It will be business as usual for Mumbaikars as they observe the 10th anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks on Monday. But with memories of the mayhem wreaked by 10 Pakistani terrorists that had claimed 166 lives and left more than 300 others injured having more or less faded, they have one relief that unlike in the previous two decades since 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, terror has not revisited them during the past seven years.
Justice may have unfortunately not been done to the families of those killed and injured in the form of prosecution of the Pakistan-based conspirators behind the mayhem, but they have reconciled with the past and are leading a normal life.
“I can never forget as to what happened on that night of November 26, 2008 when I was celebrating my birthday with my husband, in-laws and a friend at Hotel Taj, but I have moved on in life since then. Now I am preparing to celebrate tomorrow,” says Amrita Raichand, model-actress and chief who hosts TV show Mummy ka Magic. She is among hundreds of those who were struck at the 26/11 terror sites but survived the attacks.
Vaishali Ombale, daughter of assisant sub-inspector Tukaram Omble, who was killed after capturing the Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Kasab on the night of November 26, 2008, has also come to terms with life without her martyred father. “Life would have been much better if my father were to be alive. But, you cannot change certain things in life. We have moved on since the 26/11 attacks. My sister is now a class-I officer and I am doing M.Ed. And things are normal at home,” says Vaishali.
There have been some positives in terms of enhanced security mechanism, since the 26/11 attacks. While the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) was strengthened, a hub of National Security Guard (NSG) has been set up. Similarly, Force One, a commando force, was raised, while the
Maharashtra Intelligence Academy (MIA) has come in being. All police stations across Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra now have dedicated Anti-Terror Cells (ATCs). Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) are also in place. The coastal security too has been beefed up significantly.
However, former intelligence official and security analyst Shirish Inamdar calls for continuous vigilance. “The citizens need to vigilant about things happenings around them. They need to follow basic security drills and assist the police during security check-ups. They need to check below the seats while they go in buses and trains and report unidentified objects or any suspicious activity to the police. In essence, all of us follow four Ps -- prepare, protect, prevent and pursue,” Inamdar avers.
While the nineties when the metropolis witnessed serial blasts that claimed 257 lives and left 713 others injured and two terror acts, the period between 2002 and 2011 proved to be worse for Mumbai – for there were as many as many as nine blasts – including the 26/11 attacks in which 166 people were killed and the July 11, 2006 serial blasts in seven local trains, in which 187 killed and 824 others injured – during these nine years. Fortunately for Mumbaikars, there have not been any terror attacks in Mumbai since July 14, 2011.
Though the events that happened on the night of November 26, 2008 may have been forgotten, the tenth anniversary of the 26/11 attacks deserves a recall. Having sailed from Karachi shores a few days earlier after hijacking an Indian fishing vessel, killing its crew, ten Pakistani terrorists at a small fishing bay near Colaba in south Mumbai on the late evening of November 26, 2008. They divided themselves into groups of 2 to 3 and headed to their meticulously planned terror sites.
The sites that they targeted were They targeted the world heritage building Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), Hotel Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Hotel Trident, Nariman House, Leopold Café and Cama Hospital, Wadi Bunder.
While Abdul Rehman, Abu Ali and Abu Soheb marched to the Leopold Café in Colaba and then laid siege at Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Abdul Rehman Chota and Fahad Ullah headed to the Trident-Oberoi Hotel.
Nasir Abu Umar and Babar Imran alias Abu Aakasha targeted Nariman House housing the Jewish Chabad House, and trio - Isamal Khan, Abu Ismail and Ajmal Amir Kasab unleashed terror at CSMT, Cama Hospital and its precincts, before proceeding towards Chowpatty.
All the targets were within a radius of around 4-5 km area in south Mumbai, where the state secretariat, business and commercial hubs, deluxe hotels, residences of ministers, bureaucrats, diplomats, scientists and businesss big wigs are located.
Assistant sub-Inspect Tukaram Omble was instrumental in catching Kasab alive at Gairgaum-Chowpatty on the night of November 26,2008. Omble, it may be recalled, had held onto Kasab even after he had been grievously injured by bullets pumped into him by the latter. Omble died he could be rushed to the hospital.
While nine of the ten terrorists were killed by the security forces during the attack, the remaining one- --Mohammed Ajmal Kasab – was caught alive by the police at Girgaum Chowpatty on the intervening night of November 26-27, 2008.
After 11-month long trial that saw a trial court sentence him to death on five counts – including mass murder, criminal conspiracy and waging war against the nation and two half years of subsequent incarceration, Kasab was hanged to death in Pune’s Yerawada central prison on November 21, 2012.
Nine Pakistani terrorists may have been killed during the 26/11 attacks and the lone captured gunman Mohammed Ajmal Kasab may have been hanged, but the Pakistani-based conspirators like Hafeez Saeed, the founder of Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Lashkar-e-Taiba and his close aide Zaki-ur-Rehman Lahhvi, the chief operations commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba are roaming free.
So are a team of sharpshooters, map readers, communication experts and physical trainers including Zarar Shah, Abu al Qama Abu Qahafa, Abu Hamza, Muzammil alias Yousuf and Ibrahim alias Ali, who were involved in training the 10 fidayeens who carried out terror attack on Mumbai from November 26-29, 2008.
Meanwhile, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary 26/11 attacks, several functions have been planned on Monday in memory of those killed at various terror targets including Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Oberoi Trident, Jewish Chabad house and Leopold cafe.
As a mark of respect and gratitude to the police and security officers martyred in the 26/11 attack, Mumbai Police have organised at Martyrs' Memorial, Police Gymkhana, Marine Drive, Mumbai on Monday morning.
Flower tributes will be paid at the memorial of 26/11 attacks’ martyr Tukaram Omble at Girgaum Chowpatty in south Mumbai.
Omble was instrumental in catching Kasab alive at Gairgaum-Chowpatty on the night of November 26,2008. Omble, it may be recalled, had held onto Kasab even after he had been grievously injured by bullets pumped into him by the latter. Omble died he could be rushed to the hospital.
Mumbai’s Jewish outreach centre and one of 26/11 targets Chabad House --better known in the past as Nariman House – will be renamed as Nariman Light House’ on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the mayhem.
The event, which comes 10 months after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the place, will also mark the unveiling of a memorial on the Nariman House terrace to honour all the victims of the terror strikes.
The Chabad House was one of the main chosen targets of 10 Pakistani terrorists who sneaked into south Mumbai, through the Arabian Sea route and disembarked at a Colaba fishing jetty, barely a stone’s throw away.
The Chabad House is a partially re-built five-storey structure, a grey coloured building at Colaba in South Mumbai – which had suffered heavy damage owing to an intense firing indulged in by the two Pakistani terrorists holed up on its premises during the 26/11 attacks.