The Heroes of Bombay

It has been two long months since 26/11. India’s own 9/11, played out in the heart of the commercial capital for about 60 hours, started on that fateful November night. It was India’s longest nightmare in recent history. The generation that throng swanky glass and steel towers every day for work in suburbs of our cities have barely experienced what it means to be a nation at war. For them, 26/11 was a war. The carnage took place at places where these suave youngsters would hang out on holidays, slushed in the prosperity brought by the booming new economy. The Taj and Trident were not alien to the underclass of the city either. South Mumbai has always been a place to visit for work and a place to leave when the sun begins to sink into the sober waves of the Arabian Sea, lashing gently at the Marine Drive tetrapods. This part of the city belonged to all. It has always been a ‘comfort zone’ for millions who are desperate to snatch their own slice of high life from the jaws of the colourless and exasperating routine their train commute inflict on them.

But 26/11 did not strike Bombay. It assaulted Mumbai. Bombay had long ceased to exist.

The things had already begun to turn sour a few years ago. The city of Bombay lost its identity and this vibrant and free space of human ingenuity and creativity was soon hijacked by irrational and cynical politics. Cosmopolitanism came to be eclipsed by chauvinism. Bombay became Mumbai. And VT became CST. The city did grow physically, adding flyovers, expressways and sea links, but the soul and the spirit remained muffled. As Shashi Tharoor writes somewhere- a story of Bombay is the story of decline. But this was not enough.

When Kasab and his team swooped down on Mumbai on that fateful day, they did not have an inkling that the city would turn out to be such a sitting duck. The city was already battle weary. It proved to be perhaps the easiest prey of the jihadi gunmen.

The city with its hollow core and rusted frame did fight back. It took the entire might of the Indian state to neutralize the terrorists in a long drawn operation. Before India came to rescue, the Bombay had to hold them off. And what the whole world witnessed during those 60 hours were the tales of extraordinary courage and heroism of the ordinary folks and the cops: Call them Mumbaikars or Bombayites. People fought and went down on the streets which until a few moments ago were looking so safe, familiar and bustling. 26/11 is as much a story of terrorism as extraordinary heroism. 26/11 threw up city’s own heroes, those who now can be our new icons and can be remembered in our campaign to reinvigorate the decaying dream of India. Wasn’t it reassuring to learn that heroes are found not only on the rarefied heights of Kargil mountains or jungles of the Naxalite strongholds but also in the ‘comfort zones’ of the new urban India priding itself on IT, BPO and a double digit growth rate?

The dawn of 27/11 restored some semblance of the lost Bombay. The fight was on. The fight is still on.

INDIA: Bruised & Wounded

The current India-Pakistan stand-off is being viewed through the prism of war. But as India has made it abundantly clear, war is not the solution to the problem. India wants to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai 26/11 carnage to justice and seeks Pakistan's co-operation in this regard. This is, in my opinion, still a soft stance on the issue of India's victimhood of cross border terrorism. Why should India consider the terrorist strikes only a handiwork of a bunch of LeT masterminds? If one can ever distinguish between the acts of state and non-state actors, the onus of proof as to state actors' innocence in this episode should rest with Pakistan government. The scale and intensity of the attacks leaves barely anything to imagination. How can such a ruthlessly and accurately planned massacre be executed without state support? India is talking tough. But tough talk or plainspeak would lead us nowhere. The need of the hour is a concrete action which can be regarded as a deterrent to any future adventurism staged against India from Pakistani soil. Even Pakistan's handing over of the terrorists accused in 26/11 would not solve this conundrum. The menace of terrorism is very political in nature and 26/11 is just another sophisticated and brutal version of manifestation of the historical animosity of the two South Asian neighbours.

The Road Ahead:

1. Capitalize on India's clean record in complying with security related international conventions/laws/treaties/regimes

2. Put a stress on the right of self-defence to justify any war-like action/hot pursuit of the terrorists

3. Communicate to the international community that carnages like 26/11 has nothing to do with the Kashmir issue. Publicize India's victimhood widely and use this to get away with a bit of roguishness. Tell the world you are tired of being a nice guy. That the world has paid a lip service to India's cause. That Pakistan is at war with you and you need to act now.

4. Responsibility for terror acts lie not only with a few rogue elements of militant groups in Pakistan but also with the Pakistani establishment that support these operatives or turn a Nelson's eyes to their activities, to say the least.

5. Chalk out a schedule of actions and strategies with clear timelines. Show it to the world powers and the UN. And go ahead. Ignore the noises and murmurs of those who advise restraint. Tell them to assure safety and protection of your citizens or just shut up. India cannot wait indefinitely for the world powers to discipline Pakistan.