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India Under SiegeIndia's 9/11? A wake-up call
Although Mumbai is no stranger to such outrages - the Taj itself experienced a car bomb attack in 2003 - the latest tragedy stands out from the rest for the simple reason that it was an evidently commando-style raid by suicide bombers with the express purpose of inflicting as much damage as possible on some of the city's landmarks and targets of its prosperity and progress. While in the earlier attacks, the terrorists planted bombs in market places or trains and then left the scene, this time they stayed on to battle the security forces and die or be captured in the process. Since they were all heavily armed and were able to take hostages, they could carry on the confrontation with the police for prolonged periods, which could not but have a hugely demoralising effect on the city and the country. Since India had not seen such war-like scenes before, the impact was devastating and it would take some time before its political fallout could be measured. It is possible that the terror groups had realised the diminishing effect of their earlier tactics of planting bombs in crowded places and vehicles. In spite of the initial shock and revulsion in those instances, the effect tended to wear off, leaving only the victims to mourn their losses. But gunbattles lasting for hours and the wheeling out of bodies covered in white sheets from five-star hotels can have a numbing effect. They are also bound to dissuade tourists and business travellers from putting India on their itinerary. The prompt cancelling of the remaining two one-day internationals by English cricketers was a case in point. Since the terrorists were reportedly looking for foreigners with American or British passports, their Al Qaeda- and Taliban-type orientation was clear, for it wasn't only the Indians they wanted to hurt. It is quite possible that the fidayeen or the suicide bombers had come from Pakistan by sea. If so, the outrage is similar to the attack on Mumbai in 1993 and also on Parliament House in 2001, which intended to eliminate India's political leadership. New Delhi's response then was to station its troops on the Pakistan border. There may not be any such move now because New Delhi may want Pakistan's new President Asif Ali Zardari to implement some of his promises to improve relations. But India cannot forget that sections of the establishment in Islamabad remain outside the control of Pakistan's civilian leadership. As the suspected role of the notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the bombing of India's Kabul embassy last July showed, these elements are still not reconciled to the prospect of peace with India. The possibility, therefore, that the assailants had come from Karachi cannot be ruled out. Besides, the involvement of the Pakistan-based militant group, Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT), which has long been engaged in terrorist acts against India, is a distinct likelihood. However, the funds and the arms and ammunition could not have been secured by the LeT only on its own. Some kind of official complicity is very much possible. Considering that the events of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday have come to be described as India's 9/11, it may not be besides the point to hope that the country's response to the outrage will be as effective as America's has been to the fidayeen attacks on its soil. If India can ensure, as the US has done, that there will be no repeat of acts of terrorism, it will be a remarkable achievement. However, the portents up to now have not been too favourable. As industrialist Ratan Tata said, there was no crisis management group in Mumbai even though the city had seen earlier terrorist attacks. Till now, India has not reacted with sufficient vigour and effectiveness to the numerous outrages it has experienced through the years from the Kashmir Valley to Delhi and Jaipur in the north to Mumbai and Ahmedabad in the west to Hyderabad and Bangalore in the south and to Guwahati and Agartala in the northeast. These have not only continued at periodic intervals but have increased in scale and operational style, as the latest Mumbai incidents show. The prime minister's recent decision to set up a task force to deal with the threat of terrorism and insurgency underscored the failures in this respect. Evidently, the terrorists have been able to establish fairly secure bases in the country with a sufficient number of local recruits who can help to plan and carry out the attacks with their detailed knowledge of the targeted areas. Although the intelligence agencies have made a number of arrests, they have not been able to penetrate deep enough into these secret outfits to immobilise and eliminate them. The ease with which the fidayeen groups could enter the hotels and railway stations in Mumbai with their heavy backpacks showed the laxity of the security measures. It was the innocent who had to pay with their lives for such casualness. Marcos - men in black who rescued Mumbai's hostages
Dubbed the "bearded forces" because of the beards that the men sported and toting AK-47 assault rifles, Indian Navy's marine commandos follow in letter and spirit the adage of the counter-terrorism doctrine: “Fight a militant like a militant”. Marcos, who are trained in executing covert operations, were called in along with the National Security Guard and army commandos take on armed militants who were holding scores of people hostage inside two luxury hotels since Wednesday night. The militants had struck in at least 10 places in Mumbai, killing 125 people and injuring 327 people. Two Marcos received injuries during "Operation Tornado" launched to flush out terrorists at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel. Their operation continued till Friday. “Trained sky divers and sea divers, the Marcos could sabotage enemy vessels and harbour installations. They can operate in beaches, coastal, jungles and ravines areas. Being divers, they can reach hostile shores swimming underwater,” SAID a senior navy official. Officially known as the Indian Marine Special Force, the unit was raised in 1987 out of the naval divers to lead amphibious operations. The personnel volunteering for the force have to undergo a rigorous two-year training, by the end of which only 10-25 percent of the enrolled commandos remain. Marcos have been active in Jammu and Kashmir as part of the army's counter-terrorist efforts. Their main task is to control the infiltration of terrorists from across the border into Jammu and Kashmir through the Jhelum river and Wullar, a 65 square kilometer freshwater lake. Some Marcos personnel are also attached with the army special forces units conducting counter-terrorism operations in the area. “They operate similar to the Israeli Mistaravim units sporting beards and wearing the 'pheren' (Kashmiri suit), thus making them indistinguishable from the locals,” the official added. Marcos have gained a fearsome reputation among terrorists who refer to them as the 'Dadiwali Fauj' (Bearded Army) since they are the only non-Sikh personnel allowed to grow beards, 'Jal Murgi' (Water Hens) for the speed in which they carry out assault from the water and 'Magarmachh' (Crocodiles) for their amphibious capability. Recently, the elite force earned accolades for the Indian Navy after they repulsed pirates attacks off the Somali coast on an Indian and a Saudi merchant vessel Nov 11. In April 1986, the Indian Navy mooted a plan for a special force, which would be able to conduct reconnaissance, raids and even counter-terrorist operations in a maritime environment. Three naval officers were sent for training with the US Navy SEALS and further training was conducted with British Special Forces. These three naval officers formed the nucleus of the Indian Marine Special Force (IMSF) that was formally raised in February 1987. The strength of the unit is a closely guarded secret. However, sources say the number could be close to 2,000 personnel. Currently, there are three main groups attached to the three naval commands - Mumbai (West), Cochin (South) and Vizag (East). The unit's quick rise has changed its role - it was intended to be dedicated to special maritime operations, but a considerable part of Marcos is doubling up as marine infantry with the usual flexibility of commando forces. Restoring Taj hotel's glory may take 12 months
A sea-facing landmark of India's commercial capital, offering a panoramic view of the Arabian Sea and the majestic Gateway of India, the hotel was built in 1903, with its architecture blending Moorish, Oriental and Florentine styles. Thus, the restoration, will take that much more time and cost more than conventional restorations, the experts said, adding the services of professional institutions like the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) may also be required. "The Taj is one of our oldest hotels and a heritage structure. So, any restoration work would take a minimum of a year. It is my estimate that it could cost somewhere around Rs.500 crore," said Pandurang Potnis, vice president of the Indian Institute of Architecture. "You must understand that restoration work for such structures is a cumbersome process. It involves a detailed assessment of the damage with blueprints. Only then can the damaged structure be strengthened," he added. "In India, this kind of technology is available with only a handful of institutions like the Archaeological Survey of India," said Potnis, who also runs Bangalore-based architecture consultancy firm under his name. Visitors to the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel have come away in awe of its Indian influences, vaulted alabaster ceilings, onyx columns, archways, carpets and chandeliers, as also its collection of art and antique furniture. Jamsetji N. Tata, the legendary founder of India's largest industrial house, built the 565-room hotel much before the Gateway of India was completed in 1928 to commemorate the visit of Britain's King George V and Queen Mary. The grand property, which will also require some experienced artisans and workers to refurbish and restore, has hosted royalty, heads of states, corporate honchos and celebrities, among other guests in the past. A.K. Nagpal, the head of the civil engineering department at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) here, also said that structural engineering was the trickiest part in restoration of damaged properties. "We have undertaken such consulting projects in the past and provide advice to even private companies," added Nagpal, who specialises in areas like structural engineering and tall buildings. Rajesh Thambi, who runs an architectural design firm Saving Catalyst here, said that if it takes a skilled person around five minutes to construct one sq ft of carpeted area, restoration would take anywhere between 45-50 minutes. "I would say that the cost of restoration - it will take a lot of care while doing so - will be around Rs.1,500-Rs.2,000 per square feet." The owners of the property, Indian Hotels Ltd., have said that they would take all measures to restore the Mumbai landmark and had an insurance policy against terror attacks. "We are not just determined, but completely committed, to rebuilding the institution. We will restore it to its fullest glory," said company vice chairman R.K. Krishna Kumar. "The loss of life is extremely distressing, as is seeing a building as unique as this destroyed. The entire top floor has gone up in flames, but as soon as the dust settles we will go out there and begin the rebuilding," Krishna Kumar added. Armed terrorists who had seized the hotel for four days earlier this week had set deliberate parts of it on fire in a bid to damage it. The hotel suffered further damage when commandos had moved against the terrorists Friday-Saturday to wrest it back from them. Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata visited the property Saturday with his management team to inspect the damage and discuss measures for the hotel's restoration. Mumbai terror blitz US TV networks The Mumbai terror attacks played big time in the US media but nowhere more so than on the 24-hour news network CNN. What may have begun as a result of a slow news week because of the Thanksgiving holidays starting Wednesday soon turned out to be virtually the sole focus of the network soon after the first hour of the crisis. The network was quick to spot the potentially enormous implications of the unfolding events in the city. For quite a few hours it had to depend upon its sister network CNN-IBN for the visuals of the frenzied goings on with holiday anchors stepping in to provide as broad a perspective as possible. For the first eight to ten hours the sheer momentum of the story was driven by the seemingly random nature of gunfire by the terrorists. But as it began to become clearer that the terrorists were working to a specific plan of singling out Westerners, mainly Americans and Britons, CNN latched on to the angle. Its experts began developing the perspective that what was different about these attacks, apart from the fact that they were not hit-and-run bombings, was that for the first time Americans were becoming a target in India. While the story would have cornered significant airtime on its intrinsic importance, what kept the US media focused were the possibilities of American casualties. Another angle that was introduced later was how seriously the crisis may strain India-Pakistan relations and present the incoming President Barack Obama with his first foreign policy and national security challenge. The convergence of American casualties and impending challenge for Obama also seemed to kept the US media in thrall of the Mumbai attacks. CNN International New Dellhi correspondent Sara Sidner, who is normally not seen in CNN's US specific broadcast, became a household name reporting from close to the Taj Mahal Hotel and getting into an occasionally hairy situation with frequent gunfire. While throughout Wednesday and Thursday CNN's preoccupation remained with the overall story, by Friday the deaths of American citizens ensured that they would stick with the story. Overall the Mumbai attacks, although not as large as some of the earlier ones in terms of the sheer fatalities, may have the distinction of the longest lasting news event on US networks after 9/11. While initially, it may have been more by default than design but soon enough American media realized how big the attacks were. The New York Times appeared to be slow to get off the ground in the initial hours of the attacks but the paper soon started putting out detailed updates on its highly popular website. Interestingly, initially the paper even sought out contributions from Mumbai directly to its website in an acknowledgement of the interest in the goings on 10,000 miles away. By Friday evening CNN's terrorism expert Peter Bergen was already deeply immersed in analyzing the events to the extent of naming Dawood Ibrahim, a former Mumbai gangster who first went to Dubai and then to Pakistan creating a huge crime empire, as a possible lead player in the planning of the Mumbai attacks. Overall, the US media, feeling somewhat lost in the aftermath of intensely acrimonious albeit hugely historic electioneering that elected Obama, found in the Mumbai attacks a riveting story that went on for nearly 60 hours.
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Just as the images of billowing smoke from the twin towers of New York are seared in the memories of people all over the world, similarly the television visuals of the raging fire in the ornate façade of Mumbai's iconic Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel will be recalled whenever the deadly terrorist attack on India's financial capital Nov 26-29 is mentioned. The booming sound of gunfire as the security forces engaged the jehadis will also become a part of the nation's collective memory.
They were the least known of the special forces commandos who were pressed into an anti-terrorist operation in Mumbai. But the 25-odd elite fighters of the Marcos - acronym for marine commandos - grabbed the national and international spotlight with their all-black overalls and faces masked by black cloth.
The restoration of the century-old Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel in downtown Mumbai that was considerably damaged during the terror siege could take as much as 12 months and cost about Rs.5 billion (Rs.500 crore/$100 million), experts on structural engineering and architecture say.
I can't go on, says Beckett's Unnamable. I will go on. A writer's injuries are his strengths, and from his wounds will flow his sweetest, most startling dreams.
And Proust, too, killing himself to write his book comes close to the concept of dharma when, echoing Balzac, he says that in the end it's less the desire for fame than 'the habit of laboriousness' that takes a writer to the end of a work. But dharma, as this ideal of truth to oneself, or living out the truth in oneself, can also be used to reconcile men to servitude and make them find in paralyzing obedience the highest spiritual good. 'And do thy duty, even if it be humble,' says the Aryan Gita,
'rather than another's, even it be great. To die on one's duty is life: to live in another' death.
My discovery over the years is that the mother tongues have so much in them, so much that is alive, and are much more pervasive, in all strata of society, in all ages from children to the very old, men and women, literate and non-literate. What holds them together? It's not Sanskrit. It's these mother tongues. I think I went into linguistics because of that. That spoken languages had to be very, very important. It was important in my youth to have discovered this.
Writing is a concentrated form of thinking. I don't know what I think about certain subjects, even today, until I sit down and try to write about them. Maybe I wanted to find more rigorous ways of thinking. We are talking now about the earliest writing I did and about the power of language to counteract the wallow of late adolescence, to define things, define muddled expression in economical ways. Let's not forget that writing is convenient. It requires the simplest tools. A young writer sees that with words and sentences on a piece of paper that costs less than a penny he can place himself more clearly in the world. Words on a page, that's all it takes to help him separate himself from the forces around him, streets and people and pressures and feelings. He learns to think about these things, to ride his own sentences into new perceptions.
Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself. An artist is a creature driven by daemons. He doesn’t know why they chose him and he is usually too busy to wonder why. He is completely amoral in that he will rob, borrow, beg, or steal from anybody and everybody to get the work done.
I am trembling with cold