INDIA UNDER SEIGE

26th November 2008: Time 10:00pm
In a well planned attack, 26 terrorists strike at 10 different places in Mumbai,the financial capital of India,killing over 130 and injuring over 300 innocent people, some of whom were foreign tourists. The places targetted included the Taj Hotel, the Oberoi Hotel, Nariman house and the Chatrapati Shivaji rail terminal. The hotels are frequented by foreigners, mostly Americans and Britishers. The terrorists had even asked the hostages to disclose their nationality, clearly indicating their intentione. This attack on Mumbai is similar to the 9/11 Al Quaeda attack in US.

28th November 2008: Time 12:30pm
For well over 40 hours, the terrorists have held the Mumbai city to ransom. They have holed themselves in the Taj hotel, Trident (Oberoi) hotel and the Nariman House. It is still not confirmed how many people are still held as hostages. The armed forces, with the help of the Mumbai police and other para-military forces, are doing a commendable job in trying to flush out the terrorists without causing any harm to the hostages, the hotel staff or the guests. If one looks at the TV coverage of the operation being carried out by the forces, one can realise the risk the men in uniform are taking to protect the sovereignity of the NATION. I SALUTE THE ARMED FORCES, THE NSG COMMANDOS, THE MUMBAI POLICE, THE FIRE FIGHTERS AND OTHER PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE OPERATIONS FOR THE BRAVE ACT.

But the following facts surprise me. It is said that the 26 terrorists had come by ship to Mumbai some time back. Most of them stayed at Nariman House and had stocked huge stock of ammunitions and food in preparation of a long drawn battle with the security forces. Similarly, two of them had joined the Taj Hotel as employees and had provided all the information required for the attack in the hotel. A couple of them had checked in the hotels as guests also. The Central government had intelligence reports that terrorists may use the sea route for attack. BUT OUR INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES WERE NOT ABLE TO MONIOTOR WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THE HEART OF MUMBAI CITY FOR OVER SEVERAL DAYS.

This is not only shocking but shameful on part of the intelligence agencies. Inspite of knowing how the terrorists had attacked a 5-star hotel in Pakistan, they did not take a lesson and remained lax. The response from the Indian government was on expected lines - "we will ensure that the terrorists do not succeed in their nefarious design" ...or "our countrymen have great resilience and normalcy will be shortly restored" bla bla. It is high time that heads should start rolling..we have had the maximum terrorists attacks in 2008 with the government not seeming to show any muscle and courage to act. Not only the Central Home Mnister, Shivraj Patil, who belongs to Maharastra should be sacked, but the Head of Intelligence bureau and RAW should be replaced. We should work in close coordination with the intellligence agencies of our allies like US, UK, France, Israel etc. It is also reported that as soon as the news of the terrorists attack reached US, the FBI offered to help and we just did not take a decision then. This raises a very vital question: IS IT BECAUSE OF VOTE BANK POLITICS?