26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks Anniversary - Ready For Another One?

26/11, the date when Mumbai terror attacks took place. The date which changed the perspective of the people of this country about terror. The date when Mumbai was shaken out of it's slumber and shown how vulnerable she was. The date when the collective responsibility of various organizations was put to test and most came out failures. Did I hear someone say they succeeded? I am sorry, but it is like saying that since the ultimate aim of life is death, everyone succeeds. Had we left the terrorists to themselves, they would have probably run out of ammo and starved themselves to death. Would that also be treated as success? I mean, who takes three days to take charge of and decimate 4 terrorists?

I am by no means trying to belittle the efforts of individuals, but as organizations, none of our esteemed ones succeeded.

One year later things seem to be the same. Congress - NCP combine the incumbent government during the terror attacks continues to be in power. Vilasrao Deshmukh the Chief Minister at the time of Mumbai attacks is now enjoying being a cabinet minister and is the Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

Shivraj Patil, the home minister of India who had resigned taking "moral responsibilty" for the incident continues to be a member of the Rajya Sabha and a respected functionary of his party. In fact Ashok Chavan, the current Chief Minister of the state called upon Shivraj Patil which is an indication of the clout Shivraj Patil enjoys in the state and the party. If luck has it, Shivraj Patil might even become Governor of Punjab (According to some news reports.)

The NSG which was ultimately responsible for ending the 26/11 impasse, has been given land at Marol and is restricted to only 23 Acres as compared to Force One (What's that? Vijay Mallaya's Formula one team!) who have been allotted 98 Acres in Aarey colony, Goregaon. The police force of Mumbai were largely spectators during the Mumbai attacks relative to what NSG was doing and now something tells the state government that the Mumbai Police will be able to counter any future threats and thereby relegating the NSG to a lower status. This in spite of the fact that Force One is a new force and yet to prove that it is a force to reckon with. Therefore, it is back to Mumbai Police.

RR Patil, the home minister who had resigned from his post in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks, has been reinstated as the home minister.

The Maharashtra DGP at the time of Mumbai terror attacks was AN Roy. By a quirk of fate coupled with some politics, he was removed by the High Court and is again currently holding additional charge of the State DGP and is likely to be appointed DGP soon since he is the senior most IPS officer in the state, a rule that was not followed during his earlier appointment.

So we have all the people back doing their jobs they were doing back in Nov 2008. I guess we are fully ready for another 26/11. The only difference is that the fisher-folks colony near Badhwar Park, where the terrorists landed last year, is manned by Police. Maybe that will be enough deterrent for the terrorists to land elsewhere along the more than 700 kilometers of Maharashtra coastline.

originally posted at http://tapsandknocks.blogspot.com/2009/11/2611-mumbai-terror-attacks-anniversary.html

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