This is what i had accumulated for 26/11, wasn't able to post it in time, though here it is now.
MUMBAI: MERI JAAN (the Night Mares of 26/11)
It's a recurring nightmare: Mumbai is under siege, hundreds of people are being held hostage, and I wake up morning after morning asking the same question...is it over yet? Is it over Yet? Is It Over Yet????........
On November 26, 2008, a billion people felt the helplessness and vulnerability of the kind we have never experienced ever. When 10 misguided young men held an entire nation to ransom and there was nothing the nation could do except live in disbelief and post that, in denial. While the last commando and the last hostage may have left the scene, and the last burnt tile or broken door been replaced months ago, the truth is 'Mumbai' will not be over until we are able to squarely face what happened to us during those three days.
Terrorists can, and probably will strike again - but we need to be able to say the failures of those three days will never be repeated.
Let’s have a look at the failures of Government:
To begin with the failure of our first response at the Centre. During the IC-814 hijacking, the failure to deploy the NSG to Amritsar became a critical error. Frustration at the specter of men armed and ready to stop the plane on the tarmac, but sitting instead in a bus waiting for orders that never came. Once IC-814 took off for Pakistan, terrorists won the advantage, and eventually achieved their aim of freeing some of the sub-continent's most dangerous men at Kandahar.
"Never again", we said.
Yet yes, once again, during the Mumbai attacks the same frustration rose. The '24/7 perennially-prepared' NSG commando force was only pressed into action 3 hours after the first shot rang out at Leopold, and no one has yet borne the blame for why they couldn't find a plane big enough to take them, why men headquartered within ten minutes off Delhi airport took another 6 hours to reach Mumbai, and why when they landed there they weren't choppered to the scene, but put on slow buses.
The next failure, the most serious one, was our failure to turn off the terrorists' communication with their leaders in Pakistan. A chilling Channel 4 documentary that pieced together those conversations shows very clearly how much the attackers depended on their Lashkar Commanders for every move, and even the strength to carry on.
This is the transcript of the conversation posted on Channel 4,
On the November 26 2008, 10 gunmen arrived off Mumbai on a hijacked fishing trawler. The crew was killed, the captain left alive to navigate. Later that night the Indian intelligence services began recording the terrorists talking to their controllers in Pakistan. Read excerpts of those conversations here.
At the Taj Hotel
Controller: Pile up the carpets and mattresses from the room you've opened. Douse them in alcohol and set them alight. Get a couple of floors burning. And when we ring, make sure you answer.
Controller: Peace be with you. How are you getting on? Have you started the fire yet?
Gunman: No we haven't started it yet.
C: You must start the fire now. Nothing's going to happen until you start the fire. When people see the flames, they will begin to be afraid
C: And throw some grenades my brother. There's no harm in throwing a few grenades. How hard can it be to throw a grenade? Just pull the pin and throw it.
G: There are computers here with 30-inch screens!
C: Computers? Haven't you set fire to them?
G: We're just about to. You'll be able to see the fire in a sec.
C: We can't watch if there aren't any flames. Where are they?
G: It's amazing! The windows are huge. It's got two kitchens, a bath and a little shop.
C: Start the fire, my brother... Start a proper fire, that's the important thing.
C: How are you Ali? All well?
G: Thanks be to God, I'm fine. It's taken a long time to break the doors down. We've managed to break into three or four rooms facing the sea, and we've set fire to them.
C: My brother, yours is the most important target. The media is covering your target, the Taj hotel, more than any other.
The Trident Oberoi Hotel
C: it going, brother Fahadullah?
G: Brother Abdul Rehman has just died, praise God.
C: Oh really? Is he nearby?
G: Yes, he's right next to me.
C: May God accept his martyrdom.
G: The room is on fire. They're showing it on the TV. I'm sitting in the bathroom.
C: You mustn't let them arrest you, remember that.
G: God willing. God willing
C: Fahadullah my brother, can't you just get out there and fight? Throw a grenade and try to get out.
G: I've run out of grenades.
C: Be brave brother, don't panic. For your mission to end successfully you must be killed. God is waiting for you in heaven.
G: God willing.
May God help you. Fight bravely, and put your phone in your pocket but leave it on. [Gunfire] Fahadullah?? Fahadullah?
A message from the controller
Controller: They're saying that there are many many killed and injured. The whole city has been shot up. Fires are burning everywhere. People are dying all over the place. With God's blessing, you've done a brilliant job!
Gunman: All praise to God. All praise to God.
C: You're very close to heaven. For your mission to end successfully, you must be killed. The enemy must fear us. When this is over, there will be much more fear in the world.
C: Give the government an ultimatum. Say, 'This was just the trailer. Just wait till you see the rest of the film. This is just a small example.'
G: Wait for the rest of the film – shall I write that down? The main film is yet to come.
From that failure, to the failure of our agencies to coordinate operations, to the credit-claiming press conferences even while operations continued, to the abysmal quality of the bullet proof jackets that failed our bravest officers, each piece in the Mumbai operation fits a shameful puzzle - and a pattern of larger incompetence.
The best part, the part that makes our chests swell with pride, and our throats choke with sadness, is about the individual courage of men and women who went beyond their training, beyond their calling, to respond the way they did. A victory of collective stories of heroism,
A story of one such Unsung Hero: Commander S Nagmote, CSO for the Oberoi Hotel:
On the night of Mumbai terror attack almost everyone went beyond the call of duty, some with arms and some with plain courage. One such person was former chief security officer (CSO) for The Oberoi Hotel, Commander S Nagmote. His presence of mind saved many lives that night.
"I got a call that there is a blast, the person who called didn't realise that it was a gun fire initially," said Nagmote.
He entered the hotel minutes after the first round of fire.
"There was blood near the bell desk. I could see blood near the elevator because I think one of the Japanese guests was shot at by the terrorist at the bell desk area. He was pulled by his colleague at the elevator so I could see the blood stains on the floor, the blood of somebody being dragged," he said.
"What I really wanted was that I should have had a weapon like AK47 and I would have gone after these guys,"
Nagmote may not have managed to control the two terrorists, but he pledged that he would not allow any further collateral damage to the people or the property.
Two things that became a priority for Nagmote were managing the fire panel and conserving water to combat any fire and for those injured and stranded. He was aware that he was exposing himself and risking his life in the process. It was then that he saw water leaking down from the higher floors where the terrorists were hiding.
"I thought I must conserve water. So I went up to the 12th and 13th floors. Thereafter, I gave up because I didn't have a life jacket. I only knew the terrorists were on the top floor. I thought they were on the 21st floor. I knew the number of terrorist. I knew it from the CCTV camera footage that there were two terrorist," he said.
Nagmote put a list together of all those present at the hotel and called every guest to ensure that they felt safe. He made a 1,000 calls but forgot to dial one number of his worrying wife and daughter at home.
"The touching moment was when I switched on my cell phone and I had a SMS from my daughter saying that 'at least please call us and tell us that you are ok,'" he said.
The man who saved many lives lost one closest to him, his childhood friend Anti Terrorism Squad Chief Hemant Karkare.
"Personally the thing that moved me was the loss of the lives of the guests and of my employees and colleagues," he said.
"My dad came back home and saw gifts laid on the table and he asked what is going on? I told him it's my birthday. And him coming home was the best birthday gift," said his daughter, Suma Nagmote.
…………………………………………………….
Finally there is the haunting question each of us has to answer in the privacy of our own thoughts. If we were taken hostage today, how would we respond? Would we be among dozens who were simply led away by a couple of men at-a-time to our deaths, or would we risk our own lives with the hope that others may be spared? During the 9/11 attacks, the passengers of United Airlines Flt 93 showed that it is possible for ordinary people like you and me to do extraordinary things. Things we must be prepared to do - given that terror groups will always target the ordinary innocent.
So where do we go from here? Shall we give up and wait for the next catastrophe to befall us? Should we send out armies of young men and women to light symbolic candles? Where neither the light illuminates nor the fire stokes our imagination into moving forward? Or should we decide that this nation as an integrated entity, cannot forget 26/11. Not because it was 26/11 but because it exposed every facet of our governance and security architecture and all the talk of GDP growth figures and economic superpower sounded not just hollow but self-laudatory and nothing more.
26/11 in many ways was not a wake-up call just for the Indian security system. Nor a show to expose the porosity of our security system but in real terms was a reminder of the disengagement of the average Indian from India the nation-state. That is the lesson we should have learnt. And we still have time to learn it. It is this engagement that needs to occupy our hearts and minds. We need to fight for every Indian to live with dignity. We need to fight against being taken for granted. We need to fight for the memories of the Kangs, the Kamtes and the Karkares.
The ANSWER is:
We need better GUN LAWS in place, there is a survival instinct present in every Human Being, which can avoid such fateful incidents to happen in future by implementing RKBA, by lifting Ban on Imports of FIRE ARMS and providing a opportunity to the law abiding citizens to protect themselves, to reply to these bloody terrorist that you won’t have another opportunity to pick on us. It shall further improve the quality of FIRE ARMS being produced in India by privatizing these sectors as done in other countries.
The likes of Sebestain Dsouza and Commander Nagmote, have already proved that Indian Law abiding citizens are not just puppet to these terrorist, when the duty calls, they are ready to fight for their Country and Countrymen, if the government supports them by providing much better reformations on RKBA.
The Question is: As a CITIZEN of INDIA, are you ready to help and save your country?
If yes, Please join Indians for GUNS (IFG) and Gun Owners Foundation of India (GFI) to support our cause, in protecting yourself your loved ones, your innocent Country men and most importantly Pride of your Country.
JOIN TODAY.
Ravi
Sorry for not being able to get back to you in time, will e-mail you shortly. 
