Prologue : You might not find much about Pakistan, Al Qaeda, ISI, USA, war or Kashmir in this post.

If I would have written on Day 0, I would have blasted the terrorists.

If I would have written on Day 1, I would have blasted the politicians. (I cannot think of even *one single* politician who has made sense).

If I would have written on Day 2, I would have blasted the media. (I don’t even want to go down this path else I might beat the Mahabharata for the longest epic. And this is not at all funny, it is just the sorry state of our media)

And by Day 3, I wasn’t sure why it was still going on. 

This tells some pretty bad things about three of the four pillars of democracy, the fourth being judiciary, who I hope come into the picture, not for the terrorists, but for the remaining pillars.

I must admit I refrained from penning down by after thoughts because frankly, I wasn’t really sure what to make out of the recent terror attacks in Mumbai. News articles, blogs, people and friends (thank you for your time and opinions if you were one of the people I called or pinged to ask about your thoughts) everyone had their strong thoughts, but I still found something missing. And I don’t even know what was missing, just that it did not make complete sense to me. The more I thought and bigger the picture I tried to see, the closer I got to admitting that the situation and any solution was beyond my reach, at which point neighbour-bashing seemed easiest and really lucrative.

But the most interesting incident came about when I spoke to a friend on chat asking if he had any after-thoughts and his reply was :

not really its nothing extra ordinary which should be taken note of

Now don’t rush to the comments button. If you think carefully, we are *just* one incident away from this attack being *different*. The key here is, obviously, to keep this attack *different*.

Without understanding the problem in its *entirety*, no solution can be complete. As much as we would all like to disagree at this point, a big part of the problem still lies with ourselves, the problem being  generalizations being thrown around left, right and center. Think over it. Seriously.

And to end, is a really simple fact.

When an attack is on India, only an Indian can save us.

And I do not see many of those once this news dies out.

P.S. : It is easy to speculate in the comfort of our apartments so we might agree that we were seriously lacking in infrastructure, using existing infrastructure, planning and execution. But I would never have the courage to point any finger at the police or armed forces, who inspite of their infrastructural limitations, inspite of taking orders from incompetent leaders, inspite of not being in the best position to start with; were, are and will always zoom far ahead of everyone else when it comes to patriotism.

Thanks Siddharth.

26^th November 2008; Mumbai wakes up to yet another terrorist attacks, possibly the worst in recent years. It is of deep concern that Hotel Taj which is often portrayed as the Indian hotel industry’s and tourism’s prince had to face the enemy bullets tearing its superiority. Even though the hotel few weeks back had raised the security, in the wake of the Islamabad attacks. Here are the few bullets to brief you about the attacks.

· Around ten different places in Mumbai were attacked by a group of terrorists in the wee hours of 25^th November. Following were among the places attacked – Hotel Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Hotel Oberoi (Hotel Trident), Victoria Terminus, Marriott Hotel, Café Leopold.

· Around hundred people have been feared dead. Many foreign tourists were taken as hostages.

· ATS Chief Hemant Karkare and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar were killed in the exchange of firing between the terrorists and the officers.

· The police sieged the Taj premises and curfew has been imposed in the nearby regions of Oberoi and Taj Hotels. Schools, colleges and market have been shut down.

· The heritage part of the Taj built in the early 20^th century has been partially destroyed by the fire that broke out as the consequence of blasts and firing.

· An unknown group Deccan Mujahideen has claimed the responsibility of the attacks. According to various reports, around 16-20 terrorists in the mid twenties or early thirties planned the attack and used the water route to enter the Taj premises. Police claims to gun-down nine of the terrorists and is jointly operating with the NSG (national security guards), Black Commandos, Marine forces and army to combat the attackers.

Mumbai once again proved to be a soft and favourite target for the anti-social and anti-national elements which breed within our own soil. I can’t digest the theory of terrorists being imported to our country for the sake of attacking. If we see the modus operandi of attack, the terrorists used small raft kind of boats to reach the Taj Hotel, which is in the very vicinity of the Gateway of India. Any such attack cannot be carried out without the local help. There are some questions I would like the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Mr. Deshmukh to answer:

· Didn’t the police force have any idea about the attacks?

· How can a group of around 20 people just barge into the prominent ten places in Mumbai and carryout such organised attacks so easily?

· From where did these terrorists get these rafts?

· Gateway of India is one of the very prominent tourist attractions, why is the place so easily accessible to anyone?

· The attack on Victoria terminus or the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus only points to the fragile security setup. Your take on the same.

· How could the terrorist easily kill a few policemen and drive away with the police vehicles?

This attack is not just the test of the morale of the fearless Mumbaikars, but the test of the ever boastful intelligence and defence departments of India. Since, these raft like boats aren’t designed to travel long distances, I am almost certain that the terrorists have been living in the neighbourhood from quite sometime. The police force and the intelligence will have to own up to their failure to prevent the attack; not only this, but all those that shook Mumbai in the recent past.

ATS Chief Hemant Karkare and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar laid down their lives while trying to defend the prestige of their country. I fear whether they will also have to go through judicial enquiry to prove themselves as martyrs just like the Bathla encounter episode. This attitude of the politicians who try to take political mileage out of even the brave attempt of the few dedicated officers would just end up in demoralising the whole police force. I mean, why would I, as an officer, lay down my life, only to be faced with enquiry for traitor?

The mushrooming trend of small unknown terrorist groups is another point of concern; firstly it was the Indian Mujahideen, now it is Deccan Mujahideen (allegedly). Police may say since these terrorist groups have little or no trace of existence in past, in country with a population of over 100 Crores ,it is difficult to monitor the movements of each individual.

The attacks carried out on Mumbai were by a few youngsters in the age group of 24-35, which seriously points towards the failure of the government, both Centre and state, to develop a sense of security and better prospects for these young minds. The radicalism is not only injected to them through their personal experiences, but by the politicians as well, who time and again reinstate that the country hasn’t been fair to them.

The soft pedaling of terrorism in India by repealing POTA and unexplained rationale behind the delay in the execution of Afzal Guru will only strengthen the will of these terrorists who, be it in the name of Hinduism, Islam or be it any other religion, opt to such inhuman measures of retaliation and agitation. No denial that POTA was draconian, but it still worked. I wonder why we keep on feeding these terrorists with the exchequers.

Contributed By

Supreeth Sudhakaran

Editor and Member  – Chakraview