Nov

29

From the moment we first heard of the terror attack in Mumbai, it was clear that the shield and sense of security that we thought we lived under, had been breached. Most of the agencies that are normally tasked with being our protectors from external and internal enemies, were taken by surprise and completely caught off guard two days ago. Wait. How can they be caught off guard if being on guard is their job in the first place. Well, then someone didn’t do their job right.

No matter how smart the terrorists, no matter how brilliant their tactics, we thought we had people who knew how to protect us. Once our protectors woke up however, they went above and beyond their duty, many of them giving their precious lives, and all of them eventually did us proud. And most of us would agree that hindsight is always 20-20 and second-guessing of such courageous public servants is unwarranted, especially in volatile hostage situations, where one has to fight the enemy with hands tied behind. Still, nothing should be taboo since this is a land of free speech and we value that more than anything else.

The navy:
The navy is supposed to be our first and last line of defense at the sea. It is just unbelievable that foreign combatants were able to land on our coast with bags laden with heavy ammunition. For last few weeks, Indian navy has been basking in glory because they fought and sunk a pirate ship or two hundreds of miles away from home. And here we are with enemy boats lining right up against the gateway of India, and the navy has no clue that the defense barrier has been breached. Why were the coast guards sleeping at their job? Where was the commander partying that night? We are talking about the world’s fifth largest navy that has 55,000 personnel and 150-plus vessels and an aircraft carrier and nuclear submarines and missile-launching capabilities. What good is all that if you cannot bloody keep awake on your duty?

The intelligence agencies:
We can put a satellite all the way on the moon and can take the high-resolution pictures of the lunar surface. But we do not have a satellite constantly watching our own coasts. Well, we do have satellites constantly looking down upon us, but they are used to broadcast our stupid and idiotic daytime soaps and utterly useless Cricket games that go on 500 times a year. So all that satellite technology we have invested in and all the work that ISRO has done and all the efforts of the space scientists cannot produce one watchful eye in the skies for us? Darn it.

India is supposed to be one of the most advanced user of cellular technology. With all the cellphone conversations that go on amongst the terrorists and their supporters and their ISI friends, how is it that we cannot tap any of that stuff barely a few miles away on the planet? Or maybe we forgot that such things are possible and routinely done by most nations!

Our intelligence agencies must have gathered some data on the Kashmiri militants, the ISI operatives, the Dawood henchmen, the high-ranking sympathizers within Pakistani government, every one of them. What have our analysts been doing at their desks? How come none of them thought of a scenario such as this one? Why haven’t they prepared a detailed plan of a suicide-hostage drama in the middle of a bustling metropolis?

We cannot use technology to our advantage. We don’t seem to have penetrated the inner rings of the bad guys. We have absolutely no idea of devastating plans being made across the border, to wipe out our existence. We do not have any idea how to prepare ourselves for worst-case scenarios.

The Anti-terrorism squads:
Hemant Karkare was a family friend. He was a rare man with integrity and honesty the likes of which are hard to come by nowadays. And his death is a personal loss and a very painful one.

Having said that, I cannot understand how the ATS leadership in general, not foresee a disaster scenario such as this one. And how did they end up underestimating the enemy? Why did the top officers of the ATS stay close together instead of spreading out? Why did the ATS leaders not have a rapid action plan that included a sea-route trespass by the enemy? Why was Karkare not protected better by those around him? Why did the ATS not get the early rapid support by commandos?

Why did we need to fly 200 National Security guards from Delhi to Mumbai? Does that mean we did not have the highest caliber commandos in Mumbai and so they had to be imported from a thousand miles away? Did we not lose precious early seconds by waiting for the elitest commandos to show up? And why doesn’t Mumbai have the elitest commandos?

The Mumbai police:
Mumbai police always go above and beyond their duty, considering how ill-paid, ill-equipped and ill-prepared they are. One almost feels sorry for the guys in khaki who looked absolutely unfit to combat elite and well-trained international terrorists. But there they were, doing whatever they can. I salute these guys, but am deeply upset with their leaders who have left this force incapable of fighting a modern-day 21st century urban battle where the opposing party aren’t your average thieves but a well-coordinated pack of ruthless psychopaths.

Having said everything that can fairly and unfairly be said about our law enforcement and the military in this regard, I must mention the big caveat that all these guys work under. They report to some of the dumbest politicians on the planet. That fact alone takes away any inherent edge these good guys might have against the bad guys. But then, this is the blame game and they had to be part of it.


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4 Comments so far

  1. naren on November 29, 2008 11:06 pm

    Yes.It all boils down to corrupt and selfish politicans. There is not one government elect who will put his personal interest aside even for one second and think for the well being of the people. As long as that is the case, no actions will be taken until the war is at the very doorsteps. Then heroes like Mr.Karkare will be sacrificed, peace will be temperoraily restored at a high price and all will go back to soaps and cricket and bollywood.

  2. Devender Parmar on November 30, 2008 1:00 am

    Well, all this will be nothing compared to the silence this issue will face in a couple of months when all this dies down. Nobody will remember what happened.

  3. Kaly on November 30, 2008 3:32 am

    we need to change this. Not any heroism.
    WE DONT WANT TO STOP CORRUPTION. WE WANT STANDARD!!!

    Let there be speed cameras and let the fine money go to politician..
    Let’s scan all emails, lets have a database of all Indians, let some corrupt politician get these ideas to make money please!!

    There should be law to get grip of email/phone/sms/wifi usage, goodness me, we have IT literates in this universe.

    Let us get sick of standard. We are strong and billion in number. Not any herosim or pride. Simple common sense ?

  4. Mayuresh Gaikwad on December 1, 2008 10:46 am

    1. The NSG was formed to protect the politicians as their lives are much more precious than yours and mine. Hence, they are based only in Delhi!If the politicians give importance to the proletriat, how will their Orwellian dreams materialize?
    2. Mayawati roams around with 350 police personnel, people are asked to look the other way when her cavalcade passes, such is the level of security needed. Amar Singh has Z+ security, Raj Thakeray had Z level security till now. All this, inspite of the fact that the biggest goons in the country belong to the SP, BSP, MNS,
    3. Yes, the police and security agencies work under enormous pressure. Reams of paper and online bandwidth have been written in rants about this. However, nothing is done ever. The police still ahve an outdated .303 caliber rifle (or a service revolver) with six bullets each. How do you fight an AK-47 operating guy with them? Atleast hand them INSAS rifles which our armed forces use.
    4. It is unfair to blame the navy and coast guards. 55,000 personnel with outdated equipment just cannot protect 7,000 km of coastlines. We do not have an aircraft carrier (The Viraat is in refit in India, the Vikramaditya will not arrive till 2012). We have a minimal number of warships (8 destroyers, 13 frigates and 24 corvettes) are just not enough when we have three hostile neighbors (PAK, BAN, CHN). Compared to that, the Japanese navy has 46,000 personnel operating 49 destroyers and a lots of other vessels!

    Q. What can be done by the common man?
    Ans. Make sure the politicians know that security is a major issue by voting for more security in the 2009 elections. Throw this govt. out of power

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