26/11 – the Attack on Mumbai

                   

The 2008 Mumbai attacks (now referred to as 26/11) where more than 10 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai, India's largest city, by self proclaimed Islamist attackers who came from Pakistan. The attackers received assistance before the attacks, Ajmal Kasab later claimed upon interrogation that the attacks were conducted with the support of Pakistan's ISI. The attacks, which drew widespread global condemnation, began on Wednesday, 26 November and lasted until Saturday, 29 November 2008, killing 164 people and wounding at least 308. The Taj Mahal Hotel, The Trident Hotel, CST Railway station, a Jewish home Chabad House and café Leopold was the focus of attack and suffered the most.

The memories of that day when I was travelling to Bangalore for work…  On reaching the hotel and switching on the television( which incidentally is the first thing I do when I enter a hotel  room) I see that city of mine which I had left just 3 hours back in pandemonium. Those images on TV with the police paramilitary on the streets of Mumbai and all channels are showing the same image of CST and some firing happening. On an impulse I call up home to find if all well, my friends and family and then further pandemonium as the cell fone and telephone lines were jammed messages not going through. Somehow I got through my mother and some close friends and managed to find out about most people I was concerned for since they either lived or worked near the places of attacks.

Work was all forgotten all I wanted to do was get back home. I managed to get through the next day my heart and mind in my Mumbai and me physically in Bangalore. My flight to Mumbai cancelled that day and I was forced to spend another day just watching my Mumbai burn.

As I write this I have a lump in my throat, caused by seething anger that someone can just walk in and start killing my people and we can do nothing but wait for JUSTICE to take its course to teach that MURDER a lesson.

To watch the perpetrators of the crime holding people of my country / city to ransom was blood churning. For the second time in my life I saw the Rapid Action Forces on the streets of Mumbai (the 1st was during the riots in 1993) and for the 1st time I saw the Marine Commandos (MARCOS)and National Security Guards (NSG) commandos.


The damaged Oberoi Trident Hotel

The burning dome of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower

On November 29 2008, When Tata group Chairman Ratan Tata entered the Taj Mahal hotel around 0800 hrs this morning, one of the first persons to receive him from among the hotel staff was Karamveer Singh Kang, Taj's general manager.

A visibly moved Tata asked him to take rest, but Kang pleaded with everybody around to allow him to continue his work. The GM had lost his wife, Niti Kang (37) and sons Uday (15) and Sameer (5) in a fire caused by a grenade lobbed by the terrorists in their suite on the sixth floor on Wednesdaynight.

Niti and her children could not escape from the front door as the terrorists were firing indiscriminately. Kang, who was busy guiding other guests to safety, spotted the blaze in the suite and rushed to the fire department personnel to do something that could help save his wife and children. Their charred remains were found in the toilet where they were hiding.

The pride of Mumbai Taj Mahal Palace and Tower in Flames.


Chabad House after the attack

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/11/mumbai_under_attack.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_2008_Mumbai_attacks

The sights and the memory of that day still fresh in my mind.

The timeline of the attack clearly shows what a well orchestrated attack on the largest city in India it was and people were caught by surprise. What is the state of our Intelligence, I ask? How does the government ensure that they protect their citizens?

Ajmal Kasab, the only attacker who was captured alive, disclosed that the attackers were members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based militant organisation, considered a terrorist organisation by India, Pakistan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the United Nations, among others. The Indian government said that the attackers came from Pakistan, and their controllers were in Pakistan. On 7 January 2009, Pakistan's Information Minister Sherry Rehman officially accepted Ajmal Kasab's nationality as Pakistani. On 12 February 2009, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik asserted that parts of the attack had been planned in Pakistan. A trial court on 6 May 2010 sentenced Ajmal Kasab to death on five counts.

The only perpetrator of the attack caught live Ajmal Kasab.

The Mumbai terror attacks had forced the government to review security measures in order to avert a repeat of 26/11 and as much as Rs 6000 crore were earmarked for upgrading the coastal security set-up alone. However, CNN-IBN has now found that even three years after 26/11, many critical coastal security measures are languishing in government files as mere proposals. The confidential government documents reveal how Mumbai continues to remain most vulnerable to another sea-borne 26/11-style attack.

'Expeditious and time-bound' setting-up of a coastal radar chain at a cost of Rs 350 crore was ordered in December 2008. Had these radars been installed, embarrassments like MT Pavit wouldn't have happened. In July 2011, Pavit, an unmanned oil tanker that had allegedly sunk off the Oman coast, re-surfaced at Mumbai's Versova beach sinking the government's security claims. The Navy and Coast Guard still have no clue how security was breached.

This is the sad state of security in our city and country and I wonder what the Government or people will do to pressurize the Government to take strong fast measures before another calamity befalls our city / country.

Private lives of public figures is public property...

When I was fuming over the hue and cry over the Baby B, its assumed time of arrival and mode of arrival and not to forget place of arrival, and the doctor and what time the appointment was given etc I was reminded of an inter – collegiate debate competition, the topic of which was Private Lives of Public Figures is Public Property. It was an interesting time and I had the opportunity to debate on both sides, for and against the topic.

The extent to which the media are legally free to investigate and publish details of public figures' private lives varies from country to country. 

Journalism today thrives on voyeurism to the extent that they are obsessed with what the celebrity has worn, who he or she meets, what is their lucky mascot, what colors are their lucky colors, who they date, where they ate and the list is never ending.

Yes people in power / limelight have a double-edged sword hanging over them. They cannot lead a bad example to the youth who idolize and worship them hence am against any of these big wigs smoking and drinking themselves silly in public places. However, just because they are there in that spotlight, journalists cannot probe into their personal lives by chasing and shadowing their every move.  Yet there are some who seek this status knowing that it will bring attention to their private lives – pop stars, footballers, etc. Constant scrutiny is the price of fame. Many celebrities actively seek media exposure in order to advance their careers, revealing many aspects of their personal lives; once success has been bought in such a fashion it is hypocritical to complain of "press intrusion" into those few aspects the star would prefer to remain hidden.

The sting operation by an Andhra TV channel which resulted in the resignation of the state Governor and veteran politician Narain Dutt Tewari goes on to indicate that those in public life in future will have to be extremely careful about what they do in private. Bill Clinton got into deep trouble over his numerous involvements and the Monica Lewinsky affair continues to haunt him to this day. The Italian Prime Minister has similarly suffered a huge setback because of his sexual involvement with so many women. Tiger Woods, arguably the best athlete of the decade is facing the music for his alleged relationships with a whole lot of women.

But In India, for some odd reasons, personal lives of so many top politicians had always remained out of media’s purview in what is a self regulated omission of such news. It is only now that Jawaharlal Nehru’s extreme fondness for Lady Edwina Mountbatten is figuring in a big way in newspapers, magazines and books. 

KIRK Douglas, the famous American actor, once performed some undignified antics before a home motion picture camera for the benefit of his friends. However, when the recording was sought to be put up for public exhibition, the actor approached the court on the ground that his right to privacy was being violated. The plea was upheld.

Values and concepts of morality change with the times and so do people's expectations of the media. The private lives of John F. Kennedy and Jawaharlal Nehru were once treated as taboo by the media because people did not want their heroes to be diminished in stature. But today’s Americans would never have excused their press if it had not worked overtime to expose Gary Hart, a presidential aspirant.

The issue, therefore, boils down to the rules the print media must follow when it covers the private lives of celebrities. “Public figures must either be careful or not bother about what is written about them in the press,” said Mr Russi Karanjia, one of India’s seniormost and well-known journalists. In today’s world it is just not feasible for pubic figures to secure privacy. Their telephones can be tapped for a few thousand rupees and-a private detective can get all the information one wants about their private lives without their even knowing. Celebrities in quest of privacy must therefore make sure that they do not behave in a manner which they can be criticised in the press.

The Blitz editor also felt that a kind of ‘moral glasnost’ prevails in the country now. This makes the issue of press forays into the private lives of public figures irrelevant. “Why should celebrities be embarrassed about the way they live? As a journalist, the people expect me to tell them everything.”

I do believe that there is a public character to the private lives of personalities. Giving an illustration, Mr. Karanjia said the friendship between Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten had “changed the course of Indian history”. Similarly, he felt that there was nothing wrong with the manner in which the press had covered Mukesh Aggarwal’s suicide since “the life of a good, hardworking man had been destroyed.”

However, I also feel that along with freedom comes responsibility. The intention of a journalist, when he probes personal lives, is very important. I would also not give a clean chit to the public. People cannot demand information for vicarious pleasure.”

Further, if the public interest demanded exposure of private lives, I don’t think there should be any objection. Citing an example, the press had recently published information that some army officers faced court martial for their alleged dalliances with wives of juniors. Ruling out censorship of any kind, the journalists themselves should make the fine distinction between what is in the public interest and what is trivial.

Public figures are public for a reason. Much of their lives is publicly known, and so seeing into their private lives is unnecessary. Not only is it unnecessary, but it is more difficult. Why bother spending the extra effort to dig into a public figure's private life, when so much information is available from the public life? How would you feel if your private (and frequently embarrassing) affairs were being broadcast all over the news? It would be highly embarrassing and excessively humiliating. It is no different for public figures. No one deserves that kind of humiliation.

And so, back to our question: are public figures entitled to private lives? Well, there’s no easy ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer to that one. But there are some rules that the Indian media have, on the whole, adhered to all these years. The logic was that film stars and other entertainment celebrities had no problems discussing their private lives in their interviews. They happily talked about their boyfriends/husbands, dished the dirt on their break-ups, and announced their engagements/weddings with much fanfare (think John Abraham and Bipasha Basu or Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya). So given that they themselves opened the door to their homes, in a manner of speaking, they had no right to complain if we all turned into Peeping Toms. But then to conjecture the marriage to a tree etc was taking it a bit too far (not all open their doors some journalists even fumed at not having access to the wedding fotos and they had to be forcibly evicted from around the wedding venue).

But when it came to politicians, the game was played by different rules. As long as politicians didn’t bring their wives and families into the public domain, journalists steered clear of reporting on their private lives, no matter how tangled they might be. As long as their private lives didn’t impact on how they performed their public duties, we took the line that it was no one’s business but their own whom they did or did not sleep with. In other words, if a politician was dating someone, it wasn’t a legitimate news story. If some woman was using him for his money so be it. Suddenly all of this seems to be changing.  The old rules are in the process of being archived as the tabloidization of our media continues apace. Now, it seems that even mainstream publications have no problem running speculative stories about the private lives of politicians, all of them brimming over with unproven rumours and unverified gossip. 

The explanation now seems to be that anyone who enters public life should get used to the concept of public scrutiny at all times. If you are a public figure, well, then your entire life should be lived out in public. And the public has the right to take an interest in whatever part of your life they see fit. In other words, public interest is defined as anything that the public is interested in.

Specially People in India have always been interested in the lives of the famous. And our Media is also not behind, they cover every personal details of the celebrities like the celebrity events such as a child's birth to famous parents, a marriage, or some parties on TV make prime time news. Further People want to know more because more information is available through magazines and now mainly the internet.

Far from being the ‘watchdog’ of democracy, they argue the Indian media is now enslaved to the same foibles as the western media, hounding celebrities and politicians 24 hours a day and sacrificing decency and editorial judgment along the way. One aspect of this debate relates to the question of privacy, and the degree to which a free press should be allowed to intrude on the private lives of public figures. Whilst some argue that there should be no boundaries for a free press, others suggest that checks and balances must be established to enable a media fit for purpose.

Justice for Keenan and Reuben. Justice n only justice will suffice

On October 20,2011 Keenan Santos and Reuben Fernandes went for dinner with their female friends at Amboli Bar and Kitchen in Mumbai’s suburb of Andheri West. They were stabbed to death by a group of men after they objected to the indecent behaviour of one of the men towards their female friends.

“After dinner, the group of friends had gone to a paan stall at around 11 p.m. The accused was also present at the paan stall and after these boys asked him to back off, a scuffle broke out between the three men. The accused then went away, but only to return with a group of four men, two of whom had knives with them. The accused and the other men stabbed Keenan and Reuben. Keenan died that very night,” said V.D Bhoite, senior inspector at D.N Nagar police station in Andheri West, in an interview. He further added that the four men accused are in 14 days of police custody.

Mumbai as compared to Delhi was till 20^th October 2011 considered being a safer place for women. Anger has erupted in Mumbai and across cyberspace over the killing of two young men after they tried to defend their female friends from a man who allegedly harassed the women on a night out.

The murders have received large spread attention in the local newspapers but the disillusionment with this new reality is spreading fastest on social-media sites like Facebook and Twitter, with people demanding stricter laws to tackle harassment of women and eve teasing.

Eve teasing is defined as a “euphemism used in India and sometimes Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal for public sexual harassment or molestation of women by men, with use of the word "Eve" being a reference to the biblical Eve. 

Though the problem received public and media attention in 1960s, it was in the following decades, when more and more women started going out to colleges and work independently, which means they are often no longer accompanied by a male escort as had been a norm in traditional society, that the problem grew to an alarming proportion. Soon the Indian government had to take remedial measures, both judicial and law enforcement, to curb the menace and efforts were made to sensitize the police about the issue, and police started rounding up eve teasers. The deployment of plain-clothed female police officers for the purpose has been particularly effective; other measures seen in various states were setting up of Women's Helpline in various cities, Women Police stations, and special anti-eve-teasing cells by the police.

The death of a female student, Sarika Shah, in Chennai in 1998, caused by Eve-teasing, brought some tough laws to counter the problem in South India. After this case, there has been about half-a-dozen reports of suicide that have been attributed to pressures caused by eve teasing. In 2007, an eve-teasing resulted in the death of Pearl Gupta, a college student in Delhi. In February 2009, female students from M.S. University (MSU) Vadodara assaulted four young men near the family and community sciences faculty, after they passed lewd comments on a girl student staying in SD Hall hostel.

In the Indian Penal code the word eve – teasing does not exist. Eve teasing is an attitude and a mindset, a set of behaviors that is construed as an insult and an act of humiliation of any female.

Though Indian law doesn't use the term 'Eve Teasing', victims usually seek recourse through Section 298 (A) and (B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which sentences a man found guilty of making a girl or woman the target of obscene gestures, remarks, songs or recitation to a maximum jail sentence of three months. Section 292 of the IPC clearly spells out that showing pornographic or obscene pictures, books or slips to a woman or girl draws a fine of Rs.2000 with two years of rigorous imprisonment for first offenders. In the case of a repeated offence, the offender may have a fine of Rs.5000 with five years imprisonment imposed. Under Section 509 of the IPC, obscene gestures, indecent body language and acidic comments directed at any woman or girl carries a penalty of rigorous imprisonment for one year or a fine or both.

The 'National Commission for Women' (NCW) has also proposed No 9. Eve Teasing (New Legislation) 1988.

According to me eve teasing or any kind of harassment meted out to women is a violation of their basic right to live with dignity.  There is an urgent need for some questions to be answered: Will women forever remain targets and victims of eve teasing? Will their rescuers continue to be unwilling martyrs to a dead cause?

Before these questions are addressed, one needs to explore and analyse why, irrespective of the dress they wear, or, their ages, their looks, their educational, professional and marital status, never mind the time or place, women in Kolkata and elsewhere are being subjected to all kinds of harassment from obscene telephone calls, stalking, and last but not the least – eve-teasing.

Over the last couple of decades the instances of such harassment have increased.

·         On August 1, 2007 Sanjay Soni, a young man, tried to molest a girl inside a shared auto rickshaw in Lake Town in the presence of her father who was escorting her. When the girl tried to resist, the father asked the auto rickshaw driver to stop and began to bash up the culprit. A crowd gathered and beat up the man who was saved from being lynched by the timely arrival of the police.

·     On July 30 2007, Tabassum (name changed), a student of Class VII, studying in Cartauche Public School in Park Circus, was returning home in a bus on route 45. Unable to bear with the advances of a middle-aged man standing behind her in the crowded bus, she raised an alarm. Her co-passengers remained mute spectators. The bus driver stopped the bus when he saw an on-duty sergeant. Some bus passengers came forward to back Tabassum only when the police began to question her.

·        In 2005, Reema Bose (name changed), was returning from the hospital at the end of the day from Deshpriya Park. As she walked along Motilal Nehru Road, an auto rickshaw suddenly appeared by her side. A few young men inside were guzzling beer. They began to throw bargains, whistled, teased and threw obscene comments at her. When nothing seemed to work, one of them got off the rick and tried to pull her into the vehicle. A mobile police van arrived in the nick of time and saved Reema. It was eight in the evening. (Reema narrated this incident to me.)

Women's rights activist Maitreyee Chatterjee says that even a burqah cannot guarantee safety. "Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code which mentions the arrest of a culprit for attempt to outrage the modesty of women does not have any condition about the victim's dress," she says. Filmmaker Anindita Sarbadhicari says that eve teasing and molestation are acts of perversion. "It is foolish to think that molesters get turned on by the victim's dress. Then why are there so many rapes in Islamic countries?" asks Sarbadhicari.

Eve teasing, like rape, molestation and sexual harassment, is generally understood in feminist theory to be an expression not of unbridled lust and desire, but of power. Eve teasing is a form of sexual harassment indulged in by men, never mind their intelligence or their education. Eve teasing is a crime committed against women everyday but the criminals are not punished and they continue violating a women’s privacy assuming they have a right to do so. It is an offence every woman faces in her life and not just once and ignores the offence and accepts it as a price she has to pay for being a woman.  Since not much importance is accorded to the offence and the offenders are not punished it encourages them to continue their behaviour and even escalate it too more heinous offences like assault and rape as they know they can get away with it.

On Facebook, a page has been created under “Zero Tolerance Campaign” against what is proverbially (and ridiculously) deemed “eve-teasing.” Campaign coordinator Maitreyee Achadhat said that the page is a “forum for discussion and awareness on the issue.” She said the campaign is not only in the light of the latest incident in Mumbai but for women anywhere in the country.

“The problem of eve teasing in the country is getting out of hand. Women everywhere, at least once in their lifetime, have either been groped or pinched or had to bear lewd remarks from men,” she said in an interview.

A Facebook group – “Keenan Santos” - already has more than 46,000 members. Public frustration over the lack of strong laws to counter misbehavior and harassment is a strong theme.

Coming back to the incident on October 20, 2011, I am left wondering what can be done to avert such dastardly acts of killing people who have to defend women and their dignity when they are socialising in normal civil society. At 11pm in a crowded place how can these goons have so much of courage to openly commit such a crime? What was the public around them doing.. standing watching a free movie..??? It is such apathy at times on being a witness to violence in a public place that sends chills down my spine. Are we not free and safe in our own country, town, city to move around with, without fearing for our life or dignity. Tomorrow it could be either one of their mothers, sisters, wives, or girlfriends who could be the recipient of such harassment. 

Ra van

honestly i dont know what i was thinking off when i went to see this movie...


Ra.one! Since we had nothing better to do and incidentally or otherwise ( it was all over the place that SRK cleared competition and made sure not many releases were there in that week), not many movies worth seeing in theaters Ra.one was the choice. 


The beginning of the movie made me cringe! south Indian geek of a scientist eating noodles with his hands with curd saying "Aiiyo" and his Punjabi wife doing research on abuses in Hindi! ( some which I wanted to use after seeing the movie). Quite a lethal combination not to forget that the south Indian scientist on being killed was buried and then miraculously his ashes were being scattered by his wife and kid. 


The more I think about it the more I have my blood boiling. Of course fans of SRK were all gaga but when i saw the movie over the weekend the theater was empty.


Each trade pundit has something different to say about the figures, collections that the movie has made. Of course people say it is a success but then WHAT IS SUCCESS for a bollywood movie?


Chitty was anytime more acceptable than G.one or Ra.one... 


I cringe to think SRK is going to be working on a sequel to Ra.one !


SRK should go off on a relaxing vacation which he has really earned, the way he promoted the movie for the last 3 months, if only he had invested half that energy rewriting the awful script, the movie could have been salvaged somewhat. It was a mishmash of at least three movies my favorite being karate kids..


The ultimate conclusion is that special effects are no substitutes for a story. Ra.One is an example of how to blow up several millions on so triffle.