Inside India’s “9-11”
Inside India’s “9-11”
<Note: this story is edited from the version that was published in the December 4th Penny Press to add additional information and clarify information>
The violence that overtook Mumbai last week was not an isolated incident.
In fact, it was just the latest in a series of events that have taken place in India over the last year.
Much of the violence was obscured by our focusing on the Presidential circus.
But according to an online acquaintance I’ve gotten a lot of information from inside India that the news media didn’t and won’t report. And while it appears that the Indian government seems a bit adrift, the resolution of the people there are strong.
Sunaina is a well educated, late 20’s professional Muslim woman living in India. I cannot provide any further identifying information out of fear of reprisals from radical Muslims and radical Hindu alike. She has provided a number of reports for our radio program on what is going on inside India from the perspectives of those living there. Here are some of her dispatches as I received them. These dispatches have not been edited.
“26/11/08- Mumbai (aka Bombay) saw 10 seperate terror attacks on Wednesday night. 104 killed including 6 foreign nationals. Over 300 injured. The attacks occured at 2 five star hotels, a popular tourist restaurant, a crowded railway station, South Mumbai police headqtrs and a hospital among others. 25 terrorists came to Mumbai by sea(from Pakistan) armed with AK-47s, Kalshnikovs & hand grenades. They stormed theTaj and Oberoi/Trident hotels and opened fire. They also set off several bomb blasts in these hotels. The trend of attacking hospitals closest to the terror site continues.. Its like they want to be doubly sure that the wounded die without help!”
“The hotel guests had locked themselves inside their rooms after they rcd warning phonecalls from the management. some of them used sheets and curtains to escape from the windows. the others kept in touch with family and friends through cell phones.the staff of the Taj mahal hotel were outstanding and had amazing presence of mind. some guests who had stepped out for the night, were called up, briefed about the situation and asked not to return. several of the staff lost their lives while helping the guests to escape.”
“Some of our most renowned TV journalists stayed up for upto 48 hrs.. reporting the incident without rest or sleep. Burkha Dutt was visibly choked and this is a woman who has witnessed and reported on the Kargil war in Kashmir!a woman trapped inside her room kept in touch with her husband thru cell phone text msgs. the husband was outside the hotel with the press reporters. in her last text, she wrote 'the terrorists are inside my bathroom. i'm hiding under the bed'. that was her last msg.. and her husband knew that she had been killed!”
“This is not just about the 200-300 killed. It is the audacity of it all which has stunned the nation. these men managed to withstand the national security guard for over 50 hrs, surviving on just almonds and very little water. when the hostages asked the terrorist if he was not hungry, he said 'Allah will feed me in paradise'!! I was reading the interviews of 3 apprehended terrorists who were responsible for the 5 bomb blasts in Delhi (Sep '08), which killed 30 and injured over 100. one of them said "Allah willing, i will bomb the market where my mother buys her vegetables. She will become a martyr and Allah will grant her paradise"!!! The delhi attacks were perpetuated by Indian students”
“Spirit of Mumbai
The General Manager of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel lost his entire family that wednesday. he lost his wife and his two sons aged 14 and 15. But when Ratan Tata, the owner of the hotel went up to him and told him how sorry he was, this brave man said "Sir, we are going to beat this. We will build back the Taj to what it was". This man is determined to rebuild the Taj as a tribute to his dead family, to let the terrorists know that they had not won. THIS is the spirit of mumbai. an indian man's resilience is legendary. Wyatt, i hope you have a LOT of listeners bcoz I really want America to hear this!”
“Kamlesh is a wedding photographer who was hired to record a wedding reception at the Taj on 26th night. Kamlesh was rescued 16 hrs later. The waiter who rescued him was later shot dead by the terrorists. On 29th Nov, Kamlesh is now at a different wedding. He was booked a month ago, and he is keeping his committment. Life has to go on..!”
“The only terrorist caught alive has admitted to being a Pakistani, being trained by Pak based Lashkar-e-toiba and retired officials of the Pakistan army. He has been singing like a canary under police custody!! The 'Deccan Mujahideen' was probably just a cover or possibly an alias. It is not possible that a small or unknown group could have carried out an operation of this magnitude. The terrorists had been instructed to 'Kill till the last breath'. The idea was to create a sensation, strike terror and make waves in the international community by targetting foreign nationals.”
“The Indian foreign minister has NOT RULED OUT military strikes against Pakistan. He has said that every nation has a right to self-defence and protecting its territory. And that it isimpossible to carry on the peace process under these circumstances. ps: It is now being reported that the terrorists had been maintaining their high levels of energy (and mania!) by using cocaine and LSD”
“Several people from all over India have been tarvelling to Mumbai to visit and pay homage to the site of the attacks. There is a newmovement in the country via 'sms text msgs', urging people to gather in a peaceful and leaderless protest at the Gateway of India, Mumbai at 6pm on the 3rd of Dec, to protest against the attacks and fight for the security and protection of the common man.”
“If the Indian Govt does decide to go ahead with military strikes against Pakistan, needless to say, this would be an extremely volatile and dangerous situation. India and Pakistan are BOTH nuclear countries and until now, war was NOT an option for us. However the recent developments have changed the equation between both countries. Meanwhile the Pakistani Govt denies any direct involvement and promises to take action WHEN India provides concrete evidence of the Lashkar's involvement.”
“Pakistan has herself suffered at the hands of Islamic extremism when the JW Marriot hotel was bombed in Islamabad in September 2008. This attack killed 54 (including 15 foreign nationals) and injured over 250. The JW Marriot hotel in S.Jakarta, Indonesia was also bombed in August 2003 (killing 12 and injuring 150) , and the Al-Qaeda connection was well-established back then. As u can see, the HOTEL bombings are getting progressively more fatal.”
“In the meanwhile, political heads continue to roll in India. India's home minister Shivraj Patil has been fired by the ruling party. The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharastra ( Mumbai is the capital of the state Maharastra ) have also been fired. Your previous report on media personel interfering in the action of police and security guards, and endangering their lives is indeed true. The terrorists could watch the police and commando action on TV from inside the hotel and were thus informed of the points of entry!”
“The Muslim Council of Mumbai released a press statement on Nov 30, on its decision to refuse burial of the bodies of the 9 terrorists killed during the Mumbai seige in the Mumbai Marine Lines Bada Cemetry. The council said it was trying to send a message to all cemeteries in India that none of the bodies should be buried in ANY cemetry on Indian soil. The influential Muslim Jama Masjid Trust, which runs the 7.5-acre graveyard, said it would not bury the gunmen because they were not true followers of Islam.”
“During the attacks one militant said that the gunmen had been sent to avenge the abuses committed against Muslims in Gujrat, India and Indian-controlled Kashmir. According to leaked details of the interrogation, he said that he and his fellow the terrorists were indoctrinated by being shown images of "atrocities on Muslims in India". There are seven other Muslim graveyards in Mumbai, but the Jama Masjid's influence means none of the others are likely to accept the bodies.”
“The entire nation is on guard. This is war now. Its my birthday this saturday and I was hoping to go out and party. But now my family wants me to stay indoors, since ANY city in India might be 'next on list' for these b*stards.”
“I had a quiet b'day. Boss got me a cake and gifts(YES, i work on saturdays too lol). There is a lot of anger among all Indians today. Most blame our politicians. I think the problem is more than just our politicians but with our system itself..”
“If u remember.. I had told u about how a lot of our cops were shot dead despite their 'bullet proof' jackets. Our firemen are brave and selfless but the fire dept could not collect enough water till 2 hours after the fire broke out in Taj(after the bomb blast). The cops at Mumbai's CST train station took on the terrorists and their AK-56s with their outdated World War II pistols!”
“This is'nt the first time that we have had a terror attack in our country (if u have been reading my blogs). and mumbai has seen several terror attacks since 1993. These terror attacks are always sponsored by the Pakistani govt. And now they have been brainwashing OUR youth in the name of religion. For awhile now, there has been speculation that bin Laden is in Pakistan. This episode has some of al-Qaeda's signature moves.. and is reminiscent of the fidayeen attacks in kashmir in the 90s. U get the connection now?? we have pointed this out to your govt several times but your govt has never taken us seriously. and time and again we have heard george bush refering to pakistan as 'an important ally in our fight against terrorism' D-OH!”
“Several Indians collected in a peaceful rally in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and New Delhi at 6pm, Dec 3. Since more and more educated and elite Muslims from India and Pakistan have been enrolling into the Jehadi wave, a lot of my muslim friends were wondering aloud ..about the repurcussions of these attacks. We wonder why anybody would give us a job now? Why would anyone rent us a place to stay?”
“However at the 6 pm rallies,Hindus and Muslims have come together holding various placards reading signs like 'Our politicians had divided us.These terrorists have now united us'. The Govt has been profiling Muslims, no doubt.I recently had to provide a 'proof of residence' and a xerox of my passport. But there has been no bullying or intimidation. These protest rallies were the idea of ONE blogger.. His friends sent out a chain of text msgs.. and the chain was carried thru various parts of India”
“I have five friends from Mumbai. Everyone has lost someone they know. 1 friend has lost several friends..people she grew up with. 1 of my boss's friends LIVES near the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and could hear the bomb blasts from where she was. While they were on the phone, my boss heard one blast in the background.. and secs later,it was on the news!”
“I wanted to say.. since some 15 foreigners were killed.. and since these men were specifically targetting americans, british and israelis.. i hope the world will now take our problems seriously. these men were highly intelligent, well-planned, well-trained, highly motivated, had a lot of money.. and absolutely FEARLESS! When a bunch of men are unafraid to die, believe that they are morally correct and this is their way to paradise.. it is impossible to control them”
“Our phenomenal growth and prosperity in the last 10 years seems to have made our enemies very envious. Mumbai is the financial capital of India and represents cosmopoliton India. 125 people are now dead and 24 hrs later, there are several who are still being held hostage. This is a picture of one of the suspected terrorists. Notice the Versace t-shirt?? More and more educated and wealthy Indian and Pakistani muslims are being brainwashed into the Jehadi terror wave. This is an alarming and disturbing trend. My boss did not want me to blog about this bcoz she fears that as an educated Indian muslim with computer skills and family in the middle-east, my blogs and mails might be supervised as well! OH GRRRREAT!!!”
“A fellow doctor and a good friend of mine called me today from Manipal, India. He happens to be a muslim. He got a phone call from the police at 7am today, asking him to show up at the station. He has no idea how they got his number or if this was a joke. When he got there, there were almost a 100 medical and engineering students from the colleges there- ALL muslims!! The police were polite and told everyone not to panic. But they took down everybody's address and phone numbers. And told them to be back tomorrow to get their pictures taken. "Just routine..", they reassured everyone.
AND SO IT BEGINS..............
“
Her courage in simply corresponding with me being outweighted by her desire to inform America what is truly going on in India. Her love of country is unquestionable, and I only hope that her fervor is not outweighed by the fact that she is Muslim. That would be racism of the highest order.
Wyatt Cox
<Note: this story is edited from the version that was published in the December 4th Penny Press to add additional information and clarify information>
The violence that overtook Mumbai last week was not an isolated incident.
In fact, it was just the latest in a series of events that have taken place in India over the last year.
Much of the violence was obscured by our focusing on the Presidential circus.
But according to an online acquaintance I’ve gotten a lot of information from inside India that the news media didn’t and won’t report. And while it appears that the Indian government seems a bit adrift, the resolution of the people there are strong.
Sunaina is a well educated, late 20’s professional Muslim woman living in India. I cannot provide any further identifying information out of fear of reprisals from radical Muslims and radical Hindu alike. She has provided a number of reports for our radio program on what is going on inside India from the perspectives of those living there. Here are some of her dispatches as I received them. These dispatches have not been edited.
“26/11/08- Mumbai (aka Bombay) saw 10 seperate terror attacks on Wednesday night. 104 killed including 6 foreign nationals. Over 300 injured. The attacks occured at 2 five star hotels, a popular tourist restaurant, a crowded railway station, South Mumbai police headqtrs and a hospital among others. 25 terrorists came to Mumbai by sea(from Pakistan) armed with AK-47s, Kalshnikovs & hand grenades. They stormed theTaj and Oberoi/Trident hotels and opened fire. They also set off several bomb blasts in these hotels. The trend of attacking hospitals closest to the terror site continues.. Its like they want to be doubly sure that the wounded die without help!”
“The hotel guests had locked themselves inside their rooms after they rcd warning phonecalls from the management. some of them used sheets and curtains to escape from the windows. the others kept in touch with family and friends through cell phones.the staff of the Taj mahal hotel were outstanding and had amazing presence of mind. some guests who had stepped out for the night, were called up, briefed about the situation and asked not to return. several of the staff lost their lives while helping the guests to escape.”
“Some of our most renowned TV journalists stayed up for upto 48 hrs.. reporting the incident without rest or sleep. Burkha Dutt was visibly choked and this is a woman who has witnessed and reported on the Kargil war in Kashmir!a woman trapped inside her room kept in touch with her husband thru cell phone text msgs. the husband was outside the hotel with the press reporters. in her last text, she wrote 'the terrorists are inside my bathroom. i'm hiding under the bed'. that was her last msg.. and her husband knew that she had been killed!”
“This is not just about the 200-300 killed. It is the audacity of it all which has stunned the nation. these men managed to withstand the national security guard for over 50 hrs, surviving on just almonds and very little water. when the hostages asked the terrorist if he was not hungry, he said 'Allah will feed me in paradise'!! I was reading the interviews of 3 apprehended terrorists who were responsible for the 5 bomb blasts in Delhi (Sep '08), which killed 30 and injured over 100. one of them said "Allah willing, i will bomb the market where my mother buys her vegetables. She will become a martyr and Allah will grant her paradise"!!! The delhi attacks were perpetuated by Indian students”
“Spirit of Mumbai
The General Manager of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel lost his entire family that wednesday. he lost his wife and his two sons aged 14 and 15. But when Ratan Tata, the owner of the hotel went up to him and told him how sorry he was, this brave man said "Sir, we are going to beat this. We will build back the Taj to what it was". This man is determined to rebuild the Taj as a tribute to his dead family, to let the terrorists know that they had not won. THIS is the spirit of mumbai. an indian man's resilience is legendary. Wyatt, i hope you have a LOT of listeners bcoz I really want America to hear this!”
“Kamlesh is a wedding photographer who was hired to record a wedding reception at the Taj on 26th night. Kamlesh was rescued 16 hrs later. The waiter who rescued him was later shot dead by the terrorists. On 29th Nov, Kamlesh is now at a different wedding. He was booked a month ago, and he is keeping his committment. Life has to go on..!”
“The only terrorist caught alive has admitted to being a Pakistani, being trained by Pak based Lashkar-e-toiba and retired officials of the Pakistan army. He has been singing like a canary under police custody!! The 'Deccan Mujahideen' was probably just a cover or possibly an alias. It is not possible that a small or unknown group could have carried out an operation of this magnitude. The terrorists had been instructed to 'Kill till the last breath'. The idea was to create a sensation, strike terror and make waves in the international community by targetting foreign nationals.”
“The Indian foreign minister has NOT RULED OUT military strikes against Pakistan. He has said that every nation has a right to self-defence and protecting its territory. And that it isimpossible to carry on the peace process under these circumstances. ps: It is now being reported that the terrorists had been maintaining their high levels of energy (and mania!) by using cocaine and LSD”
“Several people from all over India have been tarvelling to Mumbai to visit and pay homage to the site of the attacks. There is a newmovement in the country via 'sms text msgs', urging people to gather in a peaceful and leaderless protest at the Gateway of India, Mumbai at 6pm on the 3rd of Dec, to protest against the attacks and fight for the security and protection of the common man.”
“If the Indian Govt does decide to go ahead with military strikes against Pakistan, needless to say, this would be an extremely volatile and dangerous situation. India and Pakistan are BOTH nuclear countries and until now, war was NOT an option for us. However the recent developments have changed the equation between both countries. Meanwhile the Pakistani Govt denies any direct involvement and promises to take action WHEN India provides concrete evidence of the Lashkar's involvement.”
“Pakistan has herself suffered at the hands of Islamic extremism when the JW Marriot hotel was bombed in Islamabad in September 2008. This attack killed 54 (including 15 foreign nationals) and injured over 250. The JW Marriot hotel in S.Jakarta, Indonesia was also bombed in August 2003 (killing 12 and injuring 150) , and the Al-Qaeda connection was well-established back then. As u can see, the HOTEL bombings are getting progressively more fatal.”
“In the meanwhile, political heads continue to roll in India. India's home minister Shivraj Patil has been fired by the ruling party. The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharastra ( Mumbai is the capital of the state Maharastra ) have also been fired. Your previous report on media personel interfering in the action of police and security guards, and endangering their lives is indeed true. The terrorists could watch the police and commando action on TV from inside the hotel and were thus informed of the points of entry!”
“The Muslim Council of Mumbai released a press statement on Nov 30, on its decision to refuse burial of the bodies of the 9 terrorists killed during the Mumbai seige in the Mumbai Marine Lines Bada Cemetry. The council said it was trying to send a message to all cemeteries in India that none of the bodies should be buried in ANY cemetry on Indian soil. The influential Muslim Jama Masjid Trust, which runs the 7.5-acre graveyard, said it would not bury the gunmen because they were not true followers of Islam.”
“During the attacks one militant said that the gunmen had been sent to avenge the abuses committed against Muslims in Gujrat, India and Indian-controlled Kashmir. According to leaked details of the interrogation, he said that he and his fellow the terrorists were indoctrinated by being shown images of "atrocities on Muslims in India". There are seven other Muslim graveyards in Mumbai, but the Jama Masjid's influence means none of the others are likely to accept the bodies.”
“The entire nation is on guard. This is war now. Its my birthday this saturday and I was hoping to go out and party. But now my family wants me to stay indoors, since ANY city in India might be 'next on list' for these b*stards.”
“I had a quiet b'day. Boss got me a cake and gifts(YES, i work on saturdays too lol). There is a lot of anger among all Indians today. Most blame our politicians. I think the problem is more than just our politicians but with our system itself..”
“If u remember.. I had told u about how a lot of our cops were shot dead despite their 'bullet proof' jackets. Our firemen are brave and selfless but the fire dept could not collect enough water till 2 hours after the fire broke out in Taj(after the bomb blast). The cops at Mumbai's CST train station took on the terrorists and their AK-56s with their outdated World War II pistols!”
“This is'nt the first time that we have had a terror attack in our country (if u have been reading my blogs). and mumbai has seen several terror attacks since 1993. These terror attacks are always sponsored by the Pakistani govt. And now they have been brainwashing OUR youth in the name of religion. For awhile now, there has been speculation that bin Laden is in Pakistan. This episode has some of al-Qaeda's signature moves.. and is reminiscent of the fidayeen attacks in kashmir in the 90s. U get the connection now?? we have pointed this out to your govt several times but your govt has never taken us seriously. and time and again we have heard george bush refering to pakistan as 'an important ally in our fight against terrorism' D-OH!”
“Several Indians collected in a peaceful rally in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and New Delhi at 6pm, Dec 3. Since more and more educated and elite Muslims from India and Pakistan have been enrolling into the Jehadi wave, a lot of my muslim friends were wondering aloud ..about the repurcussions of these attacks. We wonder why anybody would give us a job now? Why would anyone rent us a place to stay?”
“However at the 6 pm rallies,Hindus and Muslims have come together holding various placards reading signs like 'Our politicians had divided us.These terrorists have now united us'. The Govt has been profiling Muslims, no doubt.I recently had to provide a 'proof of residence' and a xerox of my passport. But there has been no bullying or intimidation. These protest rallies were the idea of ONE blogger.. His friends sent out a chain of text msgs.. and the chain was carried thru various parts of India”
“I have five friends from Mumbai. Everyone has lost someone they know. 1 friend has lost several friends..people she grew up with. 1 of my boss's friends LIVES near the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and could hear the bomb blasts from where she was. While they were on the phone, my boss heard one blast in the background.. and secs later,it was on the news!”
“I wanted to say.. since some 15 foreigners were killed.. and since these men were specifically targetting americans, british and israelis.. i hope the world will now take our problems seriously. these men were highly intelligent, well-planned, well-trained, highly motivated, had a lot of money.. and absolutely FEARLESS! When a bunch of men are unafraid to die, believe that they are morally correct and this is their way to paradise.. it is impossible to control them”
“Our phenomenal growth and prosperity in the last 10 years seems to have made our enemies very envious. Mumbai is the financial capital of India and represents cosmopoliton India. 125 people are now dead and 24 hrs later, there are several who are still being held hostage. This is a picture of one of the suspected terrorists. Notice the Versace t-shirt?? More and more educated and wealthy Indian and Pakistani muslims are being brainwashed into the Jehadi terror wave. This is an alarming and disturbing trend. My boss did not want me to blog about this bcoz she fears that as an educated Indian muslim with computer skills and family in the middle-east, my blogs and mails might be supervised as well! OH GRRRREAT!!!”
“A fellow doctor and a good friend of mine called me today from Manipal, India. He happens to be a muslim. He got a phone call from the police at 7am today, asking him to show up at the station. He has no idea how they got his number or if this was a joke. When he got there, there were almost a 100 medical and engineering students from the colleges there- ALL muslims!! The police were polite and told everyone not to panic. But they took down everybody's address and phone numbers. And told them to be back tomorrow to get their pictures taken. "Just routine..", they reassured everyone.
AND SO IT BEGINS..............
“Her courage in simply corresponding with me being outweighted by her desire to inform America what is truly going on in India. Her love of country is unquestionable, and I only hope that her fervor is not outweighed by the fact that she is Muslim. That would be racism of the highest order.
Wyatt Cox
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