Statements that came out of the Indian government during the Mumbai siege suggested that the Indian official have been lately watching one too many Bollywood movies - with extremely bad plots and direction. The suggestion that 25 heavily armed gunmen traveled more than 800 km in small boats with out being intercepted by the 'Blue-water' navy of India is quite ludicrous. Need one remind the Indians that even the tiny boats of Pakistani fishermen that stray into Indian waters are not spared by the Indian navy who regularly hauls them up in dozens for violating the Indian marine limits. The Indian ministers, in the very early hours of the Mumbai siege, started pointing fingers at Pakistan. That smells fishy. But then the Indian instinct has always been to blame the ISI for every proverbial bee killed in their territory. The smoke in Mumbai has not yet cleared but the campaign to malign both ISI and Pakistani Army is well and truly underway. And our characterless high officials, President and Prime minister, are wilting under pressure. They haven't even tried a feeble hand at defending the nation's reputation. This failure, of not being able to defend our security institutions' reputation aggressively, would have long-term implications for our nation's security. -OMER MAJEED, Canberra, Australia, via e-mail, November 29.