Athens bourse attack reminds of BSE scar

Car bomb seems to have reached the greek capital. TOI

MUMBAI: The car bomb blast that has damaged the Athens Stock Exchange luckily seems to have only slightly injured one person.

The Greek government has denounced it as the work of a far left group, most probably the Revolutionary Struggle urban terrorist organisation, which was established after last year’s riots over the police shooting of a teenage boy. But whatever the local reasons, there are some in Mumbai who will feel a chill of recognition.

It is 16 years since the Bombay Stock Exchange was attacked during the 1993 bomb blasts in the city. Dalal Street has moved on since then, and shows next to no sign of the blasts, but there are still those who were wounded both physically and mentally, and who have grounds to regret the attraction that stock exchanges have always held for terrorists.

Such prominent symbols of capitalism are naturally tempting targets. And the fact that they tend to have more people moving through them and less security than major banks adds to their allure. Perhaps the first bomb attack on a stock exchange took place as far back as 1920 in New York. On September 16, a crude bomb made of dynamite was exploded, causing extensive damage mainly due to the 500 pounds of small weights that were packed with it.

In a prefiguring of many later attacks the bomb was loaded on a vehicle, a horse-drawn cart at that time, which was completely destroyed. 33 people were killed in what was the worst urban attack for a long time in the US.

Unusually, no one claimed to be behind the bombing, though suspicion fell on the several anarchist and violent labour movements at that time. Such violent attacks are thought to have been instrumental in undermining the electoral viability of the Communist movement in the US.

In more recent times exchange attacks were a speciality of the Irish Republic Army. In their struggle against the British government, such attacks were seen as a good way to destabilise London’s claims to being an international finance centre.

In 1990, they blew a hole in the London Stock Exchange, though no one was hurt thanks to the then IRA policy of tipping off the police in advance of an attack. The IRA’s aim was to cause fear and chaos rather than actual loss of lives.

But a couple of years later this caution was suspended in a devastating attack on the Baltic Exchange, the centre for international trade in shipping futures. Three people died in that attack and the building was so severely damaged it had to be demolished, giving way for the iconic new Swiss Re building on that spot, which is known as the Gherkin due its unusual shape. This has already become a symbol of the renewed strength of London as a financial centre.

The Baltic Exchange case shows the drawback with stock exchanges from the long term point of view of terrorists, especially the anti-capitalist kind. Far from being particularly vulnerable targets, stock exchanges are particularly suited to revive themselves.

Most trading is online today, making physical premises less important and ensuring that the victims are mostly just clerical and administrative staff.