The 50-hour-long siege of Mumbai has left a country shocked and angry [AFP]

The co-ordinated bloody assaults by a handful of armed men on Mumbai's Taj Palace hotel, the Trident-Oberoi hotel, a busy railway station and a Jewish religious centre have received extensive coverage not just from the international mainstream media but also from citizen journalists.

All through the 50 hours of the Mumbai siege they remained glued to their television sets. Once it was over, they turned to blogs, news portals and chatrooms to voice their disgust, distress and anger over the events.

Initially there was an outpouring of outrage and sadness on the blogosphere, but now the blogs are bursting with questions about politics, leadership and the preparedness of government agencies to face a national-security crisis.

There is now a clamour for Indian politicians to bury differences and close ranks in the wider national interest. There is a sense that what happened in Mumbai is a national tragedy that should not be exploited for political gains.

One blogger, Ravi, writes: "I strongly feel, we cannot eradicate terrorism in India until we unite. We as Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Sikh, Jains etc should cast aside our religious differences and learn respect each other as humans. Policy should be - humanity first, religion last and India first - states last.

"But the vote bank politics in India is not allowing us unite. Our politicians want us live with these differences so that they can survive. It's a pity ..."

Echoing Ravi's views, Neha Viswanathan says in Global Voices: "The BJP, Shiv Sena, RSS and other right wing Hindu parties are legitimate terrorist outfits just like Syed Shahabuddeen and most Muslim extremist parties. It's a dance all politicians play whether they are Hindu, Muslim or Christian or Sikh, whether they are BJP, Congress or Muslim League ... the idea is to play the religion and the caste game, and while you are distracted with that they line up their pockets and have fools like you cursing Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Tamils, SC/ST, etc. Wake up and be Indian. Do something positive for your country instead of spreading hate."

A lot of venom has been directed particularly at the federal interior minister, Shivraj Patil, who resigned on Sunday after taking "moral responsibility" for the security lapses that enabled the assault.

On Patil's watch, the country witnessed a record number of attacks on civilians. Most bloggers seem to agree on the point that his departure was long overdue.

Tweets seem to have over taken blogs in terms of numbers while commenting on this tragedy, possibly because people's rage makes it difficult to write long posts. Many tweeters vented their spleen at bigots like Raj Thackeray and his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

The group's members have been blamed for numerous assaults on North Indians over the last several months. Consider these tweets:

dhruvasagar:  Where are the marathi manush fanatics??? MNS??? I bet Raj Thakare is in the hiding fearing for his own life ...

diwakar_pant: Will somebody tell Raj Thakre that Indian Army has come from Delhi to lay its life to make this city safe for him and his marathi manoos

shubs: Where is Raj Thackeray, MNS, and Shiv Sena? Aren't they supposed to be the protectors of Mumbai? Bloody cowards.

One blogger - nitin78  thundered in his blog that such politicians "shud all be pulled out of their homes n pushed inside the Taj, Oberoi & Nariman house", and added "if they have any shame left in them, they shouldn't even show their faces ever again!!", a sentiment shared by many.

Another blogger, Hemant Mittal, recommends that you "voice ur reactions towards the politicians ...they are accountable. we elected them.  make forums, write letters, make sure that they get to know how we feel. one voice can help 1000 more to raise ... and 1000 voices can make the system to take account...

Others mourned the deaths of the security personnel who lost their lives fighting the attackers. Shocked at the site of the poorly equipped security forces, some like Deven have created a charter of demands - high-quality bullet proof vests and helmets, modern weapons,  guns instead of batons and  better working hours for the police.

While most of the Indian bloggers are not shy about pointing fingers, especially in the direction of Pakistan, others have counselled introspection. Among them is Prerna, who advises Indians thus: "First, get rid of all differences you have with the people around u forever and ever. be it small community group or individuals or NRI's or even high-profile politicians, whatever anger, frustration you have for done just get rid of it.

"This is the time to be United Forever even with your long-lasting enemies and the people you hated.

"Just show your love and love everyone forever. I know this is hard thing to do, but you and every Indian need to begin here and now. If we don't change our attitude now we will have many more terror attacks in the future. Terrorists know our weakness. They are just trying to divide the nation and break it so that we become vulnerable in the future."

A few, like Chandra, a marketing consultant based in Mumbai, have struck a note of caution amid the frenzy to blame Pakistan and the urge for retribution and revenge.

However, even he is unhappy with Indian politicians and the brand of politics practised by them, which he says has cost ordinary people dear.