29
2008
It is being called India's 9/11, and more than 40 hours on, the nation is still trying to come to terms with the horrific, barbaric events, not all of which have come to an end. Gun battles rage in the streets of Mumbai even as I write this.
India has seen terrorist attacks in the past, but what has happened in Mumbai this time is surreal. Till now there was a general belief that, yes these things happen, but they could not happen to you - particularly if you were a well-educated western-oriented Indian. That has now changed - terror has come where it was not expected.
Time has, since, stood still in India, as the country has tuned in to watch, in disbelief, the streets of a city many Indians compare to New York for its nightlife, culture and activity turn into a war zone. The Taj and Oberoi hotels, and Nariman House, a Jewish residents block, were stormed by terrorists and hostages were taken. As I write, I can still hear explosions from my television set in the background, as the police, the army and National Security Guards (NSG) commandos tackle the tense situation.
So far the Oberoi hotel has been cleared. Most survived the ordeal, some didn't and identities are not yet fully known, though it is believed that foreign nationals are amongst the dead. The Taj hotel and Nariman House are now being stormed by the commandos, and here too many hostages have been killed. The latter is the block where the Jewish Rabbi couple from Brooklyn used to live along with many others Jews of Indian and Israeli origin - there is still no word on their fate.
India's minister of external affairs Mr. Pranab Mukherji, has confirmed that, as suspected all along, there is a Pakistani hand in this carnage. The Pakistani foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who happened to be in India, however, has been extremely defensive and has vehemently denied Pakistan's involvement - something that the ordinary Indian no longer believes. Too many clues point to the Pakistan connection, as has even been admitted by the President-elect of the United States Obama. That apart, in the present blasts too, preliminary evidence already points to a Karachi connection - a mobile phone found at the Taj hotel that belonged to one of the terrorists had received calls from Karachi.
The main suspect is The Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), as has been in the past blasts too, though they too have denied any connection. But Indian Intelligence has claimed that the LeT has been training militants in marine terror off the coast of Karachi for a while now and it is believed that the Mumbai attackers arrived on the city's peninsula by boat. The mood right now is an unforgiving one and many are calling for serious action against the Let.
Of course, there are some internal questions as well, the most obvious one being that if the authorities were aware of such training, then how were these terrorists - there are believed to be 20 of them - able take the sea route with such heavy armaments. An inquiry must be in force right away and those involved be booked.
There are many, many more questions and in the next few weeks there will be, needless to say a lot of finger pointing, but the authorities will have a lot of explaining to do. There is a lot of anger in the country right now, more than ever before. Indians are demanding answers and this time they will not be mollified by mere words as they have been earlier this year. That apart, there is also a feeling now that we must, as citizens, do our bit to fight this terror, it's not only up to the government to do this.
Interestingly, this time the reaction has been different from other attacks in the past because this has happened too close to home - India's upper class is feeling the threat too. And, of course, since the attacks have got the attention of the world's media and foreign nationals have been killed, India Inc., as the nation's new business-minded approach is sometimes known - is not happy about the sullying of its much-worked-on image as an rising economic power.
The past 40 hours have changed India and Indians forever. I only hope that once this passes, we do not slip back into complacency mode, and keep the pressure on to the authorities to take serious action. India should not take this anymore. The guilty should be punished, whoever they may be.
For now I am going back to my television set, the gruesome drama is still on.