Once again the horrific days have come upon Mumbaikars, when we have to relive the memories of the terror of November 26. Mumbai was known as a safe city and the people living in this city always thought distant places like Afghanistan, Kashmir and Pakistan were soft targets for terrorists.
But Mumbai was also under their fire. Terrorists ran amok on the streets of Mumbai spraying bullets and lobbing grenades on innocent people without making a concession for the old, infirm, women and children. Their main aim was to destroy the fabric of Mumbai and to kill the spirit of cosmopolitanism, for which it is famous.
Terrorists arrived in the city through the sea route with hand grenades, automatic machine guns and large amount of explosives. They didn’t even refrain from harming sickbays like Cama Hospital.
In 1993, the first set of bombs ripped the city apart. The citizens of Mumbai rose like a phoenix from the ashes and rebuilt the city. This didn’t go down well with the terrorists and therefore they tried many more times to bring Mumbai and its people on their knees. Some terrorist attacks which followed the 1993 carnage are as follows: blast in the BEST bus at Ghatkopar in December 2002, blast at Vile Parle killing one and injuring 25 in January 2003 and serial blasts took place inside trains at seven places in the evening killing 225 people in July 2006.
Apart from that several blasts have occurred sporadically killing and maiming many. But the November 26 attacks were different in a way. The terrorists wanted to really kill the spirit of the city and aimed at destroying the pride of Mumbai. Inconceivable terror and an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety returned to Mumbai’s streets on that night. The terrorists succeeded in killing ATS chief Hemant Karkare, additional police commissioner Ashok Kamte and another policeman Vijay Salaskar. All these top notch officials laid down their life for the love of the country, fighting bravely with the terrorists.
The main aim of these terrorists was to put an end to the country’s commercial centre Mumbai. Hence the terrorists moved about in groups and attacked innocent people on the roads all over the city and set off inter-connected blasts. The targets like CST railway station and two posh five-star hotels - Oberoi Trident and Taj Mahal Hotel, were carefully chosen for the purpose.
The hotels are Mumbai’s pride, especially the Taj Mahal hotel, which is known as a heritage hotel and every tourist’s envy.
Somebody has to make the perpetrators realise that they aren’t invincible. India needs to establish a national law and its approach in dealing with the terrorists should be even-handed. The country needs a united policy direction at the national level to deal with terrorism.
— Golden Reejhsinghani
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