India’s terror threat shifts closer home

Two days from now, we will be observing the 17th anniversary of the gruesome massacre in Mumbai. On this occasion, it’s pertinent to ask what lessons we learnt from that ghastly attack.

Phalgam and Delhi are fresh but the Mumbai carnage was far more devastating. Let’s recount what happened on that fateful day. A flash appeared—Shootout in Colaba! I had the sinking feeling of gang wars returning to Mumbai. However, within minutes reports of the massacre started shocking everyone to their core.

In those chaotic early hours no one imagined the next 60-hours would create mayhem drowning the nation in sorrow. Just 10 Pakistan-trained terrorists gunned down 165 Indian and foreign nationals. Those fateful hours forever changed India’s security scenario and paradigm.

The first wave of terror attacks claimed Maharashtra Police anti-terror squad’s four top officers including its chief Hemant Karkare. We salute their courage but in the fog of war they made a fatal mistake of breaking the security protocol. All the officers jumped into the same vehicle to fight the terrorists and when they came under fire none could respond. Despite the indomitable courage of our security forces, lack of proper training, emergency response protocols and lack of equipment were glaringly evident.

At that time the only agency equipped to handle such a crisis was the National Security Guards (NSG). It was headquartered in Manesar, Haryana. Even the NSG wasn’t informed immediately. Col. Sandeep Sen, involved in that operation, recently shared in a podcast that everyone knew six months before that a big terror attack was expected in India.

Talking about 26/11, he said his senior asked him to switch on the TV saying he thinks it’s a gang war. Sen did, and saw AK-47 shells on the screen. He realised it wasn’t a gang war but a terror attack. At that time two top NSG officers were out of station. Others knew they would be pressed into service sooner than later. They began preparing immediately. These soldiers got the go ahead only late in the night. They left immediately and boarded the plane to Mumbai.

The plane should have left the moment they boarded. But the fighters were in for a long wait. The NSG chief was waiting for an important guest at the terminal. The person in question was the then home minister, Shivraj Patil. The plane kept waiting till Patil arrived. By the time the team reached Mumbai it was morning.

Whatever the political reasons for the delay, every passing minute strengthened the terrorists’ hand, allowing them to carry out their attack with impunity.

However, the good thing was that both the central and the state governments learnt their lessons. Today, NSG has centres in four corners of the country. State and central police forces train regularly to tackle any such eventuality. Agencies don’t suffer from miscommunication as they did earlier.

Yet, the Pahalgam attack and the blast at Red Fort in Delhi have once again brought terror back into national discourse.

Two attacks in a year have once again led the tongues wagging about the alertness and preparedness of our security agencies. However, people miss a crucial point. The J&K police along with their Haryana counterparts were able to seize 350 kg of ammonium nitrate and other weapons. Reports suggest that the terrorists were planning to carry out a series of attacks across the country on 6 December, the day the disputed Babri Mosque was demolished. An alert J&K police foiled the plans.

In panic, Dr. Umar hastily conducted a suicide attack at Red Fort, killing 16 Indians. I am sure our security agencies will learn their lessons from the tragedy. Still two things are clear. Even the white-collar professionals have not been immune to separatism and terrorism. For the first time a large number of people from an otherwise pious medical profession were found involved in the business of death.

The second and most important lesson is that the fight against terrorism is continuous and eternal. The government is doing its best but the society needs to be alert, too.

It’s notable that all major terror attacks on Indian soil so far have had a foreign footprint, with attackers trained or based across the border. The Delhi blast stands out because every perpetrator is Indian.

The Delhi blast has proved that bloodthirsty people are hiding in plain sight. We need to constructively improve our social discourse while remaining alert to identify them.

Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. Views are personal.