They never miss an opportunity. Every time the governments of India and Pakistan appear ready to build better relations, those efforts are countered with violence by militants. This week two bomb blasts in Bombay claimed 50 lives and wounded more than 150 others. In keeping with the current spirit of reconciliation, India's leaders did not blame Pakistan for the atrocities. Nevertheless, the "peace process" remains fragile, and a failure to build on the current inclination toward rapprochement means it could rupture with ease.
Indian officials have named Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist group, as responsible for the car bombings earlier this week. These are only the most recent in a growing list of attacks: Indian authorities blame the group, and its ally, the Students' Islamic Movement of India, for another five explosions in Bombay over the past half year. Lashkar-e-Taiba is also accused of launching the suicide attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001, which claimed a dozen lives.
There are several theories on the reasons for the most recent attacks. One posits that they are a response to an archaeological report, released Monday, on a disputed religious site in the city of Ayodhya, which is claimed by both Hindus and Muslims. That dispute has triggered violence in the past, including bloody riots in 1992 that resulted in the deaths of thousands, mostly Muslims. This theory is hard to credit as the blasts occurred too soon after the release of the report; more planning would have been required.