We need to act and we need to do it now….here are a few pointers
Mumbai city, and its people, have been held hostage by 'militants'. This is a clear indication that we are on the global terror map. This was NOT a gang war. The whole reaction from the state and central machinery was slow. Now when we talk of steps to be taken there are a lot changes required on many fronts.
Our leaders need to resign
I am not all upset that the chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has been asked to resign. Shivraj Patil should never have been made the union home minister in the first place. Just as you need an able and responsible police director general and commissioner, we need an equally responsible and able home minister.
We want new leaders who will NOT just announce new plans. We want a timeframe within which we will see a new NSG formation, funds for security, funds to improve the lives of the police, whose morale is below zero. The state should improve training for Anti-Terrorist Squads, and new security agencies. They will procure on an immediate basis new guns, ammunition and weapons that will help our police force. Our poor baton-wielding constables have played a major role in foiling the plans of these hardcore militants. We lost 14 constables in this attack. The constables only had wooden batons. But let me tell you, the captured militant has admitted that they could not believe that even a constable chased them to bust their operations. I salute these heroes who were committed to their jobs and lost their lives so that the city could rest peacefully.
Accept that we are on the global 'terror' map
The minute we realise that foreign militants are using Indian turf for terror, we will be able to plan and activate various agencies from the village level to national. We will be able to get a holistic picture of international militancy. Many great scholars ridicule readers who love espionage and thrillers. But one reason I keep reading them is to get a perspective on global militancy. The way their minds work, the way they operate, from local to international networking.
Now when I heard that the Jewish couple was held hostage, it was a natural instinct for me to understand this is something larger than what the government authorities are saying. This was NOT an attack. This was a full-fledged militant war.
Activate ground workers, Khabris
You may ask how khabris can help in the war of terror? Well the fact that these militants ordered 200kg mutton from the local butcher in Colaba, who expressed shock, is a vital clue. This incident would never have gone unreported had our khabris been a part of the Anti-Terrorist Squad network or even part of the local police network. Let us not forget the 1992 riots, and the 1993 blasts that isolated many minority groups, especially Muslims. Most butchers are Muslims. The fact is had the informer network been active this information would have helped the police.
Security must be beefed up along our coast
In 1993, after Mumbai city was rocked by RDX bomb blasts, it was noted that how, due to poor coastal security, all the RDX came from across the border to the Raigadh and Konkan coast. Have we learnt from our mistakes? No. But if the PM or president is in town every helicopter is used to protect them. This should be stopped.
Instead we should have more regular air surveillance can spot suspicious movement along the coast. We need a more alert tourist police. Not those who drink at night and come along pushing a baton into people's stomachs, but those who check identification papers, and keep constant vigil.
We need a pro-active Coast Guard. This time round there were NO coast guard boats at the Yellow Gate when it was reported that few militants had landed using ferries from Porbunder. Three days prior to the attack, fisher folk had held protests on the seafront near Bandra. Our so-called alert Coast Guard had taken their boats there for vigilance.
A source in the CG admitted that the officers did not call back the boats, instead they let them remain at Bandra. This lapse has proved very dear to us. We can't afford such lackadaisical approach when we have a huge coastline.
We need more non-corrupt and efficient navy that doesn't simply use the Mumbai's ports to anchor their ships. We need khabris within the dockyard workers, staff and naval police, who will alert the navy. We need the navy to do its job with as much commitment as our local police have done in the last 60 hours.
Respond like the armed forces
Once we treat this issue like an insurgency we need to tackle and respond like armed forces. This whole combat operation that took place on Friday should have taken place on Thursday itself. The government and security agencies could have taken the hotel management into confidence, asked them of their preparedness for blowing up the building in order to kill the militants. The US armed forces deal the problem of militancy at their level. They utilise police in the city for local operations, maintaining law and order, however, the real operations are handled by top bosses in the US army. They attack at the ground level; they give a specific time for the exchange of fire but do not lose time finishing off the militants. They accept full responsibility for the civilians killed.
Instil fear in the minds of insurgents and militants
We looked as if the whole country was scared and so was our government. We need to study other countries. They talk tough; their body language is serious. The leaders of most countries do not look like they have stepped out of their beds, like ours did. We were completely at sea for 60 hours. We need to instil fear in the minds of the militants.
They need to realise Indians aren't soft. To the world we look like soft targets, which we are, let's accept that. Our leaders, negotiators and NSG or army need to talk tough. They must realise we are serious about dealing with this issue of terror war.
Electronic media needs to mature
Our electronic media is in its infancy. Yes, of course if we send young little reporters who have NO experience to cover a war situation they will treat it like common local crime. It was shoddy reporting. Anchors, who have sadly become icons and idols for wannabe reporters, conducted dramas and soap operas at the scenes where military operations were going on. They revealed the locations of the armed forces, the NSG, their movements and screamed out how these operations have gone wrong. This wasn't an ordinary situation; it wasn't local crime. I expected lot more mature reporting. We should have seen how the foreign media sent its experts - who by the way were oldies with grey hair. But the fact that you need experienced hands, who know the city well, the issue well, and who have experience in covering such disasters. Our reporters don't seem mature at all. The government should have blacked out the news channels right at the beginning.
The onus of a disciplined nation lies on us citizens. We are a very political race, Asians and Indians. However we lack manners and maturity. The government had asked its people to sit at home. So many revelled at home, had their drinks and holiday snooze.
Later they came out on to the streets. Bystanders, passersby, and absolutely lukkhas whiled away their time laughing at the media and wanting to see the attacks. The police totally failed in controlling the crowds. They in fact pushed the media behind a cordon, screamed and shouted at us. While they allowed the crowds to pile up near the places where combat operations were going on. People came with their pets, toddlers, infants and couples who took time out to romance near these three places. Mumbai has shown complete disrespect to those who fought for us and gave up their lives. People had too much curiosity and breached all norms and rules of civil society. Their children were shooting pictures with flashes -this was all within the one kilometre of the attacks!
People had come to 'see' and inspect these three spots. We are a nation that simply doesn't realise someone else's problem is one's own problem. Till we don't get affected the middle class is NOT concerned at all. We treat it casually and in an immature manner. We have to realise this is regarding our national security, coming to the sites and laughing, clapping, and treating it like a tamasha is a breach of our security, and shows disrespect to the hostages and our forces. We need to see footage of 9/11 to see how their citizens behaved and how they helped, rather than treat these incidents as a joke.
