Pakistan were actually one country ruled by the Mughal emperors and were a unified nation long before the British. Glad to clear up that piece of propaganda. Feel free to check up on Mughal Emperors and how much of India they governed, on googol or someplace.

      As for democratically elected leaders... India and Pakistan actually were all small kingdoms DESPITE the british rule e.g. Hyderabad, Junagarh, Kashmir and so on. They were made to choose to join one or the other country and yes the choices hold even 60 years later as such. Else the alternative is that none of the choices hold and I think neither India nor Pakistan would wish to accept that alternative. i.e. a full redrawing of map

      AS for India's being secular ... isn't USA supposed to be the same ? Heck it is supposed to treat blacks and whites equally. India to its credit has had a muslim president and a female prime minister. When was the last time US could boast of either or those or a black heading the country ? And despite the declarations of equality and black and whites peacefully coexisting, there have been riots between these two factions often enough.

      Heck in the light of current events I would go as far as to say, USA is ruled by a fundamentalst Christian Government. Care to dispute that ? who cares ? Given the choice Kashmir would leave India *and* Pakistan... and next morning have the Chinese walking in just like Tibbet, costing India a major militarily strategic region, and gaining the Kashmiris nothing as Chinese would be happy to wipe out the local muslim populace to make room for their own.

      So much for that theory of yours ...

  16. Re:Can't get my schadenfreude on. by rathehun · · Score: 5, Insightful
    What!

    I do not like the idea of people dying, even if they are in worldwide competition with us for jobs.

    (emphasis is mine)

    What has the world come too, where we have to qualify that we don't like the idea of people dying - EVEN IF THEY ARE IN COMPETITION WITH US FOR JOBS!

    I'm hardly a peace-loving, tree-huggin vegan. But this kind of stuff really makes me think that capitalism has really made a wrong turn somewhere. That and our values of course, but, I'm on slightly more shaky ground there.

  17. Subject: YOUVE GOT MAIL BOMB by mbkennel · · Score: 4, Funny

    From: ()S/\M/\ (47/M/cave)
    To: infidel@localhost
    Reply-To: 72virgnluvr@hotmail.com

    where are the well-covered NUB1LE H0USEW1VES in
    my area who wanted to meet me?

    i declare it a pagan and Crusader lie!!!!!!

    DEATH TO HVHAKAK@18j987.bdx.com.in!!!!

  18. Re:Look comrade.... by Anthony+Boyd · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I mean, you show such ignorance about how open markets work that either you have been in cave for 50 years or are a Communist, comrade. Which one is it?

    Before I respond to the meat of your comment, I just wanted to say how impressed I am with your name calling. Very high minded of you.

    Now, about that ignorance of open markets: please explain the whole "made in the USA" movement? By that I mean, some country was always undercutting the price of US products and services. Either clothes, cars, whatever. And yet apparently "ignorant" people made a conscious choice to buy from within their own community to support the local economy. So since when is that so wrong? Were you whining when Japan got bit by Americans deliberately buying Fords? Do you whine each time a country slaps a tariff on an import?

    Of course it's an open market. That doesn't mean we slavishly, mindlessly uproot our economy when there are perfectly reasonable, time-tested ways of responding to it.

    As for the English capabilities of the Indians,, frankly, stop beating that horse. It has been fucking dead for ages.

    Really? Because I just got off the phone with an Indian providing tech support for my DSL. And it didn't sound like that horse was "fucking dead" as you so crudely put it. Instead, I had to repeat myself a dozen times, even spelling out simple words letter by letter. So how about this: I'll stop beating the dead horse when these call center employees can actually be competent on the phone. Mmmkay?

  19. the title, and continue it in the comment body? by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 4, Funny

    Isn't it annoying when people start the message in

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  20. Re:Look comrade.... by 1u3hr · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I just got off the phone with an Indian providing tech support for my DSL. And it didn't sound like that horse was "fucking dead" as you so crudely put it. Instead, I had to repeat myself a dozen times, even spelling out simple words letter by letter. So how about this: I'll stop beating the dead horse when these call center employees can actually be competent on the phone

    And who is at fault? The Indian, doing his job to the best of his (perhaps limited) ability, or the American company that hired the lowest cost call center with staff with minimal language skills?

  21. Re:Look comrade.... by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    no you are wrong.

    the problem is that Americans REFUSE to pay what the product is actually worth.

    Zenith and Curtis Mathis used to be the BEST televisions in america. They cost between 60 to 100% more than other brands and typically 200% more than import brands.

    They both went out of business as american made televisions because Americans refused to pay for them. "Holy crap I can buy 3 sony's for the price of that curtis Mathis? gimme the Sony."

    same went for other products. The last Power PC motherboard I purchased cost me $1295.00 and then I needed to buy a processor. 99% of americans will crap their pants at that and run off and buy an Asus for $125.00

    my motherboard was Made in america by people that made a wage that allowed them to live and eat. not buy a group of people that were paid less for their week of pay that the janitor here get's paid in an hour.

    Americans are not willing to pay $225,000.00 for their SUV, $5500.00 for their PC and $6.00 a gallon for gasoline.

    Therefore to make the american consumer happy, third world countries make our products. They do not have to comply with the restrictive US pollution laws, labor laws, or other silly American laws that increase costs.

    THAT is the reason. YOU your Neighbor and your family are the reason that jobs are moving overseas. Because you refuse to pay $7.25 for your american Beef Big Mac at mcdonalds, you refuse to pay for american made goods because they are significantly more expensive.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  22. Re:Can't get my schadenfreude on. by 1lus10n · · Score: 4, Informative

    Really ? Perhaps you just lived in a non affected area when the blue collar jobs were leaving. I happened to have lived in an area where 15% of the population was supported by 3 factories, when those factories were going to be shut down all hell broke lose. The govenor of NY at the time (Cumo) showed up, even though our town had only ~20k people in it. Why ? Because it was a hot button issue.

    Of course there is also the fact that when the blue collar jobs went away there were newer easier jobs to take their place. What exactly is replacing the white collar jobs ?

    People worry when it effects them. The presidential campaigns hardly touched this issue even though some media outlets thought it would decide the election. Why wasnt it a major issue ? Because the average american has not yet felt the heat, only the tech sector and the aformentioned blue collar sector have had to feel the full brunt of this issue. This will be a much larger issue in the next two elections as china enters the fray and management level jobs start getting shipped out.

    --
    "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." --Albert Einstein
  23. Re:Control the Wahabis like we did the Stalinists by lumpenprole · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Any attack on our call centers is an attack on America. We should be clear on that.

    Speaking on behalf of many people I'd like to say "Muh-wha???".

    If overseas contractors that companies use so they don't have to pay Americans a living wage are worthy of our military support, why aren't they paying taxes for us to defend them? These terrorists get zero sympathy from me, but shouldn't we be putting our own house in order?

    We just had the congress tell us that they can't raise minimum wage because it would hurt companies too much, so now you want the taxes of people working full time and living in poverty to go to the Indian government so that the jobs we lose to them will be safe? Did you forget we're already in the red paying for two wars? Seriously, what the hell are you talking about?

    --
    Disclaimer: MINAA (Mummy! I'm Not An Animal!)