The Siege Remembered

It's almost a year since the tragic day. The newspapers,television and magazines were rife with people recounting the horror of those unforgettable 62 hours of siege. As I went through those tragic experiences, I couldn't help myself from being pulled back into time. I even had nightmares at times. As I read the newspaper today, one news that really moved me was the interview of Major Unnikrishnan's parents. One of the papers quoted his parents saying, "We all want a Bhagat Singh, but only in our neighbour's house". A year has passed, how secure are we today? I for sure, do not feel any safer. The situation in our neighbourhood has deteriorated even further. As a citizen, I exercise my voting right and remain vigilant of my surrounding. I just hope our nodal agencies become more vigilant as well,our politicians start being more accountable and our government start acting strong. I don't want to take refuge behind the silhouette of the spirit of Mumbai. All my respect goes to the brave NSG commandos and police officers who laid their lives so that the rest of us can live in peace.

The City Under Siege

9/11, 7/26, 11/26....No we are not talking of any mathematical series. Those are the most bloodiest days in the history of mankind with the last one being the watershed and waterloo for our system. A brazen, dastardly, almost unthinkable terrorist attack, carried out by the perpetrators, on CST, Leopold Cafe, TAJ , Cama Hospital, Trident, Oberoi and Nariman House. It all started with the firing at CST on 26th November night around 9:30. Couple of heavily armed terrorists barged their way across to CST and opened fire indiscriminately. As the situation worsened, news poured in of attacks at Cama hospital, TAJ and Oberoi. Within an hour all these major centres were under the control of the terrorists. Armed with advanced ammunition, enough to sustain for a week, they lay siege on the hotels. The location turned out into a battle zone within minutes. NSG Commandos were called in to handle the situation. As the number of reported deaths increased, the world turned its eyes on India. The country lost one of its very best officers in the line of duty. With NSG, RAF, CRPF and MARCOS in, it took almost 2 days , 195 lives and trauma, that would last quite a long, to clean up the terrorists. The city and the country had to pay a very dear price. Be it the foreign nationals or the common man on the streets, no one was spared. In 25 years of my life, after the riots in 93, I have never seen the city held back for so long. All major news channels including NDTV and IBN covered the crisis for an unending 72 hours. Clearly, the city wants to send out a message. It wants to do away with the resilience, which it had been carrying with it. I just pray and hope, instead of fighting amongst ourselves, our so called real politicians of the soil, show some real conviction and dignity to protect the very people who have made India what it is today. News channels are quick to term this as the 9/11 of India. But the question is, will we be able to call a terrorist a terrorist in stead of worrying over the votebank politics? India today is not because of any polical party, it is a self sustaining economy and what drives it today is the sheer will and determination of the people. I won't harp on what is right or what is wrong, who is responsible or what could have been done. For me, as an ordinary citizen, I never felt so helpless ever before in my life, seeing bodies being brought out one after the other. Tears have stopped dropping but the anger is just building. I hope at least this time around, our honourable leaders put aside their differences and unite to prove that they deserve the very post they are holding.