WAR ON TERROR
The terrorist attack on the 9/11 at the United States ,the 7/11 attack at London and the recent Mumbai attack on 26/11 showed that the terrorist could strike at will taking any route be it air ,land or sea. Mumbai had come to the reality of the attack in 1993 too, but the audacity of the terrorist in the Mumbai attack was far and reaching. This attack was truly to have a global impact.
The world had come to a standstill when the terrorist took a sea route to reach their desired destinations. They had taken the sea route from Karachi to Portbandar on a mid-sized ship. They hijacked a fishing trawler named kuber .The last miles of the journey was made in Dinghies.
ATTACK AT CST
The terrorist divided themselves into groups of two each, to create chaos and kill as many people as possible. Terrorist with 2 AK-47 opened fire randomly killing many innocent lives. The 2 cops stationed at CST is no match for the terrorists. They were prey to the terrorist bullets. Their next desired attack was the Times of India office building but failed in this venture because it was closed from inside. They entered the Cama hospital compound and shot 3-4 people dead .They even took an employee as a hostage and fled away from the compound. They moved towards Mahapalika Marg and hid behind an ATM. After minute or so jumps out of it to kill the most important personnel in the Mumbai police squad, ATS Chief Hemant Karkare, Encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar ant DCP Ashok kamte. It was a huge setback for the Mumbai Police. This was the beginning for the horrifying nightmare for the Mumbaikars.
They even managed to take the police Qualis and fired from inside the car at the people in the streets. When the cops deflated their tires they took a Skoda car, but at Chowpatty they were being intercepted by the police killing 1 and catching the other terrorist alive whose name is Ajmal Amir Kasab. He has been a major source of information about the blast.
NO OF DEATH IN CST- 47
NO OF DEATH IN CAMA HOSPITAL- 4
NO OF CASUALITIES – FIGURE NOT KNOWN.
NO OF TERRORISTS KILLED -1
TERRORISTS CAUGHT -1
ATTACK AT NARIMAN HOUSE
The terrorists also had attacked the Nariman house. It was the Mumbai headquarters of the Chabad Lubatich movement of Hasidic Judaism. The Chabad has centres all over the world providing education, culture, community services and schools. For the terrorists this operation was a great prize and it has a deeper meaning to it. It was the members of this Jewish group that was been held hostage along with other Israeli’s. It was indeed here that the operation seemed harder than anyone thought it ought to be due to the entrances to the Nariman House which was from the narrow lanes besides local residential houses in the crowded coloba market. It was in this operation where NSG personnel were air-dropped from the chopper. It looked to be a dramatic scene. Large rounds of firing took place between the terrorists and the NSG squad. The NSG squad with their strength and resilient attitude were able to gun down the terrorists at around 7:30 p.m on the 28th of November. They were able to rescue along 7-8 hostages out of which one was a two year old baby. The NSG also lost 1 of its valiant commandos thus becoming one of the martyrs among many. 5 hostages were killed. It might seem a small task but the NSG squad themselves know about the magnitude and the risk of the attack.
NO OF DEATH IN NARIMAN HOUSE – 5
TERRORIST KILLED-2
NO OF PERSONS RESCEUD- 7-8
ATTACK ON THE TRIDENT AND OBEROI
The security which is considered to be a top priority in a 5 star hotel of Oberoi and Trident faced an unprecedented attack on the 26th of November around 9:45 p.m. The terrorist began with a random firing at the lobby. After some time fire could be seen raging from the same floor. They even sealed the Tiffin restaurant.
The terrorist inside the hotel were asking for American and British passports making evident that the attack was a global one. Some people engaged in the hotel could exit from the kitchen backdoor. Those who could not were trapped inside the hotel. In the early hour of the 27th of November the Marcos and the special agencies fought the terrorists till the NSG commandos arrived on the scene. The situation had been panicky due to the continuous hurling of grenades and gunshots being heard from all corners.
The arrival of the NSG forces at 8:30 a.m in the hotel triggered a ray of hope for the relatives outside, who were longing to see the faces of their dear ones but not all did survive the attack. It was at 2:30 p.m that some foreigner hostages and Indians were seen to be trickling down past the escorted NSG commandos. Their faces said more than what their lips would be able to narrate. It was trauma for them.
In the evening some more NSG personnel arrived at the spot. Still the gunshots were heard from 300-400 meters away. By 1.a.m other set of hostages were freed, giving a sign that the operation was coming to an end. The firing was the order of the day but the valiant efforts of the NSG commandos made us proud as both terrorists were killed in the operation. The Trident Oberoi which seemed to be a cemetery, bodies lying in all nuke and corners. It was a painful sight.
NO OF DEATH IN TRIDENT-OBEROI – 70 PLUS
NO OF PEOPLE RESCUED – 200 PLUS
TERRORISTS KILLED – 2
ATTACK ON THE TAJ
The most premier and royal hotel of India, the Taj Mahal hotel, was under attack on 26/11 by the Terrorists or rather the Jihadists. It was around 9:30 p.m that they opened up fire at unknown people, but yet their enemy.
The attack on the Taj meant that they were aiming for the top brass of the world, as most foreigner and top businessmen prefers to stay at the Taj owing to its status and also the comfort level without forgetting its vast legacy and its magnificent British structure. The terrorist attack on the Taj was a horrendous sight for Mumbaikars as the top of the arch on the front side was on fire. Bullets, grenades could be heard from long distances. The attack on the wasabi restaurant of the Taj killed many people whose last dinner also could not be completed. It seemed that the terrorist knew the layout of the Taj in back of their hands owing to its operation inside the hotel. They made life miserable for the Marcos and the NSG as they were moving from one floor to another at will. Rounds of bullets were being exchanged every 30 minutes and a time had come when the NSG declared the zone to be free of any terrorist, but later some gunshots surprised everyone. There were terrorists inside the hotel. On the night of the 28th November there was some lull in the firing but in the early hours of the 29th morning the terrorists and the NSG were engaged in a heavy gun battle where the terrorists finally succumbed to the NSG bullets thus ending one of the most fierceful hostage situation in India or the biggest terrorist attack in India till date.
NO OF DEATH IN THE TAJ -99 PLUS
NO OF PEOPLE RESCUED- 100 PLUS
TERRORISTS KILLED – 4
AJAML AMIR KASAB SPEAKS
The lone terrorist caught alive in the Mumbai operation has been a major source of information that has been in the Mumbai police custody. According to him “there were 24 of them trained for by the lokshar-e-toiba (LeT) out of which 10 were selected for the Mumbai operation’’. They went through rigorous training and after it was over they were sent to Mumbai for ‘small internship’ where they also did a small recce of the city and also the Taj and the Oberoi and Trident. Their main aim was to inflict as much damage as possible. He also said that they wanted to blow up the Taj. They had enough explosives to kill as many as 5000 people. He also stated that rooms had been booked much before their arrival and ammunitions had been stored in those rooms. They even rented a place at the coloba area posing as Malaysian students along with some 8 other operatives.
THE POLITICAL IMPACT
After each terrorist attack, the politicians go ahead and make promises for better security. This time it was no different. The attack had a bigger enough impact than ever before. Eminent political leaders had to resign from their office. The most notable were Shivraj Patil from the post of Home Minister, who was replaced by P.Chidambaram. The Mumbai CM also had to resign from his office and was replaced by P.Chauhan.
The heads of the country and the Chief Minister of all states met in the all Party meet where they decided to have NSG squads in many major states. They also took some major political decisions in the meet. The most shameful part of the entire episode was when some political parties played blame game on one another. It was a time when all parties were required to be united to fight against the act of terror. Some remarks made by politicians were truly uncalled for.
THE GLOBAL IMPACT
As the terrorist attacked not only Indians but also foreigners, it truly had a global impact to it. The evidence of Pakistan in the attack is evident from the satellite phones, GPS, telephone intercepts, e-mail etc. USA also had agreed with India saying that Pakistan was involved. The USA secretary of the state Condolezza Rice was very straight on her words to the Pakistan government saying them to co-operate with India on all issues regarding the attack. The US also believed that the Pakistani ISI had outsourced the operation.
The Israelis had been attacked everywhere in the world except India which was only till the 26th of November when they were targeted at the Nariman House. Israelis had found a home in India but it would be interesting to see how they move on after the attack.
The attack also grabbed the attention of the world media which in a way would have made the terrorist happy. The New York Times showed an Al Qaida link, the Russian news channels were in their toes, Guardian website had a live blog of the Mumbai terror attack. The Jerusalem website was also regularly updated.
NSG
The NSG commandos fought till the end to bring down the terrorists. The NSG before reaching the attacked spots were being controlled by the special agencies Mumbai police and marine commandos known as Marcos. The commandos had left from Delhi to Mumbai to fight the terrorists. They were all armed for the occasion. They were fierce in the fight against the terrorist. They had to make sure that the NSG bullets did not hit a civilian’s body. Putting all this in mind the NSG commandos proved their mettle and gun down the terrorists. Without thinking of the food and their family they challenged the terrorist and prevailed victorious in a hard fought struggle. It was also due to the media that these efforts of the NSG people were noticed by one and all. It was a courageous display by the media too as they were also on the line of fire.
CONCLUSION
The 59-hour siege finally came to an end when the final terrorist was thrown out of the window into floor of the Taj outside. The destruction of the Taj, Oberoi-Trident and the Nariman House was nothing compared to the innocent lives lost in the attack, as these lives cannot be replaced. The Mumbaikars have moved on with life and this clearly indicated that “Mumbaikars had not been defeated, infact the terrorist had lost”. This was a strong signal. The NSG commandos have made us proud to say “JAI HIND”.
