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After 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks
Hundred and sixty six people were killed in the blood bath in Mumbai on the night of November 26, 2008
when 10 Pakistan-based terrorists held the city to ransom for 60 hours. Moving tales of survivors, grief, a dash of high society...26/11, perhaps more than any other single event in India's recent history, had all that it takes to spawn books and movies.
The carnage which began in Mumbai on the night of November 26, 2008, is called 26/11 similar as the
deadliest terrorist attack on the USA was called 9/11.
Ten gunmen had landed on Mumbai shores by boats at sunset on November 26, 2008
and fired randomly inside a railway station, a Jewish settlement, a cafe and two
luxury hotels. Several people were held hostage for the next three days and at
least 166 died before commandoes smoked out the last of the terrorists on
November 28 last year. One gunman, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab was taken alive and is presently facing trial
in a special court in Mumbai.
The home minister Mr Chidambaram reportedly ensured that each agency took responsibility and
followed up on what it was supposed to do by maintaining minutes of every meeting. A National Investigation Agency was set up to probe and pre-empt any terrorist attempt.
A year after 26/11, the failure of accountability is still evident going by the fact that no one has been taken to task for the sub-standard bullet-proof jackets which cost the lives of top Maharashtra police officials like
Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare. |
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On
the first anniversary of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks
As the country paid tributes to 26/11 martyrs, Parliament observed a
two-minute silence and the government allotted petrol pumps to the kin of the
victims marking the first anniversary of Mumbai terror attacks on Thursday.
There were official commemorations and private moments of grief, sombre
reflections and fierce debates on the security perceptions to remember the
traumatic night of Nov 26 last year and the 60 hours of terror that followed.
Mumbai, which is still trying to recover from the scars of last year's 26/11
terrorist attacks, marked the first anniversary of the horrific incident by
lighting candles outside the Gateway of India and at the Taj Hotel and prayed
for tranquillity and a brighter hope for the city that saw 166 innocent people killed.
Mumbaikars went around the Taj Hotel; one of the sites attacked by terrorists,
chanting slogans of peace. The scene and the sentiments were similar at the
Oberoi Trident hotel, which also bore the brunt of the attack. But the anger
persists, as some shouted "Hang Kasab" while they walked past the Taj, and
others kept repeating ‘we will not forget’. Mumbai's police also exhibited its resolve with its elite forces parading past
some of the city's landmarks in a show of strength.
Hundreds of youngsters, men and women, drew paintings, wrote peace messages and
put hand impressions on a one-and-a-half-km long wall on November 25- saying the city stood united against any future attacks on this
cosmopolitan fabric. Bollywood celebrities Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar also joined to pay their
tributes to the victims, and wrote their messages of peace on the wall. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday mourned the death of 26/11 martyrs
and assured that the Centre would do everything possible to help their families. |
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PM asks world to pressurise Pakistan on 26/11 attackers on
Washington, Nov 24 (IANS) Warning of “phenomenal consequences” if the advance of
terrorists in Pakistan was not controlled, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has
asked the world community to pressurise Islamabad to do much more to bring to
book those responsible for the “horrible” 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks .
“We don’t want Pakistan to fail and emergence of democracy in Pakistan is
something we welcome,” he said at the Council on Foreign Relations, a leading US
think tank Monday. “But at the same time we have to recognise that there are
forces at work in Pakistan that are with terrorists.” “At least until now they were active only in the Federally Administered Tribal
Areas (FATA). Now I think they hold direct on grip in several parts of mainland Pakistan.
“If that process is not controlled, it has I think phenomenal consequences for
the security and stability of Pakistan as well as our own security,” he added.
Asked if he regretted not taking the military option in retaliation against the
26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, the prime minister said he resisted enormous
pressure at that time “and I think the decision that I took was balanced and
right decision”. “As regards future, I hate to speculate and sincerely hope that that sort of
eventuality does not arise,” Manmohan Singh said. “And that’s why I believe
world community has an obligation to impress upon Pakistan that it must use all
its influence to curb the power of terrorist groups.”
The prime minister said Pakistan had done something to control the activities of
Taliban terrorist groups in FATA, but “it has not acted as it should have acted
in bringing the terrorists elements who are using their territory to target our country”.
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