If you had 1 Crore to fight against terror, how do you think it should be spent?

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Below is what I have to say -

This is going to be a long post cause this seems to be the forum where we are discussing this.

I DO NOT believe that terrorism will ever vanish. No matter how hard we try and no matter what we do, there will always be attacks of this kind. There are 3 main things that drive terrorism today (according to me) – brainwashing, funding & training. None of these 3 things are going to go away anytime soon. The end of terrorist attacks is impossible and a world without such attacks will exists only in our minds/hearts & fairy tales. There will always be people who will do the wrong thing. I think it’s important to remember this and chalk out objectives keeping this in mind.

I think we need to see to it that 1) Such attacks are few and far between 2) We can deal with them when they happen in such a way that we minimize loss/damage 3) We deal with the aftermath in such a way that we minimize loss/damage

I don’t think 1 crore is enough and I know that this will have to be an ongoing effort to make any sort of impact

The few things I would love to see (and this isn’t restricted to stopping terrorism) –


1) A better crisis management system in place.

a.This would not just be restricted to the armed forces but would even things like transportation, hospital readiness, information dissemination, etc
b.This system should be able to deal with multiple threats – bombs (big and small), gunfire, bio-weapons, hostage situations etc
c.One central team that will take care of all the problems when the city is under threat and will be held responsible if things go wrong.


2) Stronger punishment for terrorists.

Why are we always doing politically correct things? We should be hanging people like this. Not keeping them in our jails. Do we want more Kandahars? Terrorists should know that if they come in, they will die. Why should you keep such people alive? What cause they are human? Seriously you can kill and eat a chicken which does no harm to someone but such people you want to keep alive?


3) Better communication and information systems during the time of an attack

Everyone is glued to their televisions and top officials cannot answer a simple question like ‘how many people do you believe are in the building?’ That’s ridiculous. If it can’t be told, say it is sensitive information but at least give some estimate. People want to know what is happening around them and if they see such people saying such things, it doesn’t build confidence and that is what creates more panic.


4) Dealing with terror that lingers.

We should have crisis centers or something, where people who are directly affected can get help. Fear is psychological and it’s a terrible feeling. People should have some place where they can go and get help. Being a hostage for instance is a mind-racking experience (I would assume). Such people should get free therapy if possible. This could be for common citizens or people in the forces etc


5) Dealing with ineffective officials

There needs to be an accountability system. Anyone gets away with anything in this country. Someone must be responsible to see that such attacks are dealt with properly. And if screw ups happen, I would like to see a proper punishment being given. Whether it is someone in the armed forces or in politics or in the media, there should be NO EXCEPTION. I mean I am hearing people say that the Gujarat coast guard had warned about the terrorists in advance (could be a rumour) and what were people who are in-charge doing? Sleeping?


A few other things I would love to see is –

1) More religious leaders coming out and condemning acts of terrorism (and no I don’t just mean Muslim priests. Nearly every religion has blood on its hands). Not just some small thing after some attack but regularly and to a big group of people. Maybe we need to create a forum (not an online community) for such a thing. I think something like this will make it a little more difficult to recruit ‘jihadis’. Religion is a nice excuse for terrorism and things must be done to correct this.

2) International pressure AND aid to countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc where there are terrorism training camps. Such places need to be destroyed. Again it won’t stop terrorism but will make it difficult to train people and thus reduce the occurrence of attacks. If the governments are pro-terrorism, there should be ways to deal with it. Maybe we should petition for such things.

3) Better situational education/situational sensitivity for the common man (restricted to the big cities is good enough). Common people should know first aid. They should also know things like not getting in the way of any operation that might be on (like it happened today at Taj). There can be educational documentaries created and aired on TV for instance.

I am sure I can go on. There must be a ton of things that I haven’t even thought of. Will add more later.

Why politicians will never fight terrorism seriously

I remember Asfaq writing a tweet about fire again at the Taj and I replied to him saying 'A lot of people in this city would cry, if major damages happen to the Taj'. After about 30 seconds I realized that it was such a terrible thing to say because here were more than a hundred people dead and I would be crying about destruction of a building? What sort of a low-life am I? And then thankfully it struck me that the destruction of the Taj would have been a PERSONAL LOSS. I didn't know anyone who died in the attacks. I didn't know anyone who was injured. So the sympathy I feel is sympathy. It's a sadness that is distant and generic. About the state of affairs. About what happens in this city. About the insanity the world is facing.

But if something happened to the Taj structure, the sadness I would have felt would be because of personal loss. Lots of memories are linked to that hotel. Most of them when I was younger. It was a place I use to be at. It was a place I ate it. It was a place I would laugh with my family. It was a place where I use to drink cold coffee. Attended wedding functions in its halls. Ran around the corridors if none of the adults were looking. Sat in the lobby feeling so great of being in a 5 star hotel. If something happened to it, Mumbai just wouldn't seem the same. It IS a landmark of this city. It represents history and it represents progress.


This thought got me to the answer of why politicians will never fight terrorism seriously. It's not personal to them. They don't feel the loss. They don't feel the loss of the people who die. They don't feel the loss of the damage to property. They don't even personally get affected by the loss to the economy or the image of the country/city.

We all know that very few of our politicians have this dying love for our country. They have love for power, they have love for publicity etc. An attack on average citizens doesn't affect them. They just make big talks and show fake sympathies and declare big compensations because they want to stay in power or want to get in power. I would love to see what would happen if a lot of politicians and their families faced losses because of terrorist attacks. I am sure they will change lows and I am sure they will make a bigger noise. I am sure they will come down hard on terrorist outfits inside the country and will also come down hard on those outside the country.

I also don't believe that normal average individuals who do face losses in such attacks can really make a difference because they don't have resources. Yes it is all nice to say and hear things like we just need the will. That there needs to be determination and we will achieve what we want. Sorry I don't believe it is doable. You NEED MORE than just the will to make a difference. Even groups of individuals that want to join and help the cause will fall short is what I feel. Unless of course you have so many of these individuals that those who don't want to make a difference become a very small minority.

The government needs to wake up. We need to wake up.

To Be Continued...

Firing and Explosions in Mumbai

I can't stop thinking how such a boring usual day turned into this.

It's 2:10 and the attack just doesn't seem to be ending.

Mumbai has been under terror attacks before. 3 major ones. The 1st one I was too young and the other two hit a city I lived in. But this attack hit home because it happened in South Mumbai. When Mumbai is attacked, I feel the city I live in is under attack but South Mumbai being under a terror attack feels like my home is being attacked. I hate the idea of someone coming to my home and doing what ever the hell they liked.


Also I never remember crying about a terror attack anywhere ever. But hearing about 3 top cops dying just shook me up too much. I mean these were people who walked into a difficult situation just so that all of us could be safer and this nightmare could come to an end. My heart goes out to the police force that lost brave officers today and to the families of those 3 officers.


I keep thinking how messed up could someone be to do something like this. I mean you are obviously not normal if you walk into a station with a gun and then just open fire. Or decide to blow up a place with a grenade. And these were 20 something year olds. They are kids man. Seriously how messed up can someone be?


It's now nearly 4 hours since the attack started and nothing seems to be slowing down. Every hour that has passed since 10:30 has just brought news of more firing and explosions. More deaths and injuries. And the attack got worse when it became a hostage situation.


The security forces weren't prepared for this. How can they be? I mean I keep hearing that there is so much chaos out there. But what else will be there? You don't plan for some 10 - 12 people walking into a place with AK-47s and opening fire. At least not until it happens for the first time. I don't blame the government and I don't blame the police for not being able to finish off this situation faster. There is a limit to things they can do. I do blame terrorist organisations.


I honestly think that if there will ever be a solution found to terrorism, it will be India that finds it mainly because we seem to be the ones that face the problem the most.


I want to thank all those people who messaged and called to ask if everything was alright. Appreciate it.


Deccan Mujahideen behind the attacks. No one seems to have heard of them before tonight but I am sure few (at least in Mumbai) will forgot the outfit after today.




Update - 2:45 AM

80 feared dead and over 200 injured. I remember thinking at 11 PM, when we started listening to the news 'wow thank god the attack has started late. It would have been so much worse if it had started earlier'. Of course back then we were mainly heard about CST and Colaba and my thoughts were focused around attacks on the trains. Unfortunately the focus has shifted now to mainly the hotels - Taj and Oberoi where there is a hostage situation.


I even think I heard a couple of blasts. I remember the first sound going off and thinking 'hmmm firecrackers'. The second one was louder and more distinct and didn't sound like any firecracker I had heard and I thought 'maybe thunder' of course right away I thought 'where's the lightning?' and then thinking that maybe it was some accident at one of the construction sites close by. It was loud enough that my sister came into the hall from the room and asked me what I thought the sound was. She insisted we put on the news - this was around 10:40-10:50 PM and I was like 'are you crazy? What's going to show up on news and that too so soon'. But we turned it on and reports were already coming out about firing and blasts.


Hearing the sound and then listening to the news of terrorist attack reminded me of the blasts in 1993. For a few seconds it felt like I was back in that class in school, sitting in the Marathi lecture, doing some writing. Everything quiet till this huge sound happened, that scared the living day lights out of all of us. The earth shook under us. For at least 5 seconds everyone just froze and looked around at each other not saying anything. And when we started getting 'excited' our teacher told us to get back to our work and went out to find out what happened. After a few minutes (10-15 maybe) we got to know what had happened. Not in detail of course. And obviously we couldn't really understand cause we were 10-11 years old. And I remember the frantic sort of 'evacuation' that happened that day in school. Parents rushing to school to pick up their children. Car pools being organised real quickly. Class teachers making phone calls to parents. Parents living close by offering to take as many children as needed to their own house till their own parents arrived.

Never understood terror back then. Maybe I don't understand it now either (though I have felt real fear in my life - for other reasons). But back then none of us kids thought of horrible thoughts like if a bus was safe enough to get onto, or if we would return home in the evening once we left for the day, or whether our dads would be okay at their office, etc. I think we all think that in this country now. At least every once in a while.




Update - 3:25 AM


F**k man it kills me to see the Taj hotel burning like this. I thought the flames were put off. I hope the fire brigade can put these flames out. It seems to be spreading really fast and I fear the damage it will do if it's not put out soon will be terrible. Both the Taj and the Oberoi use to be our 'hang out' when we had visitors from abroad. Back then there was no Barista and Cafe Coffee Day outlets so the coffee shops of the Taj and Oberoi (and Taj President) was where we would take are guests especially after dinner. Who would have though that this would happen? It's been more than 5 hours since the attack started and it just isn't ending. Shit this is depressing.


The have rounded up 9 suspects for questioning and 2 terrorists are dead.



Update - 10:07 AM


I cannot believe that the ordeal is still not over.


I went to sleep around 5:20 AM cause I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. Last news update I heard before sleeping was that some 200 NSG persons were on their way to Mumbai and would arrive within 30 minutes. I went to sleep thinking that everything would be over in an hour or so.


When I woke up around 9:20 (had to make grandma's breakfast), I was horrified to see that the ordeal wasn't over. My sister was watching the news and she said that the terrorists are still in both hotels and when I asked her about the Taj Hotel, she said it was still on fire and they kept saying that every time they douse the fire, it starts up again after a while because the wiring is up there or something.


Aren't these terrorists tired? I am tired just listening to the news for so many hours. All my sympathies to everyone who is right in the middle of this.


Ruiyu just called me from China. I was thinking 'wow it's so nice to hear her talk rather than read what she is saying but what a terrible time to talk to her. I can't even really catch up with her and we can't talk non terror stuff'.


I am going to go back to sleep and am hoping that when I wake up in about 2 hours or so, I don't hear news that says 'Terrorists still holed up at Trident and Taj'.



Update - 1.56 PM


I realized how much being an optimist sucks today.


The situation is still on. Hostage situation at the Taj, the Trident and at Nariman House. I thought this would be over before 7 AM. At 10:30 when it was still on, I went back to sleep hoping that when I wake up after 2 hours it will be over. It wasn't. The news at 1:40 was just as grim at at 10:30.


I remember thinking last night 'thank god they don't have bombs'. Today morning hearing Bharka Dutt talk about how such operations happen in Jammu and Kashmir, I realized that the absence of bombs isn't really as good a thing as I thought it was because such attacks are usually done in this manner where these terrorists go in willing to die and do so with guns and grenades. And usually these episodes last long and even up to 48 hours till they finally burn the building down. That last line totally freaked me out. I hope no more damage happens to innocent lives and property. If I can find what Barkha said verbatim, I will copy paste it later.




Update - 8:10 PM


Man how can something like this go on for 24 hours?


I keep thinking whether our police force and all the special squads are messing up. I do understand that this is a huge ordeal and that there are been terror attacks before where people have been held hostages for days but I can't help thinking why things didn't happen faster.

I heard a CNN reporter say 'why wasn't there no intelligence about this?'. Having just watched season 1 of 24 I had thought the same thing too. I keep thinking how cool it would be if real life was a TV show. Where the hero always saves the day. Where good presides over bad. Where miracles happen.


I also keep thinking why it is they can't give us numbers of how many people might have been in both the hotels. This might be sensitive information which they don't want to give out. But by not giving a number, I am wondering if they themselves know. Which is terrible because as part of the rescue operations all the special forces first need to know how many people are there and where they are.


Didn't heard Ratan Tata's interview with the press but read a scroll on some news channel and I think he made a lot of sense. If we know that terrorist attacks are going to keep happening, why not get a better infrastructure into place. It's not just about people dying or property getting destroyed. It is also about the quality of life of ordinary people. Why should people live in so much fear? The government and police should do more to make citizens of this country feel more safe.


Also I am so damn pissed at seeing people walk around the Taj hotel. I mean it's no f*****g entertainment program happening there that people want to come and have a look for themselves. Yes I do understand that curiosity is in our nature but how does it help by creating more work for the armed forces? Also don't they understand that it might not be safe yet? If they so want to be in the midst of things why don't they just walk into the hotel and go knocking on doors? And worse all these people who have no work are pushing each other to be on TV behind a reporter or something. Why are people so retarded?



Update 30th Nov

I had written that I didn't blame the government. Back then a few hours after the attacks started, I didn't. 60 hours to take care of the problem is just unacceptable.

I got so fed up of watching the news. My thoughts were blank more than anything once we hit the 40 hours mark. It felt like I was going indifferent to everything that was happening at the hotels.

Also I am glad I was so pissed about people walking around the Taj. I thought I was being unreasonable. But see it wasn't over. I am glad no one got hurt but I hate when people are stupid.

What is this world coming to?????...

Another blast in Delhi today. 

Man I don't even know what to say.

Ashwan's status message said - 'doesn't react to bombs anymore'. And I know exactly what he is saying. 

Can there be a stop to this madness?