Sadanand Patil and
Gautam Goslain were two students of the Hotel Management programme of my college. They had been working nights at the Taj Mahal Hotel to fund their course. Both of them were present at the hotel on the night of 26th November 2008 and lost their lives to the terrorist attack. They were both young guys, one of them 20 and the other 22 years. The attack has cost more than a 100 lives and many have been left injured.
I also mourn the loss of Hemant Karkare (known for his role in the Malegaon Blast), the Chief of the police Anti-Terrorist squad in the city, encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar, Additional Commissioner of police Ashok Kamte and Senior Inspector Shashank Shinde. These are such brilliant guys who despite being such high ranking officials were in the forefront of the action. I know that these men were invaluable to the city and have seen how honestly and intelligently they tackled many of the crimes in Mumbai.
The terror is not over yet as there are still many hostages left to be released and the possibility of further backlash. The attacks took place on 26th November from about 9.30pm onwards at various loactions across Mumbai including the
Taj Mahal Hotel, the
Oberoi Trident,
Chatrapathi Shivaji Terminus (Victoria Terminus),
Leopold's Cafe Colaba and
Nariman House.It's unnerving knowing that the places they hit are ones frequented by me and many others . They are the most popular haunts in the city and some of my favourite photographic subjects. It will be difficult to go back and look at them in the same way.
This attack has affected everyone in the city in a more personal way that they could have ever imagined and it has brought back horrible memories of the '93 blasts. People are afraid to leave their homes as the terrorists seem to be scatterred across the city. Two were found just a km from my hostel! A very freaky situation.
A lot of people have wondered why I'm not in the thick of it and clicking away. While I have been tempted to step out (my parents are going to slap me for even thinking about it! and anyway my pals have me almost handcuffed to my bed), I know the risks involved and having random people running around the place is not going to help the situation. There are complaints against bystanders and unofficial media personnel making unsubstantiated reports and this has been severely criticized. I'm also a little uncomfortable with exploiting the situation just so that I can fill my blog with gory images of the chaos. If I'm needed I'll definitely be there, but at the moment I'm not. I know what my obligations as a photojournalist are. However right now, the media have it pretty much covered. Will probably step out once the situation is a little stable...(And yes Mum and Dad..I will be careful)
I also want to address an important issue. Everyone knows by now that the attack has been conducted by 'Islamic'(?) militants and is targeted mainly at the West. It's an international publicity stunt to get attention to some cause or the other (not sure still which and this could range from the Kashmir problem to the Isreal-Palestine conflict and even the Iraq War). A group called the Deccan Mujahideen have taken responsibilty for the terror. Noone knows who they are or where they've come from but it seems like they have many agendas in mind. Their actions show that this isn't just an anti-India operation but also one that attacks America, Britain and Isreal (they went after tourists holding passports from these countries). One of the places they've taken hostages in is the Nariman House which is an Orthodox Jewish establishment.
Now I'm a practising Muslim and a hardcore believer in my religion. I know how the laws of my religion work and none of them endorse such vile tactics. I severely condemn this attack and all others like it. However, I also understand (and I mean
understand not support) the motives behind them. Many people around the world and especially those in developing nations (not just the Muslim majority ones) feel that U.S foreign policy has wreaked a lot of havoc on this planet. Many feel that it has divided nations, caused unnecessary wars and resulted in the deaths of thousands. Most of these were probably unintentional and indirect results which were not anticipated by the country. However, the completely unapologetic stance taken by this hegemonic nation has led to a build up of animosity towards it. This is the justification used by many terror outfits around the world in their war against this superpower and all that it stands for. This gigantic tit-for-tat situation has ended up killing completely innocent people in its wake and will be highly unlikely to resolve anything. It will only result in harsher action against Muslim nations and the creation of more frustrated and jaded 'terrorists'. They in turn are going to inflict the same sort of violence that they claim to fight against and it's going be one big mess all over again.
I just hope that some sensible leaders will come together and try to break away from this vicious cycle and punish the perpertrators on both sides of this equation. And it's important that we as citizens of the world also make the attempt to destroy this horrible chain and condemn it all the way through. That's the only way to eradicate the blame-finger and end this freakshow.
(Phew! Now there I've said it. Never written anything this long before)
