How much of
respect do you give to a Police Constable – mostly unarmed, carries a
woodenstick (lathi) and tries law enforcement !! - heart would bleed for Tukaram Omble !
On the night of 26
November 2008, ten Kalashnikov-wielding terrorists attacked Mumbai. They stuck
simultaneously at five locations, shooting dead 140 Indians and 25 foreign
tourists. American and British passport-holders were executed in two luxury
hotel complexes. At a Jewish cultural centre, Israeli nationals were tortured
before being killed. A fourth location, a café frequented by Western
backpackers, was enfiladed with automatic fire.
At the ever crowded city’s main
railway station, the site of the largest number of deaths, all the victims were Indian.
Treacherous
cowardly terrorists waging war with the Nation killing innocents. In the history of
terrorism, the Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks were as innovative as the 9/11
attacks on the US. While passenger airplanes were used for the first time as
weapons of destruction during 9/11, the Mumbai attacks saw an unprecedented
feature of live operational control of terrorist acts from foreign soil.
.. .. and how shameful was the response of Indian press and to a
large extent the then Government – there were live shows depicting the
operations of the Commandos providing live data feed to terror handlers
elsewhere ! they utilized India’s free electronic media for further
killing and live feedback. Competitive Indian visual media covering the Mumbai
attacks beamed minute-to-minute details to the domestic audience which served
as a barometer of the damage inflicted on the Indian psyche and resultant
panic, the two vital aims of any terrorist group. It enabled the Pakistani handlers
to calibrate attacks using the cell phones of ground-level terrorists.
US Senate Homeland
Security Committee had held a hearing on the Mumbai 26/11 attack on January 9,
2009, to discuss how similar tactics would affect US security. One of the first
persons to depose before the Committee was the then New York Police
Commissioner Raymond Kelly who underlined the key features of 26/11. He said
that the US counter terrorist agencies would need to rework their methodology
on how panic could be curbed even in a free media ambience, how to disrupt
terrorists’ communication network without adversely affecting the free milieu
and how to re-deploy forces in the US since the 26/11 attacks had taken over 60
hours to terminate, a situation US had never experienced in urban areas.
We see
them in every street corner, at busy traffic intersections, some movies come
ridiculing their efforts, RED SALUTE to them – the Army and Police are the real
protectors and WE live happily and peacefully because of their sacrifices. The
statue at the start is that of Tukaram
Omble, who died this day 15 years ago ! – must have
been part of our history and school curriculum .. .. were you able to recognize
him ?
From every angle, the Taj
Palace near the Gate way of India, the imposing arch monument on the Arabic sea
erected to commemorate the landing of
King George V and Queen Mary at Apollo Bunder on their visit to India in 1911,
prior to Delhi Durbar. The hotel preceded it – the Queen could have seen the
hotel, but not the monument. The
historic Taj Mahal Palace hotel first opened its doors to guests 113 years ago,
on December 16, 1903. Located in Colaba, Mumbai, the Taj Mahal hotel, or the
Taj Palace hotel, was the country's first ever harbour landmark. Over the last
century or so, the hotel has played host to royalty, several dignitaries, and
eminent personalities from all over the world. A popular theory states that
Jamshedji Tata built the hotel because he was refused entry at Watson Hotel,
one of the grandest hotels of that time, which was for 'whites only.
In the
beautiful motherland, there have been debates on surgical strikes with
politicians calling for proof !! -
Nation can never forget this day
26/11 when it was under siege by
militants from across the border. How
many felt sorrowed and spoke for those martyrs of Police and jawans of the
motherland ?? .. .. and blatant media
who were for ratings showing all the plan and movement of Army jawans !! – how mindless
it was.
The horrific memories of
the night when the terrorists hijacked the police vehicle and killed top cops and then went on shooting
innocents haunts people. The illustrious Bhaskar Kadam,
Hemant Bawdhankar, Sanjay Govilkar, Tukaram Omble, Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte , Vijay Salaskar, Shashank Shinde, Major
Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Hawaldar Gajendra Singh – and the like should be
the heroes whom the Nation must be reading and knowing. There were so many unsung heroes too – for
example the Fire Service of Mumbai whose personnel did not flinch once as they
grabbed their gear and rushed to douse fire amid an intense gun battle.
The unexpected capture of
Ajmal Kasab by the Mumbai police by the heroism of Tukaram Omble during the night of 26 November 2008 robbed
the plan of its key asset – deniability. Kasab provided details of the training
process that the gunmen had gone through in Pakistan. The next breakthrough was
Headley’s arrest 11 months later. Kasab
was immediately questioned by Prashant Marde, an officer of the Mumbai police. The gunman confirmed that there were nine
other shooters in the city, and stated that all were Pakistani nationals. Aware
of the international ramifications of these revelations, the Indian government
permitted the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to interrogate
Kasab directly. A team of FBI officials flew in from New York to learn what
they could about the attack. Kasab
independently confirmed to the FBI what he had told the Indian police: he was a
Pakistani citizen and a member of LeT, and the attack was being directed in
real-time from the Pakistani port city of Karachi via mobile and internet
telephony. This digital trail connecting the gunmen in Mumbai with controllers
in Karachi proved crucial.
India has
had its deep impact because of this terror attack but still once a while some
would rise their voice for the neighbouring terror abettor, stating that Sports
are different and people must learn to forget ! – forget what.
The abettor too is reeling
under terrorism that they sought to grow.
The recent suicide attack on a Rabiul Awwal congregation in the
Balochistan town left almost 60 people dead. At least five people were killed
in a targeted attack in KP on the same day, swelling the number of fatalities.
It was one of the
bloodiest days of the current year that has already recorded the highest number
of casualties among security forces in the past eight years. Terrorist attacks
have become almost a daily affair. The return of terrorism presents a most
serious challenge to a nation mired in multiple crises. The spate of killings
across the country demonstrates the expanding capacity of militant groups to
carry out increasingly audacious operations. While the administration silently
watches the situation drift toward anarchy, armed marauders carry out their
deadly attacks with impunity. The pattern and scale of violence indicate that
the militants are better armed than before and well organised.
Miles away, in a US court,
according to Headley’s testimony, he had been trained by the ISI in
intelligence collection techniques. Of the $29,500 he received from Pakistani
sponsors, $28,500 came from a serving ISI officer. This officer, identified as
‘Major Iqbal’ in American court documents, became the first Pakistani
intelligence operative to ever be indicted by the US government for terrorism.
The remainder of the money came to Headley from a LeT operative called Sajid
Majeed, deputy head of LeT’s external
operations department and handled jihadists worldwide. US Govt convicted Headley on US soil but refused to
extradite him to India.
Nation still
nurses its wounds of that unfortunate day in 2008 when 10 Pakistani terrorists arrived by sea route
and opened fire indiscriminately at people killing 166, including 18 security
personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging property worth
crores. The attack began on 26 November
and lasted until 29 November. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the
Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital,
the Nariman House Jewish community centre were some of the places targeted by
the terrorists. Ajmal Kasab was the only terrorist captured alive. He was
hanged four years later on November 21, 2012.
26.11.2008 – a sad
day it was for the Nation.!
High respects and regards
to our heroes – S. Sampathkumar
26.11. 2023
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