Security: A Lack of Will to Enforce It?

In the aftermath of the terror attack, there's a lot of analysis in the media. Acres of newsprint has now been expended to explain how the city fought back, not about how vulnerable it is after repeated terror attacks.


(A video I took a day after the terror strike shows the terrorism hit areas of Metro, Cama Hospital and VT station through which I pass everyday on the way to work.)

After the blasts in the train in 2006 I thought the authorities would become wiser and tighten security at train stations and airports. At VT station through which I pass daily on the way to work there are a row of metal detectors at the gates but nobody to man them. The policemen/women sit and chat at two table, sometimes they read the newspaper and are least bothered what goes on around them.

After the present audacious and indiscriminate shooting at the train terminus the same state continues, no policemen check the passengers and everyone walks around as if nothing happened. I think there is no political or bureaucratic will to see that the safety of the common people are ensured. Why common people even the elite dining in the five-star Taj and Oberoi hotels weren't spared. So far those who died were poor and destitute but those who died in this attack were the rich and powerful, see this article.

Problem is our security men and women are poorly trained, not provided adequate weapons, poorly paid, aren't alert at all and even the worst terrorists can get through their porous security apparatus. Where did we go wrong? The police consider theirs as another comfortable government job they aren't expected to do much, despite there being some dynamic leaders in their midst like Hemant Karkare.

Meanwhile here's what Suketu Mehta, chronicler of Bomaby and author of "Maximum City" has to say in an article on Bombay in an article in New York Times. Excerpts:

"In 1993, Hindu mobs burned people alive in the streets — for the crime of being Muslim in Mumbai. Now these young Muslim men murdered people in front of their families — for the crime of visiting Mumbai. They attacked the luxury businessmen’s hotels. They attacked the open-air Cafe Leopold, where backpackers of the world refresh themselves with cheap beer out of three-foot-high towers before heading out into India. Their drunken revelry, their shameless flirting, must have offended the righteous believers in the jihad. They attacked the train station everyone calls V.T., the terminus for runaways and dreamers from all across India. And in the attack on the Chabad house, for the first time ever, it became dangerous to be Jewish in India."

Live Blog: Bombay under Siege XIX: Epilogue

11.00 a.m.

Phew! Relieved that it's all over. Many lost their lives. There's a sense of relief and a profound silence in the city. The security forces should be admired for their courage, especially the officers who gave their life to protect the city.

I grieve for Hotel Taj, one of my favorite hotels. I don't know if it will be the same again. I have time and time again visited its ancient and well-maintained portals: to browse books in Nalanda, to eat pastries in Pattisieri, just to bask in its luxury, for however brief time that I had on my hand. I would indulge myself to tea at the Sea Lounge, just to watch the boats bobbing in the bay outside, and see the majestic Gateway of India. I couldn't bear to watch my favorite hotel on fire. It looked too incongruous. 

Among the dead:

Policemen:

Hemant Karkare (ATS Chief)

Vijay Salaskar (Valiant Inspector and know for his encounters with criminal gangs)

Sandeep Nair (NSG Commando)

Gajendra Singh (NSG Commando)

Many others...

Business:

Pankaj Shah: builder, Satellite Group

Anil Bhatt: Noted Solicitor

Ashish Kapoor: Chairman, Yes Bank

Monica Chaudhary: Actor Ashish Chaudhary's sister 

One terrorist - Azam Amir Kasav of Faridkot, Pakistan was caught. He recounted the sequence of events. They hijacked a boat and killed the owner and landed in the sea off Bombay. There were 10 of them in all and they split into groups of two each:

4 went to the Taj

2 went to Oberoi Trident

2 went to Nariman HOuse

2 went to VT

Azam is now in police custody and is being interrogated at an undisclosed destination. When he was led away from the hospital where he went for treatment for a bullet injury, he pleaded with the hospital staff: "kill me, I don't want to be alive."

I call this irony on a huge scale. Here's a man who came to spread terror, was the cause of so many dead people, no longer able to withstand what he had unleashed. One of the most poignant piece of writing I read was on Annie Zaidi's blog. She asks: "How can they be called mujahideens (holy warriors) when they open fire in a hospital" or something to that effect.

That's the irony of it all. An irony that doesn't impute an explanation. 

Live Blog: Bombay under Siege XVIII

9.30 p.m.

I am tired. I was worried how I would get home from office. There were rumours of terrorists striking VT station again. It turned to be a hoax. Then came excited and breathless voices in the office saying terrorists were spotted in the lane next doors where they shot innocent pedestrians. I made a mental mapping of what I would do if I was stranded. Go to my ex-boss's house in Colaba, or to a cousin's house. Where will I go in this city which is going through the throes of one of the worst incidents of crime and shedding of innocent blood. Then they said that the trains stopped running.

We took a taxi to VT station and the roads were deserted. Not a soul around. When we came to VT there were a lot of military personnel around. We were not checked. The train was likewise empty and I got a seat, which is very rare during weekdays. Got home safely, thank God for small mercies. I said a word of thanks and drew the sign of the cross.

Writer, poet and blogger Annie Zaidi has put in some lucid writing and an interesting viewpoint together here where she challenges the mujahideen (holy warriors) who would open fire in a hospital.

Journalist Siddharth Bhatia has a different view, he talks about journalists being human beings too, and the sadness of it all, worth going over, at least for the difference of view.

The Nariman House episode has come to an end. Star News keep referring to the place where Nariman House is situated as "Nariman Point". It isn't Nariman Point but Colaba, the building is situated in a nondescript lane in Colaba called Pasta Lane (No, it doesn't sell Pasta, or Italian fare, either.) Nariman Point is where Oberoi Hotel is situated.

We saw the commandos descending on top of the building and taking possession of the building. By the time they got to them the hostages were already killed by the two terrorists. There was bravery on display in the action of NSG commando Gajendra Singh who lost his life leading the party to the flat where the terrorists were hiding.

The Oberoi Hotel operation, too, has also drawn to a close. Read Mark Abell's story here. Only the Taj Hotel hostage issue is not resolved. Hope it is soon.

I am off to some much needed sleep. I guess the commandos, policemen and the reporters also need some good and long hours of sleep.

Live Blog: Bombay under Siege XVII

6.45 p.m.

Following is the story of Mark Abell, a British National who shut himself in his room in Oberoi Hotel for a whole day and night before he was rescued.

He (Mark Abell, a British National)told the BBC it had been "very grim" and he had been just a few floors away from the worst violence in the hotel. "I was on the 23rd floor, my colleague was on the 20th floor, and as far as we know all the action was on the 19th floor.

"We were too close for comfort and throughout the night, the whole thing was punctuated by a series of explosions. "Towards the end of the night it started to quieten down and I was communicating on my Blackberry with other people who were in a similar position and we slowly started to get a picture that we would be evacuated."


The lobby was carnage - there was blood and guts everywhere - it was very upsetting.

"There was a knock on the door and there was an entourage of heavily armed military, hotel staff and the police." Asked what was going through his mind at that point, he said: "I'm going home, going to see my children, going to see my wife." He then described how he was taken downstairs in the lift.

"The lobby was carnage - there was blood and guts everywhere - it was very upsetting. "Just before I went to my room I'd had dinner in the Kandahar restaurant and I've now just found out that that's one of the places it started and unfortunately the waitress who served us was one of the first to get shot." Sir Gulam Noon, another British businessman, was also forced to barricade himself and several colleagues into a room at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel.

They entered and looked through our passports and scouted around to see if anyone was harbouring terrorists or attackers. He said they were all afraid that at any time the gunmen would kick the door down and, at one stage, smoke from a fire started seeping into the room.

"Then it was a panic situation," he said. "We could feel it in our throats. We knew it was serious."

Eventually, all six were rescued from a balcony by a fire crew, and lowered to safety.

He told the BBC: "I hope, and I'm sure, like Londoners, Bombayites are resilient, brave and will withstand this onslaught on the city."

Fellow Briton Nicole Griffen said she was rescued by Indian special forces from the Taj Mahal Palace hotel."They entered and looked through our passports and scouted around to see if anyone was harbouring terrorists or attackers," she told BBC's Radio 5 Live.

We were then told to wait with fellow guests, while other floors and rooms were checked, she added. Read full story.

Live Blog: Bombay under Siege XVI

4.15 p.m.

The much needed cessation, the end point, the long wait, the anxiety seems unabated. What is worrying is that the economy which is in tatters could be further beggared by the loss of tourist income. Tourists will think twice before coming to India seeing that two of its major hotels aren't safe anymore. Here's a report on Bloomberg about the Indian tourism industry which seems headed for rocky times. The colleague who was so excited is all quiet now, seems he has gone into depression after shouting so much, so excitedly. Here's the Bloomberg excerpts:

"The Mumbai terrorist attacks struck India's tourist industry at the start of peak season, compounding problems for airlines and hotels that were already facing the slowest growth in visitor numbers in five years.

"People are scared," said H.A. Subramanian, general manager of Shiv Niwas in Udaipur, Rajasthan, a converted royal palace where suites cost as much as 80,000 rupees ($1,600) a night. "Travel agents will not take the risk of bringing people to India at least in the next couple of months. The market was already affected by the financial crisis."

Subramanian said cancellations were already coming in for the hotel, owned by the Maharana of Mewar.

Terrorist attacks aimed at foreign tourists, such as the Mumbai assaults, may hurt hotel bookings and airline-ticket sales for more than a year. The island of Bali, which accounts for one-third of all foreign tourists to Indonesia, had not recovered a year after the 2002 bomb that killed 202 people, according to a World Bank report.

Shares of Indian Hotels Ltd., which runs the Taj chain, fell as much as 14 percent in Mumbai, or the most in seven years in intraday trading. EIH Ltd., owner of the Oberoi chain, plunged 18 percent, the biggest drop in more than 15 years.

Live Blog: Bombay under Siege XV

2.15 p.m.

There are rumours from everywhere, spread by panicking folks. The office is fully of high-pitched, high-decibel chatter. I call Ronnie and tell him not to worry, I am safe in the office. A colleague is all agog and his jowls are quivering with excitement as he recounts his theories on nation, economy, terrorism, and it seems he is an expert on everything. He has a big mouth and his general prognosis is that everything is going wrong and he curses politicians, police, military, everyone. He doesn't know the tension those people are under, the stress they are bearing to bring the situation under control. It's his type that is spreading terror, in my honest opinion.

Dilip D'Souza, the compulsive fellow blogger has been round and about in the city and the following his blog about his experience at the Taj Hotel. Interesting discussion on Dilip D'souza's page. Go here.

India's most famous blogger Amit Varma who writes indiauncut.com has also been around night before last. Here's his account.

And here's the inimitable Shobhaa De's rant at the unforeseen crisis over the city. Go here.

Live Blog: Bombay under Siege XIV

1.45 p.m.

At the office where I am there are excited voices, raised in concern, about attacks at VT station through which I have to pass. Somebody says that in the lane downstairs terrorists were firing indiscriminately. There's panic in the building and a colleague is spreading more terror with his uncontrolled blurting of what little he knows. He gets too excited unnecessarily.

There's this news on NDTV:

"It is just a matter of a few hours before we will be able to wrap up things," Southern Command Chief Lt Gen Noble Thamburaj told reporters a little before noon outside Taj hotel as 35 hostages, including foreigners and a six-month old infant, were successfully rescued from Oberoi-Trident." The new building of Taj hotel has been totally flushed out and cleared and handed over to police, he said adding that one terrorist, possibly two, had moved into the adjacent old heritage building.

"We have heard the sound of a woman and a man, giving indications that they are being held hostage," Thamburaj said but added that almost all guests and staff in the hotel have been evacuated. He conceded that the there were some casualties among the NSG commandos but would not disclose their numbers and whether they were fatal or otherwise saying that operational details would affect the "mental makeup" of terrorists.

Thamburaj said that operations had to be "deliberate and slow" to ensure the safety of the hostages, guests and hotel staff. The commandos had been told not to rush things under the "pressure of media or citizens". He said some rooms in Taj are still bolted from inside and occupants are not responding, probably they are scared. "As soon as communication and room services are restored, we

will inform them about the situation and ask them to come out".

Live Blog: Bombay under Siege XIII

The wife and sons of the General Manager of Taj Mahal are reported to be among those dead in the terror attack. NDTV has the following news on their website:

"The wife and the two teenaged sons of Taj Hotels General Manager Karambir Kang were killed in the terrorist attack on the hotel. A relative of the Kangs family, which hails from Mohali near Chandigarh, said while Karambir Kang was not in the hotel last night, his wife Neeti and sons Uday (14) and Samar (5) were killed in the terrorist strike. The three deceased were residing in the accommodation provided to them at the hotel and became targets of the terrorist bullets, a relative of the Kangs family told reporters in Mohali."

Live Blog: Bombay under Siege XII

10.30 a.m.

The Nation of Pakistan reports thus:

"He (Manmohan Singh) announced that the government would immediately set up a Federal Investigation Agency to go into terrorist crimes. "Instruments like the National Security Act will be employed to deal with situations of this kind and existing laws will be tightened to ensure that there are no loopholes available to terrorists to escape the clutches of the law." Describing the attacks as "well-planned and well-orchestrated, probably with external linkages," Manmohan said, "It is evident that the group which carried out these attacks, based outside the country, had come with single-minded determination to create havoc, by choosing high-profile targets and indiscriminately killing foreigners in the commercial capital."

I hope the Federal Agency is set up soon. The Prime Minister should be rightfully concerned because he was expected to be in Bombay for the prestigious Economic Times Awards during the weekend and the preferred camping ground of the political elite is Taj Hotel where the terrorists struck. 

The Daily Telegraph reports from Australia:

"Quoting official sources, the Press Trust of India news agency reported the arrests were made inside the five-star Taj Mahal hotel, one of several targets in the city stormed by militants yesterday. The report identified the Pakistani national as Ajmal Amir Kamal, a resident of Faridkot, Multan, in Pakistan."

Live Blog: Bombay under Siege XI

7.00 a.m.

33 hours. No solution in sight. Leaders have come and gone. At the Taj Hotel News channel says the situation is under control. They say 39 people have been rescued. The fire is under control. The blue-clad commandos are still present outside the hotel. Nariman House is still under siege, and the terrorists are lobbing grenades at the police from this residential building. They have 20 people as hostages in this building. It was a night full of tension for residents of this area. Two night full of terror could traumatise anyone. 

I don't see any breakthroughs and the media has been told to keep their distance from the affected area. I see the Nariman House hostage crisis as more serious because it is situated in a residential area and many could lose their lives if there is an encouuter with the armed forces. 

The channel also reports that the terrorists had booked rooms in the Taj and had surveyed the site long before their friends came in. They already holed in in the Hotel before their friends came in.