Bombay On Its Knees
On November 26th, at approximately 9.40pm IST, an event unfolded that has left Bombay reeling in shock. This may not be the attack with the highest death toll, but it is certainly the best-planned and most gruesome attempt to bring Bombay to its knees. This is the most recent in a series of terrorist attacks that have taken place in India this year. The series of events so far is as follows:
A person armed with an automatic weapon started firing indiscriminately at people on the street near Café Leopold in the popular Colaba area. A few minutes later, shots and explosions were heard at the nearby Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus, which is one of the city’s busiest train stations. As the police scrambled to reach the sites where the attacks took place, taxis were blown up at Mazgaon, a crowded Muslim-dominated area in South Bombay, and Vile Parle, a predominantly Gujarati suburb.
More gunshots were heard at the Taj Mahal Hotel at Apollo Bunder and at the Trident at Nariman Point. These are two of the biggest and most famous landmarks of the city. As the media tried to make sense out of all these events, gunshots were heard at the Cama Hospital as well. In the early hours of the morning, Nariman House was also understood to be under siege.
The first reaction was that a gang-war had erupted on the streets. Indiscriminate firing in public was an event usually associated with an encounter or a gang-war, events that were common in Bombay during the 1990s when the police force went on a mission to reduce organized crime. But it quickly became evident that the firings and the taxi explosions were nothing but a distraction created by the terrorists to reach their ultimate goal: the Taj and the Trident were under siege.
The Army, the Rapid Action Force (RAF), and the National Security Guard (NSG) were called in. Schools and colleges remained closed on Thursday. However, businesses in other parts of the city were open. Most of South Bombay’s commercial district, which is enclosed by Nariman Point on one side an Apollo Bunder on the other, had been locked down. There is a curfew in place in those parts as well.
On any given day during this time of the year, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people inside each of these hotels. They are where the celebrities, the businesspeople and the wealthy tourists go to or live in while in Bombay. The terrorists quickly took over the hotels, and a gun battle ensued. As of now, over fifteen policemen have been killed, and the total death toll stands at 101. The policemen who have lost their lives include three of the top officers from the anti-terrorism squad of Bombay.
As of this moment, more than 26 hours have passed since the first firing at Colaba. So far, the terrorists have hijacked police cars, thrown grenades at innocent people, set fire to parts of the Trident and the Historic Wing of the Taj Mahal Hotel, and killed over a hundred people. However, there has been some positive news. Two terrorists who tried to escape were gunned down near Girgaum Chowpatty in the wee hours of the morning. Seven of the hostages at the Nariman House have been released. Most recently, thirty-nine hostages were released from the Trident. It has not been confirmed as of now whether the situation is completely out of control or not, as the buildings in questions are very large and combing operations take time. One terrorist has been caught alive. A satellite phone has been retrieved from a terrorist who was killed in the gun battle. Five calls were made to Karachi through that phone right after the hotels were taken over.
These terrorists have been the cause of a lot of panic, for various reasons. First, they snuck in by boat and walked in right through the Gateway of India without being noticed. What was the Coast Guard doing? Second, they created a successful distraction, which made it easy for them to gain control of the hotels. This signals meticulous planning on their part. Third, they systematically killed the top cops of the anti-terrorist squad who were leading the retaliatory campaign. These cops were also part of the investigation team for the Mumbai train blasts and the recent Malegaon blasts. Fourth, they specifically targeted foreigners. Colaba, and the two hotels are very popular with tourists coming from abroad. Reports given by hostages who were freed state that the terrorists specifically rounded up people with American, British and Israeli passports.
These factors signify the arrival of international terrorist organizations in India. These attacks were far more sophisticated in the way they were planned, the tactics used, the weapons used and the groups involved. A little-known organization called the Deccan Mujahedeen has claimed responsibility, but experts believe that this name is another tool used to distract everyone from the real people involved. A consensus among the media is that this event could possibly be traced to Al-Qaeda.
The blame game
I stand behind the government at a difficult time like this. But once this horrendous situation has subsided, a lot of tough questions need to be asked. What has the government been doing? It is distressing that neither the Coast Guard nor the Navy detected a boat laden with several pounds of RDX sailed to the Gateway of India unchecked. The plethora of Indian Intelligence agencies didn’t have a clue. The police and the RAF seem ill-trained and ill-equipped to deal with the hostage situation. The NSG unit had to be flown in from Delhi. Why isn’t there a unit in Bombay?
As usual, politicians have come out with statements praising the spirit of Bombay. Floods. Bombs. Terrorists. It’s the same thing over and over again. The spirit of Bombay. It’s not the spirit; it’s the possibility of losing a day’s salary that makes the average man go to work the next day, even if it means risking his life for it. Time and again, the administration has failed to provide a safe environment for its citizens. Think of what this incident means for India’s business climate, its tourism industry, and its self-confidence.
I understand that such an event is unprecedented. But what really scares me is that I don’t think the administration is going to learn anything from all this. They didn’t learn anything the last time around. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance is too soft on terror. This is reflected by the alarming rise in terrorist attacks in the years the Congress has been in power. It is also shown from the fact that the Congress was only too eager to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Activities (POTA) Act, which, when enacted by the BJP, gave sweeping powers to the Government to swiftly try cases related to terrorism and levy heavy penalties on those proven guilty. Now that POTA has been repealed, it takes ages for terrorism cases to go through the regular courts.
India needs to be more proactive in the war on terror immediately. It means flexing its muscles to warn Pakistan and Bangladesh to stop aiding terrorist activities. It means punishing those found guilty in a swift and consistent manner. It means having an administration which does not shy away from aggressive behavior. When the security of a nation is at stake, proactiveness is the order of the day. The Congress needs to man up to the challenge, or resign from power.
What does this mean for the average citizen of Bombay? He or she can’t really do anything about it. As I watched the plume of smoke rise from the Trident, a feeling of helplessness took over me. My first reaction was to call people I know and make sure that they were okay. A friend of mine was caught in the gunfire at Colaba. Another one was fifty feet away when the taxi blew up at Vile Parle. Luckily, both escaped unhurt. As the news unfolded, the whole city was glued to its television sets into the wee hours of the morning. A combination of angst, fear, confusion, distress, helplessness, sorrow and rage engulfed me. The beautiful view of Nariman Point in the distance, affectionately called the Queen’s Necklace, had been tainted. As the sound of gunfire and explosions pierced the air into the night, I cried my heart out. I’m sure Bombay was crying too.
Sources:
Eyewitness accounts by the author
Live news on CNN-IBN and NDTV 24×7
Photo Courtesy: Dotcompal, Justin Gaurav Murgai, Stuti ~, James Cridland
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Salil Tripathi writes, “India has a phrase - chalta hai - this will go on. That must not do.”
Aditya, you are right. We cannot have politicians brandishing the ‘Spirit of Bombay’ slogan and trying to make the public forget the enormous failures in intelligence and anti-terrorism procedures. This madness continues to go on but once we’ve dampened all fires and saved all those trapped men and women, we’ve got to look at the system in place and figure out how all this was allowed to happen. The common man must not look to violence to retaliate, the politicians should not resort to shameless name calling and the head of the country should do something to show us that he actually matters.
My thoughts and prayers are with the citizens of Bombay and with all the families and friends who have lost their loved ones to these dark, soul-less terrorists.
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Aditya,
Well written article.
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NDTV 24×7 is reporting the following confirmed news:
Interrogation of the one terrorist captured alived bring to light the news that there were 40 terorists involved. 21 were from Pakistan, the rest from Bangladesh.
It’s time India got tough on its neighbours.
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Where the hell is Raj Thackeray? Its been 3 days and not a single word from him? Surprising!
My condolences go out to those that have lost their friends & family in this severe ordeal. I pray for the safety and well-being of all Mumbaikars.
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Aditya, this is one of the most heart wrenching and one of the best articles I have read regarding this incident.
I’m just glad after 61 hours its all over, and there can be some sort of sanctity restored when Monday morning comes.
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I was watching CNN’s surprisingly detailed coverage when the anchor called for a commercial break. The second commercial was for Incredible India! - the saddest irony I’ve ever witnessed.
I think the UPA has really let us down on the national security front. If I’m in India when the next elections come around, I know I’m voting for BJP/NDA.
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@ Girish:
The UPA has the citizens of this country down on many fronts…that is another article for another day
right now all way can hope is that things go back to normal, the thos guilt…be it the terrorists or the government…are brought to task..
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I am feel sick to my heart that the Mumbai people had to pay for the incompetence of our government.
There used to be a sentiment - if a government cannot protect the life, liberty, and property of its citizens, it is a government of the worst kind no matter what type of philosophy it espouses.
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Apparently, leaks to US/British newspapers are saying that the Indian press has got it a bit fuzzy because there were also Malay terrorists involved.
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No mention of Malay terorrists in media here.
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I watched a lot of the coverage from NDTV and i honestly felt that the journalists did a shoddy job. barkha dutt gave away locations of people hiding and was constantly asking victims ‘how do u feel’…and almost cried on We the people ( which was disgraceful by itself). a certain amount of objectivity should be maintained and personal questions should not be asked while the hostages are still in there..
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I agree that they did give out some operational information in the beginning, but that was corrected fairly quickly. They stopped giving sensitive information a few hours into the attack.
I also agree about the personal questions part.
But I don’t think it was disgraceful for her to cry. Every single person in that audience had teary eyes. I did myself. Given the fact that she was standing outside the Trident or the Taj for the most of the 60 hours this went on, I don’t blame her for letting her emotion out during the show.
I think the quality of journalism was overall much better than that during the Delhi blasts, the Mumbai train blasts or any other recent serious events. None of the channels went into publicizing themselves, or into excessive speculation before facts were in.
Thanks for your comment.
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What i meant was not that the crying was disgraceful but that particular episode of we the people had a many comments by the panel members that were disappointing. for example simi garewals comment on the pak flag. we all know its an islamic symbol…and the commotion that took place afterwards left bad feeling within the viewer ( viewer of course being me). also the - lets stop paying tax to the govt as a nation - comment was irksome.
but i agree with you on the crying part - i wasnt looking at it from her perspective of witnessing everything firsthand and being awake for 60 hrs.
heres something cool! Barkha responds to the criticism: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/mumbaiterrorstrike/Story.aspx?ID=COLEN20080075194&type=opinion
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lord. apologies for the gazillion typos
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Thanks for the link, Mrinalini. That was a great article.
I agree with you on Simi Garewal. She was being a complete b**** by asking people not to pay taxes. Does one respond to the government’s not doing its duty by not doing one’s duties as a citizen? What the difference between the two then?
I wish the channels would have relevant panel participants, and not people like Simi Garewal and Arjun Rampal, who may not know the situation as it is.
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The sad part was that the terrorists were armed with rifles with effective fire range of 400 yards. Yet, on the beginning of the 2nd day, one of the reporters was almost able to get into the lobby. Imagine if the terrorists had a Dragunov (1,300m), a popular sniper rifle for insurgencies from Iraq to Afghanistan.
But then again, I suppose the press would’ve been the last concern there anyway.
Here’s an interesting perspective: http://www.rameshsrivats.net/2008/12/so-what-do-we-do-about-our-government_01.html
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It is sad for me, especially because I was roaming in those very streets barely four months ago (my house is by the Sassoon Docks, barely a few hundred metres from Nariman House). Let’s see if at least this time, the investigation culminates and produces positive results!
I also fear that this shouldn’t turn into a war-like situation in South Asia. With the current state of the economy, India and Pakistan could ill-afford a war, and do best with peaceful means, however angry and upset Indians may be.
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fyi,
The Monster in the Mirror
By Arundhati Roy, The Guardian, December 12, 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/12/mumbai-arundhati-roy
—–
“How should those of us whose hearts have been sickened by the knowledge of all of this view the Mumbai attacks, and what are we to do about them? There are those who point out that US strategy has been successful inasmuch as the United States has not suffered a major attack on its home ground since 9/11. However, some would say that what America is suffering now is far worse. If the idea behind the 9/11 terror attacks was to goad America into showing its true colors, what greater success could the terrorists have asked for? The US army is bogged down in two unwinnable wars, which have made the United States the most hated country in the world. Those wars have contributed greatly to the unraveling of the American economy and who knows, perhaps eventually the American empire. (Could it be that battered, bombed Afghanistan, the graveyard of the Soviet Union, will be the undoing of this one too?) Hundreds of thousands people including thousands of American soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. The frequency of terrorist strikes on U.S allies/agents (including India) and U.S interests in the rest of the world has increased dramatically since 9/11. George Bush, the man who led the US response to 9/11 is a despised figure not just internationally, but also by his own people. Who can possibly claim that the United States is winning the war on terror?
Homeland Security has cost the US government billions of dollars. Few countries, certainly not India, can afford that sort of price tag. But even if we could, the fact is that this vast homeland of ours cannot be secured or policed in the way the United States has been. It’s not that kind of homeland. We have a hostile nuclear weapons state that is slowly spinning out of control as a neighbour, we have a military occupation in Kashmir and a shamefully persecuted, impoverished minority of more than 150 million Muslims who are being targeted as a community and pushed to the wall, whose young see no justice on the horizon, and who, were they to totally lose hope and radicalise, end up as a threat not just to India, but to the whole world. If ten men can hold off the NSG commandos, and the police for three days, and if it takes half a million soldiers to hold down the Kashmir valley, do the math. What kind of Homeland Security can secure India?
Nor for that matter will any other quick fix. Anti-terrorism laws are not meant for terrorists; they’re for people that governments don’t like. That’s why they have a conviction rate of less than 2%. They’re just a means of putting inconvenient people away without bail for a long time and eventually letting them go. Terrorists like those who attacked Mumbai are hardly likely to be deterred by the prospect of being refused bail or being sentenced to death. It’s what they want.
What we’re experiencing now is blowback, the cumulative result of decades of quick fixes and dirty deeds. The carpet’s squelching under our feet.
The only way to contain (it would be naïve to say end) terrorism is to look at the monster in the mirror. We’re standing at a fork in the road. One sign says Justice, the other Civil War. There’s no third sign and there’s no going back. Choose.”
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America show true colors? One of the most freedom-loving, prosperous countries in the world? Sets the benchmark for free speech and economic freedom?
American empire? love the historical reference.
“wars have contributed greatly to the unraveling of the American economy “?
The unraveling of the American economy was rooted in the creation of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. I really don’t know how the war changed anything.
United States - the most hated country in the world? Check the facts: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/971013.html
“Who can possibly claim that the United States is winning the war on terror?” I can. Islamic fundamentalism, a major source of modern terror, is now on the defensive as a philosophy. It has had to move from one of its major bases in Afghanistan. It has had to advocate the killing of other Muslims. The philosophy is being alienated in its own base.
We have a hostile nuclear weapons state that is slowly spinning out of control as a neighbour-true, but it doesn’t mean we can’t secure our borders. After all, that is one of the most heavily defended borders
We have a military occupation in Kashmir-your cited article mentions election? Martial law is able to be declared in any state.
A shamefully persecuted, impoverished minority of more than 150 million Muslims who are being targeted as a community and pushed to the wall - I see the exact opposite happening. The level of preference given to a Muslim applicant to any government benefit is obscene. I would bet the average Muslim in India is more prosperous and more free than the average one in Pakistan. BUT, it doesn’t matter. This attack was not an attack on Hindus, it was an attack on Indians. It was planned and carried on by foreigners. This was not an internal issue. No matter how well we treated a particular minority, this attack would have taken place. The hotel was reconned AND attacked by terrorists.
What kind of Homeland Security can secure India? The smart kind. We have the manpower, the technology, and the money. What we need is will and a good implementation of policy.
Anti-terrorism laws are not for deterrence. They’re to get information and stop attacks. Laws created for deterrence is stupid.
I agree with your blowback statement. Our dirty deeds and quick fixes involved our complacency with corruption and inefficiency.
This is NOT an internal issue. It’s not a choice between civil war and justice. This is a simple issue of protecting life by improving and implementing our internal security procedures.
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