Evening of 26th November 2008 has gone down as a black day for Bombay (and India), when heavily armed terrorists sneaked into the city and entered into Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, Chatrapatti Shivaji Railway Terminus, Nariman House and other places.
These terrorists created immense fear, chaos and mayhem at all these places, resulting in the death and injuries to many policemen, hotel guests, commuters at the Terminus, residents at Nariman House and other people. They even managed to hijack a police vehicle and run away. It is reported that they were armed with AK-47 rifles, hand grenades, rockets and, who knows, what other lethal weapons. How did they manage to get all these weapons without raising any suspicion and detection once they arrived at the Bombay shores by dinghies or at other entry points, including the five star hotels’ reception counters is a conundrum and a million dollar question?
On the 29th November morning, the media has said that all the terrorists have been killed and the operations have come to an end, except for combing operations to flush out any terrorists that may be hiding (or lying dead) and to check that they have not planted mines or booby traps.
Now that all this has come to an end, will the authorities reveal or share the outcome of their investigations with the nation or will it be kept under wraps to hide the Central and State Governments’ incompetence. The Government should share the information with the people, because they have the right to know what caused this catastrophe and why the Intelligence Agencies were unaware of the terrorists’ operations which was obviously meticulously planned months ago, as per the information given by a captured terrorist under interrogation, who must be now singing like a canary.
For me, Taj Mahal Hotel is not merely a five star hotel, but one of the most important landmarks of Bombay (or even India) that one can see from miles away while passing or approaching the Gateway of India from the Arabian Sea. Taj Mahal Hotel is a very precious and historical edifice (and not some ordinary building). As per history, one Parsi gentleman, Jamsetji Nusserwani Tata, built this hotel after he was denied entry into the defunct Apollo Hotel, because he was not a European.
Would the Chief Minister and Home Minister of Maharashtra own responsibility for this intelligence and security failure and submit their resignations? I wonder if they will, because for them it is business as usual. From what we gather from the media and during conversations in informal gatherings, Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh is a political nincompoop and totally incompetent Chief Minister. Other than that, he is like any stereotype Indian politicians one finds by the bushels. I hope you can understand what I am trying to imply. Why is the Congress Party keeping this incompetent politician as the Chief Minister, instead of having someone who has the tenacity of purpose and a genuine will to serve the people, improve the city, etc.? The jobs of the Chief Minister and Home Minister are safe and sound and they may just find some scapegoats. The Intelligence Agencies and Bombay Police have also to be blamed for being caught napping and not having any idea of this attack, until it took place. This is a major and well coordinated attack that may have taken a long time in planning before execution and not done at a very short notice of a few days and someone in the Intelligence Agencies and Bombay Police should have been able to notice it.
Mahatma Gandhi, who toiled and laboured for India’s independence, must be shedding tears from wherever he is, to see the reins of the country in the hands of totally corrupt, rotten and power hungry politicians (and bureaucrats) that are interested in themselves and safeguard their interests and just do not care for the people, who have elected them.
Now coming to these terrorist attacks, what are the authorities going to do? First, they will create a hue and cry, pay sympathies to the families of the fallen policemen, soldiers, commandos and people and announce cash compensations from the State exchequer (and not from their pockets) and then everything will be forgotten till the terrorists strike again.
Mr. Narendra Modi, Gujarat’s Chief Minister, who has achieved notoriety for his handling of Gujarat riots (and subsequently has been barred from entering USA, which previously used to be his jaunt), has paid personal visit to the residence of Mr. Hemant Karkare, the A.T.S. Chief’s residence, to offer condolences to the bereaved family.
This has been done to hog limelight for himself and B.J.P. Further, all the while the B.J.P. was criticising the Government and the Maharashtra’s A.T.S. Chief and his force for arresting and interrogating a sanyasin, two Army Officers and others for their alleged involvement in the Malegaon riots and branding them as anti-Hindus. Now, Mr. Modi has described the fallen A.T.S. Chief as a “Martyr”. How hypocritical and what a 180 degrees change?
When the media asked him for his comments, he first announced Rs. 10,000,000/- as compensation to the fallen policemen and then took pot shots at the Prime Minister. In times like this, the opposition parties in U.S., England and other Western countries, offer its support to the Government of the day in apprehending the culprits and having them tried and punished. Sadly, in India, opposition parties take the two words in a very literal sense and just oppose the Government.
The country’s police forces are totally incompetent and they need to be trained by elite and efficient international security forces. In order to engage these terrorists, the country had to call upon the elite fighting units like the NSG’s, Army’s and Navy’s commandos.
This shows the inadequacy and glaring deficiencies of the police training; like dealing with people in a friendly manner, effectively and strongly countering criminals and terrorists, conducting interrogations with modern techniques and in a scientific manner (especially when it comes to criminals), maintaining law and order and always having an efficient network of informers and intelligence gathering machinery to report anything suspicious or unusual (and so many other things).
Finally, I wish to commend Shobha De’s (writer and socialite) comments on the Indian politicians, which was aired by NDTV on the evening of 27th November 2008. She had the courage and conviction to tell politicians what she thinks of them and urged them to keep away from the city. As regards the Prime Minister, who gave a speech after the terrorists had struck at various places, she described it as “robotic.”
In times of crisis like the present one, politicians should remain in their ivory towers instead of visiting disaster sites to hog limelight and shed crocodile tears, as they are creating further strain on the already overstretched police force and other security agencies to provide them with security, so that no harm comes to them. If they are so scared of their lives and obsessed with their security, why do they venture into the world of politics?
Author: Nelson Lewis- Bahrain
