The Race
Three years ago those who went to sleep early on
26th November woke up to the horrors that night had been through and
those who didn’t, experienced the nightmare without going to sleep. Six men
carrying deadly weapons, grenades, guns, dead human spirit and above all a
cold, senseless mind on shoulders, indoctrinated to mindless religious madness
that had nothing to do with religion, entered the city already in the chaos, on
uninterrupted run , at an instant when everybody was eager to go home. They
unleashed bloodbath on the streets, in the hotels, in a religious place killing
people, innocent men and women, not even sparing children. The blood was on the
street, it was on their mind, some patriots braved the bullets, some escaped,
some evaded. The brave men in uniform fought with the maniacs, some made
supreme sacrifice. The frenzied men were
shot dead but not before leaving a pool of blood on the streets, on the
corners, in hotel rooms and unstoppable tears down the eyes and a list of brave
men who showed exceptional courage but embarked on the last journey.
The whole India plunged into the patriotic
fever that had a history of recurrence on 15th August and 26th
January, dormancy rest of the year and a terrible tendency to wane faster after
the attack from enemy. This time it sustained longer. The attack was shockingly
unimaginable, unprecedented on the scale, presented a gruesome spectacle for
two days in continuance, left behind the memories of disaster, dead bodies,
shattered souls and a wounded spirit of an angry Indian. The world watched it,
political parties discussed it; common man tried hard to come to terms with hurt
self respect and mourned the loss of courageous.
It was
not the first terrorist attack on Mumbai and also we as Indians were not new to
the terrorism. Mumbai faced multiple bomb blasts in 1992, one at Gate Way of
India, series of blasts in local trains but this was undoubtedly special,
unmatched in planning, horrific in details and extremely hurting in execution,
a dent on the pride of the nation. We lost innocent lives, men in uniform,
officers of exceptional caliber, but where it hurt most was the pride as a
nation, an emerging superpower was taken for ride by six terrorists. The whole
country watched helplessly when they took the financial capital of India hostage,
roamed the city, firing at will, killing innocents and with every bullet fired insulting
us.
We again lost the race, race
between the intelligence agencies and the terrorists and unfortunately it is
not the first ever loss, some may say it’s a routine. We lost it when two of
our prime ministers were assassinated, when Delhi experienced serial blasts,
when Mumbai exploded….. The use of resources, some information gathering and
figures can easily come out, telling us the number of time we lost the race,
when terrorists were ahead of our agencies but the figures that we might find
it hard to get is number when our agencies were ahead. Every terrorist
organization wants to get ahead of agencies to strike a blow. This race
unfortunately is a deadly race, in formula one we have speed and thrill; here
we have sharp brains and blood.
Those who are working against the
humanity, the terrorists, their motivation to carry on is unambiguous. The
world over the terrorists outfits always search for the uncharted, unimagined
ways to strike, of course with maximum impact factors. They always have a
purpose, requisite brainwash and goals to achieve. Their skills in searching
for the route unimagined and agencies closely following them, have inspired
numerous movies but the real life race is lethal, when we lose the race, the
result is horrific, always a human tragedy.
Who imagined, even in reel life,
that planes carrying passengers will collide with Twin towers and explode,
killing hundreds, nobody thought of radios can be used as bombs as happened in
serial blasts in Delhi in 1985, highjacking of Air India plane to Kandahar, blasts
in Landon metros….. the list is long,..even longer is the list of dead,
wounded. The race otherwise is thrilling in movies but for reality. We usually
live along the periphery and don’t experience the sound and fury till terrorists
win.
There always are attempts from the
daredevils and brave hearts like Karkare, Kamte, Salaskar, Unnikrishnan in
challenging them……. And courage never seen, thought about, shown by Tukaram
Ombale in catching Kasab. Who would otherwise have believed that a constable
from Police force which is notorious for taking bribes, have men like him who caught Kasab’s
AK-47 by bare hands, allowed the chest to be riddled with bullets, saved the
lives of not just colleagues but gave a face saving formula for the nation in
the form of an alive terrorist….. cost…. his own life…. What had happened many
times in Hindi movies, we all considered as reflection of writer’s imagination
took place on that dreadful night of 26/11…. A little known constable rose to
the occasion, elevated himself above all material aspirations, human fears and attained
the iconic stature of a martyr ….so difficult to attain…won the highest gallantry
award. Think of his sacrifice one realizes how small we lesser mortals are…and
a mean life we live.
In this race the triumph of terror
has a global recognition but success of intelligence organizations has less
news value, no glamour as show always belongs to terrorists, exactly opposite
to life in movies where cops steal the thunder. In a country like ours the
terrorists have ample opportunities and few good men only have chances. We don’t
want competent men in uniform at key posts, we want to use intelligence units for
gathering information to serve political interest, we want black cat commandos
as status symbol, we are not afraid of using sectarian sentiments for political
gains, we are witness to cases where honesty was the reason for departmental
shunting, how are we going to win the race? Add to this, departmental incompetency,
bureaucratic lethargy, societal apathy, sectarian empathy, political interference,
lack of political will….any guesses!!! Who is going to win the race? They
strike at their will and we dumbfounded search at dead ends.
We only talk about committee reports,
modernization plans, high quality weapons, new platoons, new force..but forget
the man behind the machine, his training, his morale, his burden, his neglect,….
fatal time lapses, condoned intelligence inputs…..and they plan meticulously,
execute resolutely, exploit flaws intelligently…..Result, they succeed ….We
carry the unwanted baggage of perpetual loser. There might have been thwarted
attempts, failed plots that never found light but the rate of success tells us
the winner. There is no major attack on U.S. soil since 9/11. They remained
alert, sealed the gateways, dried resources, aware citizens and vigilant police
worked together and so far has winning lead in the race. It simply does not
mean that there won’t be any attack in future but for this terrorists will
require to stretch their imagination to defeat U.S. system in the race..a task
not so easy. Can we ever get such a formidable set up?
This race is most thrilling in
movies, tragic in reality. This is the race between terrorists and intelligence
men, between killers and saviors, between good and evil. Nobody can predict who
will win for there is no ultimate loser or winner, it is going to continue in
time without end. If we win at a moment we must prepare for another race
immediately as they will now try to strike with vengeance. Their success will
provide them enough impetus to maintain the lead. We the peripherals know only
half the story but pay the highest price.
Losing in sports is always taken in good
spirit, not here in this race. We cannot afford to lose and cannot celebrate the win.
Our loss is a human tragedy and celebration will be beginning of new race. This
race is perpetual, unlikely to meet the last lap, it is the everlasting challenge
to humanity. The race must we win…always. There is no line of finish. The
ultimate truth is good and evil coexist.
