MUMBAI TERRORIST ATTACK - NOW THAT THE DUST SETTLES DOWN

After 62 hours of live coverage of the Mumbai terrorist attack, and much speculations, conjectures, followed by hours of debates and expert opinions, now as the dust settles down, it is time to examine emerging facts. TRUTH IS VERY SIMPLE.
I am simply submitting the facts, and it is for you to reflect (taffakur) on them. In today's Telegraph (3rd December) under the header "Mumbai update' the following information has been provided by the Police Commissioner, in his first news conference, since the end of the terror attack.
* All terrorists accounted for : 9 killed, 1 arrested
* Travelled in 5 taxis in groups of two, carrying five time bombs.
* Two each went to Victoria Terminus, Taj, Cafe Leopold, Nariman House and Oberoi Trident
* Leopold attackers joined the Taj team.
* ATTACKERS HAD NEVER COME TO MUMBAI BEFORE
* CREDIT CARDS SEIZED BELONGED TO KILLED GUESTS.
* NO EVIDENCE TO SHOW LOCAL SUPPORT
* Ex-officers of Pakistan Army trained group for a year. No evidence to suggest Dawood role.
* Terrorists came on a suicide mission. Had no plans to return.
* Return route found on GPS seized on Kuber fishing trawler. automatically generated. Not programmed.
* AFTER VT (RLY: STATION:) ATTACK, THE ATTACKERS AT A LOSS WHAT TO DO. SO THEY CAME OUT AND FIRED AT CAMA HOSPITAL (the most unfortunate incident, I feel, as the country, lost 3 of its best security officers)

Thought provoking facts have emerged in another report by S R Goswami.
OF THE 150 ODD INDIANS DEAD IN THE TERROR ATTACK, AT LEAST48 ARE MUSLIMS.
Now the following is an eye witness account, which proves beyond doubt, that the terrorist were out there to create mayhem, and fighting for the Muslim cause and Islam, was never their agenda.
Read on and reflect, many TV channels have exceeded their limits, in their quest for 'upmanship' and politicians have played dirty politics, and their personal interest will bring more harm than good.

I fervently appeal to narrow minded bigots to please desist from playing politics of tragedies. If you feel you are not answerable to the people, you will certainly be made answerable to the ONE. (sorry for being carried away, now I report the incident alluded to earlier)

On November 26, Jadhav (the taxi driver) was at the CST railway terminus, when the militants struck. " I saw a Muslim woman in a burqa running with a baby in her arms. She suddenly came face to face with a terrorist, " he said.

" He shot her and the baby without batting an eyelid. My whole worldview changed in a moment"
I hope and pray that the narrow parochial views of many Indians will change, when they reflect on the facts, and are not carried away by opinions and wrong and biased reporting.

Here I would also like to quote from a forward written way back in 1935 by Muhammad Mustafa al Maraghil - Grand Shayk of al Azhar for the autobiography of Prophet Muhammad (SA) by Muhammad Husayn Haykal.

Commenting on the West's concern for the study of Islam's teaching and heritage and the utmost care, taken by the Western Scholars, he said: ' In the process the strongest protagonists of Islam , may well be its strongest enemies, whereas its present alien antagonists may be Islam's adherents and defenders. As in the early period, the strangers (Medinites) have supported Islam. '

Muhammad (SA) was prosecuted by his own kinsfolk at Mecca.

I hope that barring a few radical bigots in the majority as well as the minority community of our country, the rational and right thinking Indians, will not be swayed by political leaders and news reports, that carry a hidden agenda.

TRUTH I REPEAT AGAIN IS SIMPLE.
BE HONEST AND TRUTHFUL.

FEAR

This is the headline in very bold letters with a big size photo depicting fearful eyes, carried by The Telegraph (28-11-08) It is already more than 36 hours and FEAR seems to grip the entire country. A Nation that prides itself in having a well trained, sophisticated and dedicated Army and other well trained commando units to tackle terror and contingencies, are up against a highly motivated and deeply indoctrinated terrorist.

The problem is that they have been so trained and indoctrinated that they seem to have over come the FEAR of DEATH.

So basically it is fight between a group of terrorists who have overcome FEAR and a Nation who fears for the safety of their citizens, the foreign tourists and residents, and the armed and para military forces.

It is FEAR that the terrorists holed up, and by now fighting a loosing battle, may go to the extreme and blow themselves up, because they have overcome the FEAR OF DEATH and in so doing many more precious lives will be lost.

This is the prime concern and the cause of worry. It is a matter of relief to see the pictures of Foreign Nationals, 30 in all as per news Channel report , haggard and badly shaken coming out of Oberoi Trident. The picture of a small baby coming out safe from the ordeal is a matter of relief.

As I write this, I have received an SMS on which I will not like to comment, under the most difficult circumstances. But it does convey a portent message, that we Indians should rise above narrow ghetto mentality and banal politics.

Text of the SMS ' plz forward raj thackeray's phone no: if you find it. Dnt know whr he is when y need him. w want him 2 go n save amchi mumbai with his MNS goondas. The sons of the D soil, Army NSG and commandos r nt marathi manoos. They r NORTH INDIANS --- fight and lay their life 4 mumbaikars. Jai Maharashtra sorry JAI HIND.

A bit crude but all the same carrying a portent message, not only for mumbaikars but all Indians living in different States. The immense sacrifices that have been made in the past 36 hours and the battle to flush out the terrorists continue, let us learn some lessons, to rise above petty regional based politics.

MUMBAI LANDMARKS UNDER TERRORIST ATTACK

Early morning of 27th November 2008 brought home the grim reality of the dangerous place our world has become. Terrorist have managed to blow the cover of security and safety with impunity. The gory details of mayhem and cold blooded murder is being played out on all media channels, each vying with other to bring home to viewers with lucid details.

The Authorities have taken the correct decision of putting a 'gag' on the media coverage, by sending sms to all TV channels, not to divulge strategic details of the operation, to flush out the terrorist and secure the safely of the people being held hostages.

This I think is the very correct approach, as thousands watching the channels and being fed by inputs by the media, will in no way help in the operation of flushing out the terrorist. On the contrary it may prove detrimental to the effecting working of the armed forces, as the terrorist holed up at Taj, Oberoi and Nariman House, may be also watching the news channels, and working out counter strategies.
The hunger for news in any of such incidents is obvious, in people far removed from the scene of tragedy, and each news channel tries to get to its viewers ' breaking news' with much fanfare. specially Aaj Tak Hindi excels in rhyming the news broad casts. At times it feels so sick.

So this time round I feel the Authorities have taken a correct decision, in requesting all the news channels from desisting in broadcasting strategic information.

I feel so much pain and remorse at this senseless tragedy, that has taken so many innocent lives. The armed forces are continuing their operation to flush out the terrorist, and I hope and pray that, they succeed without more loss of lives.

Not being updated is a very small price to pay, in such instances, when the operation is being carried out, there should definitely be a 'gag' on the media.
Later on there will be enough time to discuss and analyse the situation, as to the how things played out, where the lapses occurred.

Now is the time to feel the pain and keep on praying.

THERE ARE OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS THAN GDP

Each and every country is intensely preoccupied with GDP. Although it is an integral indices of the country's development, it is not all inclusive.
We need to remember what Robert F. Kennedy said on the subject of the economy. "Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile." (Quote courtesy Intentblog)

CITI sleeps with Govt: Money

This is how The Telegraph (25-11-08) has carried the front page News item, a nice twist on the tag line of the largest Bank which had prided itself in stating 'Citi never sleeps' and in so doing they have made such a mess of their finances and the trust of millions of depositors, who if the bail out was not carried out by the US Govt: would also like their Bank would never sleep.
The facts and figures are so mind boggling, it is like watching an action packed Bond movie.

The facts : Citigroup has high risk assets of $306 billion (Rs: 15.3lakh crore)
From the Indian perspective these figures translate into :
50 times the annual net profit of all Indian Banks.
6 times the annual revenue of all Indian Banks
6 times the share value of all Indian Banks
2 times the total assets of private banks in India
53 per cent of total assets of all Indian Banks.

Why spend money watching Bond Movies, just buy a Telegraph costing only Rs: 2/- and you get the same adreline rush. In this case the Good Guy (US Tax payers hard earned money) has saved the Bad Guy. A nice twist in the storyline. The Bad Guy will be more embolden to perform more badly, because he knows for sure now, that the Good Guy can again be managed.