People would argue that a terrorist attack on a city like Mumbai isn't something unexpected. But what would really make a mumbaikar chew the cud would be the audacity of the terrorists to get inside high profile places and carryout their modus operandi for more than almost 24 hours. Nothing like this was ever seen before. The entire saga is said to be an experimental strategy, setting the target on Mumbai.
The terrorist are said to have been come from Karachi, Pakistan; where they trained to do what would be remembered by the world till kingdom come. They trained in a camp that taught how to take innocent lives. How to kill whoever comes in their way. How to be inhuman, even to the children who are completely unaware of what the world is. What makes them so ruthless, that they cannot see the damage, that they turn a deaf ear to the screams of people they aimlessly point a gun at?
The open firing at the CST and Cafe Leopold in Colaba is still not as shocking as the ones in high security places like The Taj Hotel, The Oberoi Trident Hotel, The Cama Hospital and The Nariman House. The attackers entered the Taj by open firing on the gaurds outside and the receptionists. They were carrying with them, AK-47 and AK-57 rifles along with satellite phones and a bag full of grenades. How secure are we then, if the forces allowed these armed terrorists to walk around with the amount of ammunition that they had with them?
In contrast, who can we hold responsible for these attacks? The loopholes in the security measures, the failed Intelligence, the Government? Sadly, all. I was waiting for a political party to make a poll-mongering issue out of the tragedy faced by the city, considering the state and the national elections are just around the corner. And no, they chose to use their brains this time around.
I had been following the news since the time it broke out in the media. Post which I wanted to see a media circus happen around the whole situation. But here too, I was disappointed. The media seemed to be more responsible this time, the events being covered efficiently by The TimesNow Network. They withheld information they thought might be useful to the militants in case they had access to the television network even when the satellite and communication wires in the hotels and the Nariman House were cut off by the police. I think this was more important than just letting out "exclusive scoops" at the time of the militant attacks on innocent lives.
The amount of motivation to create havoc was so evident in guerrilla strategies planned by the militants that every move they made was so well executed, i wished the Indian forces were half has prepared. Three top ranking police officers including 16 others gave their lives for the safety of the common man. Some of the police men weren't even wearing bullet proof jackets! The men who face the dangerous suicide terrorists, aren't even paid well for the kind of job they do. The Government couldn't even provide them with fighting infrastructure? This is what the government pays them: peanuts.
It is very disheartening to see the state of affairs in the city. More so, I was disturbed by what ever happened on a personal level because, me and my friends were right there, just an hour ago it all began. We were all there and we never anticipated something of this magnitude, and an hour after that, there were frantic calls being exchanged inquiring about families and near and dear ones. Some of whom I still have not heard about.
During all this fracas, one thought that struck my mind was, why didn't Raj Thackrey send his "Marathi manus" and threaten to drive away the armed militants just as they do to the Biharis or better known as Uttar Bhartiya? That would have earned him some respect.
In the end, it wouldn't matter how ready we are, or how constructive and fool-proof our security measures are, what every Mumbaikar needs to imbibe in himself is mental preparedness and the will to comprehend that, in today's times, everyday is a day of thank yous and the uncertainty of returning home.
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