Thursday, November 27, 2008
Mumbai Terror Attacks: Need Better Reaction Support
It's been a long, crazy night. Gun toting terrorists have attacked Mumbai's hotspots - The Taj and Oberoi hotels, Cafe Leopold in Colaba, Cama hospital in that area and CST station. More than 100 people have been reported killed, including three top cops - Vijay Saluskar, Ashok Kamte and ATS Chief Hemant Karkare. Two car blasts have been reported - one at Dockyard road and another at Vile Parle.
This is all happening 40 kilometers from here, on the other side of the creek. I'm helpless. And furious. And very belligerent, towards the terrorists. I want revenge, definitely, and I definitely want answers to why we can't work to eliminate such people from existence?
But that is difficult. People will be bad, because they can. What we can do is to create a better reaction philosophy and a better process for the intelligence.
What do I mean?
- ATS chief Hemant Karkare died despite wearing a bulletproof vest - and he died of chest wounds. If you look at the video of the bullet proof jacket wearing procedure it would be obvious to you why - the vest was totally unreliable. We need far better equipment to protect our forces. Helmets, masks, better guns, sharpshooters, everything. Why can't we fund this better?
- The ambulance support and basic knowledge of first aid is missing. People on TV are shown handling the injured in terrible ways - we need to disseminate knowledge on how to handle victims, and how for instance not to move them if they are grieviously injured (it could render them invalid).
- We need drills for reporters. Most of them were preventing help reaching hte injured. Yet others were spreading random rumours. We need a set of codes that the press must live by in these times, applying to cameramen, reporters and TV channels alike.
- We need to decongest our cities. If our cities are as crowded as they are today there is absolutely no chance of preventing another attack. Remember, this entire attack was planned by 20 or so people who got themselves some grenades, rifles and bombs. How can intelligence detect this in a billion people?
- We have to arm our intelligence better - mobile phones were being used, but why can't we have a setup that IMMEDIATELY blocks or traces all mobile activity ina couple of buildings? A lot of our intelligence has to be digital both from a surveillance and tracking aspect and from the reaction aspect. We need a CBI on the ground that can react fast - our army has done a great job and I am deeply regretful for all the lives lost in this process, but we do need a better armed force on the ground. The cops have lost lives needlessly, and have very little intelligence support in such operations.
- Can someone tell me why the cable tv and electricity to the buildings wasn't immediately cut off? What's the point if the terrorists can see your operations from the inside?
- We definitely need to upgrade standard equipment and personnel at sensitive areas. All these places - the Taj, Oberoi and CST - had police protection on, and detection equipment, but it was totally inadequate. These forces need to be upgraded, trained etc.
- Why don't we have a better radio setup? I want to see helmets with inbuilt radio instead of only mobile phones. All emergency communication equipment needs to be setup fast, and we need a nationwide network for this piggybacking on mobile towers. THis is not difficult - the military can vacate some spectrum, which will be given to the phone companies for emergency situation handling. The phone companies will get paid to keep this bit alive and running at all times.
- CCTV footage shows a bunch of people have held the city hostage. This cannot be prevented by pure intelligence. But we can have a better reaction setup. At this point I feel ashamed that we are doing knee jerk reactions and that our cops are scared because they aren't trained to fight something like this. Get better training, and a complete plan dammit. We say we have brains - let's use them, let's frame a reaction policy. I don't mean "them" - I mean you and me.
I had suggested, long back, after another terrorist attack, how I planned to create a fund to help kill these terrorists. I think it's time to revive that thought. Pay people to kill terrorists, and to eliminate every single terror preaching bastard from the planet. This applies to all kinds of terrorists - the ULFA and LTTE included. Let's get the bastards.
12 Comments:
Deepak Bhai, Hats off to you.
Your thinking are very much matured and intelligent. Here I also would like to tell that without some local support such activities are not possible. So, instead of preventing terrorist first, we must stop local people to support them. And I think "POTA" is a law which can help here.
What do you suggest?
Your thinking are very much matured and intelligent. Here I also would like to tell that without some local support such activities are not possible. So, instead of preventing terrorist first, we must stop local people to support them. And I think "POTA" is a law which can help here.
What do you suggest?
Dear Deepak,
A very intelligent assessment of the situation.
I would suggest you make yourself heard more louder (write to PM etc.) as your suggestions are the need of the hour.
Regards,
Mustafa
M-Trade (http://m-trade.blogspot.com/)
A very intelligent assessment of the situation.
I would suggest you make yourself heard more louder (write to PM etc.) as your suggestions are the need of the hour.
Regards,
Mustafa
M-Trade (http://m-trade.blogspot.com/)
Well said Deepak. What is now needed is Action, rather ruthless action..
See the problem is not the knowledge of what needs to be done but the lack of infrastructure to implement these things .
The incompetency of the government agencies on a WHOLE is frightening .
The capability to implement the best practices in the world is just isn't there . "Shabby quality of Bulletproof vests is just one more example."
Can we be certain for sure that no politico/bureaucrat was involved the procurement and related kickbacks !! On the other look at MNCs and even Indian Cos like Airtel, TATA as to how they implement the best practices of the world . How swiftly they move in .
The only top class security in India is for our VVIP's the rest just by chances.
But yes they need to quickly swoop on media and mobile blackout for areas under attack , it is simple and very effective .......
The incompetency of the government agencies on a WHOLE is frightening .
The capability to implement the best practices in the world is just isn't there . "Shabby quality of Bulletproof vests is just one more example."
Can we be certain for sure that no politico/bureaucrat was involved the procurement and related kickbacks !! On the other look at MNCs and even Indian Cos like Airtel, TATA as to how they implement the best practices of the world . How swiftly they move in .
The only top class security in India is for our VVIP's the rest just by chances.
But yes they need to quickly swoop on media and mobile blackout for areas under attack , it is simple and very effective .......
Hi Deepak, Hope you remember me from KREC days, Its prashant Sugur from Dharwad. I completely endorse your views. We need to teach this Government a lesson who has been nothing but effective in handling the terrorism. Our law and order situation is so pathetic today that some 20 odd bastards can take the city to rasnsom and make the entire country look like being run by a bunch of jokers. But you know who is responsible : Its easy to blmae our govt, but we the people who elect such politicians as if there is no better person to run this country. It should be people like you and me who should be running the country who have better ideas and zeal to implement. I even tried it out, testing the pulse of the people by contesting elections from the so called urban constitiency in Dharwad which has around 80% educated voters, but you know I lost out badly just because people thought if this person is elected what is that they are going to gain out it....the same selfish motives.You know who they elected...the same person 78 years old who has won it 3 times and who has not done anything for the past 15 years he has been in power. It has to be a revolution of the kind where people understand and elect people who can control such sitiuations. As long as our Govt and the agencies under them keep on pursuing their own motives even under such distress situations, we are prone to witness more attacks like this and eventually end up looking like a country which will never rise above religion, caste and a country trying to do the balancing act between votes vs caste be the ground for innovatibve terrorist acts. Our tax money should go in making these govt agencies more efficient but for that we need a fucntionary who can act not just talk. I only hope the present anger in us converts to a revolution and all contribute to the cause.
i liked ur idea of fund to curb the terrorism. will support u their 100%. proud to be an indian and want india to be safe for indians.
Its high time India develops a back bone and stand up to these SOBS. We need action for once...not "anti terror laws" as quoted by the PM. Take the fight to their turf and return in kind
Till some years back i felt extremely proud to be an indian,i have hailed my aryan and vedic ancestory,i have been proud to be born in a nation with such a rich history and culture.But in the recent past that has all changed and i have started to feel ashamed rather than proud of being an indian.
It hurts that people who run this country have just no concern about their folks and of the national pride,it has been a chore by the politicians in charge across the nation to "condemn" the attcaks and statements like "hum is ghatna ki ninda karte hain" and more recently "we wont tolerate the neighbours territory being used for conspiracies against us".
Mr. Manmohan singh how much tolerant you are that we have already seen,From east to west from north to south ,across the nation these miscreants have created havoc at will,and you have tolerated it all and how shameful of you when you say "i wont tolerate".Your voice is feeble to threaten these terrorists i guess you cant even scare a petty thief entering your house in full daylight leave apart safeguarding a nation.India needs you and your experience as a economist and definetly not as a Prime Minister,we need someone young ,strong ,decisive and prompt.No not Sonia gandhi,we have 110 crore of population some should be better than a italian lady.Also not L.K Advani he is old enough to retire and spend rest of his life in Ayodhya/Hraidwar for a better life after death.
Winston Churchill had serious apprehensions about India’s ability to sustain its democracy and said that it will be ruled by goons,and in fact it is.More than 50% of politicians MP's,MLA's are 100% gundas,how can we expect them to run a country smoothly.
I had some points for which i never had proper answers:
1.Indian politicians say that we are not rich countries like US,UK etc and so our security spendings ,infrastructure will need time to build,they make a "METRO RAIL" in Delhi and newspapers are flushed with govenmental praise day in and day out,are baba Metro is a neccesity not a luxury,it should have come in Delhi,Mumbai,Chennai not now but 10 years back out of sheer neccesity.
My point is,indian government is sitting on a goldmine of consumer base of 110 crore people,if it could device some strategy to earn rupees 5 from each indian daily at the end of a year they will have with them 40 billion US dollars,they could use that to buld india as a mordern country,how could they do that?
1.BSNL: Out of this 5,i guess 2 could have come from them,but rather the ministers passed away or rather sold away that opportunity to private sector,wherein Companies like Airtel and Reliance communications used the BSNL infrastructure which was deeply penetrated to remotest parts of india,to become global telecom giants and BSNl is still bleeding.That could still change if the top officials are willing and not taking their annula cuts of bribe from private telcos.
2.Railways: This alone has a potential of generating 5,this one is a monopolistic business.But i give it 2 again,because with the advent of mobiles,people tend to travel less,as most things are sorted out on phones,but this is offseted by the fact that people from villages are now moving towards cities,and anually they travel at least once to their place of origin.
This one is real real goldmine,you earn revenue from passengers,freight,build a chain like low cost Mac donalds(for reference) and put them at the platforms,and believe me if the pricing is right ,with every train coming to that platform their will be a stampede to buy from that counter even if you serve simple samosas.Because catering in railways is outsourced to "thekedars" who sell a stale samosa for rupees 6.
Build hotels on your land to cater to travellers and give discount to those travelling by train.
But but but all this is possible if we have a political will,it is not an easy task.But people like E .sREEDHARAN has proved that it is possible to execute these kind of projects by building the "Konkan Railway" and the "Delhi Metro" ahead of schedule.
3.SAIL,NTPC,SBI,ONGC,FCI:These should contribute the last one rupee
The whole thing i want to stress here is that india with its sheer size and population can be a self sustaining economy,given there is a will to transform it.
We have seen Kargil,parliament attcak,Mumbai train and market place blasts, Akshardham, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Faizabad, Delhi, Assam blasts and indian government could do nothing apart from "hum iski ninda karte hain".I feel helpless,and i have a will to do something,but what and how is what i cant figure out.
Should i do something like what Sadhvi pragya and colonel Purohit did in Malegaon,I guess that is not the solution.
Best Regards,
Amit
It hurts that people who run this country have just no concern about their folks and of the national pride,it has been a chore by the politicians in charge across the nation to "condemn" the attcaks and statements like "hum is ghatna ki ninda karte hain" and more recently "we wont tolerate the neighbours territory being used for conspiracies against us".
Mr. Manmohan singh how much tolerant you are that we have already seen,From east to west from north to south ,across the nation these miscreants have created havoc at will,and you have tolerated it all and how shameful of you when you say "i wont tolerate".Your voice is feeble to threaten these terrorists i guess you cant even scare a petty thief entering your house in full daylight leave apart safeguarding a nation.India needs you and your experience as a economist and definetly not as a Prime Minister,we need someone young ,strong ,decisive and prompt.No not Sonia gandhi,we have 110 crore of population some should be better than a italian lady.Also not L.K Advani he is old enough to retire and spend rest of his life in Ayodhya/Hraidwar for a better life after death.
Winston Churchill had serious apprehensions about India’s ability to sustain its democracy and said that it will be ruled by goons,and in fact it is.More than 50% of politicians MP's,MLA's are 100% gundas,how can we expect them to run a country smoothly.
I had some points for which i never had proper answers:
1.Indian politicians say that we are not rich countries like US,UK etc and so our security spendings ,infrastructure will need time to build,they make a "METRO RAIL" in Delhi and newspapers are flushed with govenmental praise day in and day out,are baba Metro is a neccesity not a luxury,it should have come in Delhi,Mumbai,Chennai not now but 10 years back out of sheer neccesity.
My point is,indian government is sitting on a goldmine of consumer base of 110 crore people,if it could device some strategy to earn rupees 5 from each indian daily at the end of a year they will have with them 40 billion US dollars,they could use that to buld india as a mordern country,how could they do that?
1.BSNL: Out of this 5,i guess 2 could have come from them,but rather the ministers passed away or rather sold away that opportunity to private sector,wherein Companies like Airtel and Reliance communications used the BSNL infrastructure which was deeply penetrated to remotest parts of india,to become global telecom giants and BSNl is still bleeding.That could still change if the top officials are willing and not taking their annula cuts of bribe from private telcos.
2.Railways: This alone has a potential of generating 5,this one is a monopolistic business.But i give it 2 again,because with the advent of mobiles,people tend to travel less,as most things are sorted out on phones,but this is offseted by the fact that people from villages are now moving towards cities,and anually they travel at least once to their place of origin.
This one is real real goldmine,you earn revenue from passengers,freight,build a chain like low cost Mac donalds(for reference) and put them at the platforms,and believe me if the pricing is right ,with every train coming to that platform their will be a stampede to buy from that counter even if you serve simple samosas.Because catering in railways is outsourced to "thekedars" who sell a stale samosa for rupees 6.
Build hotels on your land to cater to travellers and give discount to those travelling by train.
But but but all this is possible if we have a political will,it is not an easy task.But people like E .sREEDHARAN has proved that it is possible to execute these kind of projects by building the "Konkan Railway" and the "Delhi Metro" ahead of schedule.
3.SAIL,NTPC,SBI,ONGC,FCI:These should contribute the last one rupee
The whole thing i want to stress here is that india with its sheer size and population can be a self sustaining economy,given there is a will to transform it.
We have seen Kargil,parliament attcak,Mumbai train and market place blasts, Akshardham, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Faizabad, Delhi, Assam blasts and indian government could do nothing apart from "hum iski ninda karte hain".I feel helpless,and i have a will to do something,but what and how is what i cant figure out.
Should i do something like what Sadhvi pragya and colonel Purohit did in Malegaon,I guess that is not the solution.
Best Regards,
Amit
The effectiveness of managing terrorism is not about how effective we are in managing a terrorist attack but it is in how effective we are in preventing it.
It is intelligence which is the most critical aspect and there seems to be a serious gap at it.
But most importantly what is required is a political solution.
We as a country are in serious trouble and it wouldnt be surprise me if we see the balkanisation of India along religious, caste, regional identity. Our politicians have played a fine game of benefiting from the fissures in society.
Now the chickens are coming to roost and events will now start overtaking the actors and things will start going out of hand. There is a lot of anger and frustation in the system and most likely it will get channelised into the wrong things. A few threats to our neighbours, further ghettosisation of the minorities, attempts to potray I m more patriotic than you.
Every action will have a reaction and we will keep playing the action reaction game.
What is required is for ppl to stand above anger and work towards nation building. Build a far more inclusive society which doesnt fester a feeling of anger and helplessness. Only that can address the root cause. Everything else is cosmetic.
And BTW Maoist kill more ppl than all the terror attacks put together. Its just that it isnt live on TV so doesnt affect us.
It is intelligence which is the most critical aspect and there seems to be a serious gap at it.
But most importantly what is required is a political solution.
We as a country are in serious trouble and it wouldnt be surprise me if we see the balkanisation of India along religious, caste, regional identity. Our politicians have played a fine game of benefiting from the fissures in society.
Now the chickens are coming to roost and events will now start overtaking the actors and things will start going out of hand. There is a lot of anger and frustation in the system and most likely it will get channelised into the wrong things. A few threats to our neighbours, further ghettosisation of the minorities, attempts to potray I m more patriotic than you.
Every action will have a reaction and we will keep playing the action reaction game.
What is required is for ppl to stand above anger and work towards nation building. Build a far more inclusive society which doesnt fester a feeling of anger and helplessness. Only that can address the root cause. Everything else is cosmetic.
And BTW Maoist kill more ppl than all the terror attacks put together. Its just that it isnt live on TV so doesnt affect us.
Hi Deepak,
I fully agree with your thoughts. I strongly say that especially in these times I think it is better to restrict news channels from transmitting the operation live. That is why I feel the 24x7 channels were one of the biggest culprits in this exercise. All people should have been asked to vacate and a shoot-at-sight order given around the area. Images should have been provided though the relevant authorities on timely basis to keep the anxious people informed. I think this is the same way other countries have handled the situation when they had terror attacks.
-Mash
I fully agree with your thoughts. I strongly say that especially in these times I think it is better to restrict news channels from transmitting the operation live. That is why I feel the 24x7 channels were one of the biggest culprits in this exercise. All people should have been asked to vacate and a shoot-at-sight order given around the area. Images should have been provided though the relevant authorities on timely basis to keep the anxious people informed. I think this is the same way other countries have handled the situation when they had terror attacks.
-Mash
Dear Fauji Friends,
Last week Maj Gen Joshi called on me. He was an esteemed instructor during our Degree Course days, and EME(Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) officers would remember him as one of our finest engineers. Indeed, he spent most of his time with the DRDO(Defence research and development organization). He was commissioned in Jun 1960 and was in the Eastern sector during the 1962 debacle. He has analyzed the event very systematically, and his study reveals the following :
Pt Nehru, the architect of modern India suffered a severe stroke of depression from which he never quite recovered. He died in May 1964 at the comparatively young age of 73.
VK Krishna Menon was removed from the post of Raksha Mantri for his incorrect assessment of the situation.
Gen Thapar, the COAS(Chief of army staff) was sacked. The careers of Lt Gen Kaul and scores of other military officers took a "U" turn.
A few thousand soldiers died; many more were wounded and some were taken prisoners.
The psyche of the country received a severe blow. It was considered a 'National Shame'
The question he asked me was, "Who was the Defence Secretary? And what was the punishment meted out to him?"
I have asked several friends and also surfed the Internet but I am unable to find an answer. In all probability nothing was done to him, because he had no role in this!
Gen Joshi then took this discussion a step further. He observed that during the recent attack on Mumbai, dozens of soldiers and policemen have been killed. The whole nation is shaken. Mr Shivraj Patil has lost his prestigious job. The CM of Maharashtra has been axed and several heads in the government are likely to roll. Can some one tell us as to what action has been taken against the Union Home Secretary or the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra? (Thomas tells me that they will all be "promoted" soon though he does not know why).
Having spent many years in and around the South Block, I marvel at the way our government has been structured. The Civil Servants rule the roost. In terms of promotions and status they are ahead of every one else by miles. They are central in the Pay Commission and the Cabinet Secretary is involved in every major decision making process. Yet, when things go wrong, they wash their hands off so clean that one wonders how!
A slightly closer examination reveals the secret. I have figured it out this way:
They never do anything themselves. They always find some one else to be the head, and they know how to reduce him to be a 'figure head'. (In the Pay Commissions, they have a retired Judge). However they place themselves in a spot which has the maximum opportunity to influence matters.
After the event, they never face the Press or the Media. Their role is amorphous.
The senior amongst them rarely sign a letter or order. Our pension letter is signed by a Director, who is not directly recruited IAS officer. Only rarely do you find a paper signed by a Joint Secretary. Officers above that level do not sign any .
They have a strong association. It protects the interests of its members dutifully and diligently.
So we have our Defence headquarters in which the postings, promotions, rewards and punishments of all senior officers are controlled by the civil servants; and they also have the final say in the process of procurement of weapons and eqpt, but they are not "responsible" if things go wrong! It is authority without responsibility. (For those who may not know, a lowly officer in the MoD can have a Deputy Chief posted out, but a Service Chief can not get even a Desk Officer moved)
When Gen Joshi left, I found myself perplexed. What sort of system have we evolved? And how has it survived all these years? It is a bit like a unit in which the clerks are running the unit and the CO is so dependent on the Head Clerk that he can not move without their help!
Can some one give a cogent answer to the questions raised by Gen Joshi?
Regards,
Surjit
PS
Politicians wear the dress of the people they represent, to identify themselves with the masses. Soldiers and Policemen wear uniforms. Can some one tell what the Civil Servants wear? The answer came from the wag who said, "Civil servants wear thick skins"
Last week Maj Gen Joshi called on me. He was an esteemed instructor during our Degree Course days, and EME(Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) officers would remember him as one of our finest engineers. Indeed, he spent most of his time with the DRDO(Defence research and development organization). He was commissioned in Jun 1960 and was in the Eastern sector during the 1962 debacle. He has analyzed the event very systematically, and his study reveals the following :
Pt Nehru, the architect of modern India suffered a severe stroke of depression from which he never quite recovered. He died in May 1964 at the comparatively young age of 73.
VK Krishna Menon was removed from the post of Raksha Mantri for his incorrect assessment of the situation.
Gen Thapar, the COAS(Chief of army staff) was sacked. The careers of Lt Gen Kaul and scores of other military officers took a "U" turn.
A few thousand soldiers died; many more were wounded and some were taken prisoners.
The psyche of the country received a severe blow. It was considered a 'National Shame'
The question he asked me was, "Who was the Defence Secretary? And what was the punishment meted out to him?"
I have asked several friends and also surfed the Internet but I am unable to find an answer. In all probability nothing was done to him, because he had no role in this!
Gen Joshi then took this discussion a step further. He observed that during the recent attack on Mumbai, dozens of soldiers and policemen have been killed. The whole nation is shaken. Mr Shivraj Patil has lost his prestigious job. The CM of Maharashtra has been axed and several heads in the government are likely to roll. Can some one tell us as to what action has been taken against the Union Home Secretary or the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra? (Thomas tells me that they will all be "promoted" soon though he does not know why).
Having spent many years in and around the South Block, I marvel at the way our government has been structured. The Civil Servants rule the roost. In terms of promotions and status they are ahead of every one else by miles. They are central in the Pay Commission and the Cabinet Secretary is involved in every major decision making process. Yet, when things go wrong, they wash their hands off so clean that one wonders how!
A slightly closer examination reveals the secret. I have figured it out this way:
They never do anything themselves. They always find some one else to be the head, and they know how to reduce him to be a 'figure head'. (In the Pay Commissions, they have a retired Judge). However they place themselves in a spot which has the maximum opportunity to influence matters.
After the event, they never face the Press or the Media. Their role is amorphous.
The senior amongst them rarely sign a letter or order. Our pension letter is signed by a Director, who is not directly recruited IAS officer. Only rarely do you find a paper signed by a Joint Secretary. Officers above that level do not sign any .
They have a strong association. It protects the interests of its members dutifully and diligently.
So we have our Defence headquarters in which the postings, promotions, rewards and punishments of all senior officers are controlled by the civil servants; and they also have the final say in the process of procurement of weapons and eqpt, but they are not "responsible" if things go wrong! It is authority without responsibility. (For those who may not know, a lowly officer in the MoD can have a Deputy Chief posted out, but a Service Chief can not get even a Desk Officer moved)
When Gen Joshi left, I found myself perplexed. What sort of system have we evolved? And how has it survived all these years? It is a bit like a unit in which the clerks are running the unit and the CO is so dependent on the Head Clerk that he can not move without their help!
Can some one give a cogent answer to the questions raised by Gen Joshi?
Regards,
Surjit
PS
Politicians wear the dress of the people they represent, to identify themselves with the masses. Soldiers and Policemen wear uniforms. Can some one tell what the Civil Servants wear? The answer came from the wag who said, "Civil servants wear thick skins"
Have you seen these attacks on these hotels in Mumbai ? I do not know if anyone will agree with me but i think these people were targeting U:S and England visitors................so sad !!!
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