Major-General Ranjit Nadkarni …. an essay drafted in 2009 but since re-worked
The Tajmahal Hotel in the limelight — Reuters- Arko Dattxa
INTRODUCTION
- The Mumbai Massacre is a distinct watershed in the history of terrorist incidents and is indeed a unique happening. Never before in recent times, was there a direct execution like multiple killing of innocent civilians by gun toting ruthless terrorists. The method utilised by the dastardly terrorists was chilling in the extreme and the selection of locations/targets discriminatory in conception. Gunning down people from nominated countries, religions and ethnic groups has sent a sobering and daunting message to the civilised world, especially to democratic nations. Are we to see more of such incidents? How does a country orchestrate its defence against such attacks? It is, therefore, absolutely essential for every professional in the Counter Terrorism Field to dispassionately examine and analyse this very sad attack to draw correct lessons in order to be well prepared to protect our population.
- Mumbai is unique in its location and in the fact that it is an island located very close to the Indian Mainland. It is a thriving major international port and also home to a large fishery business. This, coupled with the fact that there are a large number of tourist ferry boats makes the number of boats, fishing trawlers, ferries and country craft almost impossible to check and monitor. Mumbai also has a large number of places where boats can land with impunity, especially by night. The geography of this city is such that it is very narrow at its Southern End and stretches Northwards in a linear manner. The Southern End is also what we in Australia would term as the CBD. It also houses the area where the rich and famous live as well as it contains the Army/ Navy Cantonment. These were the reasons for selecting this area as the target.
- The terrorists selected targets which had a concentration of population in a confined space and which were very soft in their make up. The prime aim was to cause maximum casualties in the minimum time. The targets were also to have a proportion of people from the Western World. There is no doubt that the terrorist group was highly motivated, very well trained and had detailed knowledge of the targets. It cannot be called a suicide attack-indeed it was a classic commando raid. In the aftermath, the whole world is trying to study the incident-consider that there are teams from Interpol, FBI, Mossad, AFP/ASIS/ASIO, Scotland Yard and some more unnamed ones in Mumbai from the day of the incident onwards. There is no doubt that reports and papers will be written by the dozen but most of them will not be circulated. There is, therefore, a need for academicians and professionals, who can only rely on media reports to draw lessons and promulgate these for posterity. These can also be utilised, at the macro level to derive benefit for homeland security.
