Grief and grit as Indians remember 60 hours of terror

New Delhi/Mumbai: Some moments are seared into the collective consciousness of the nation events like 26/11. The utter helplessness felt that night came back to haunt the nation on the first anniversary of India's most wounding terror strike. However, with it was a sense of resolve as thousands prepared to gather in various cities to remember the dead and also hope for a terror-free tomorrow.

The trauma started on the night on November 26, 2008, when terrorists who came by boat sneaked into this commercial metropolis to begin a 60-hour siege that ended only on the afternoon on November 28. At the end of the siege, 175 people were dead, nine of the 10 terrorists were killed and India brought to its knees as horrified citizens watched masked gunmen take over a much loved city.

It was terror in a television age played out for the world to watch. Mumbaikar or not, Indian or not, the scenes of terrorists taking over luxury hotels, a crowded station, a buzzing cafe and of top police officials being killed brought the vulnerability home.

Millions fearfully watched their television sets for three nights and three days, till the last of the terrorists were killed in the Jewish Chabad House. The fires burning from the dome of the Taj Hotel, survivors breaking through glass to make their escape, two-year-old Moshe being brought out by his nanny from Chabad House while his parents were massacred inside... the trauma lives to this day.

Roadmap

As stunned security agencies probed the hows and whys of the most daring non-military attack that penetrated into the country's most elite establishments, the government set itself a roadmap to secure India and found global backing in its war against terror.

In a statement on the eve of the anniversary of the Mumbai attacks, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Wedneday said: "The attacks in Mumbai last year were an outrage. No one who watched the events unfold on television will forget the way that those responsible sought to cause the greatest fear and suffering.

"Their misguided aim was to create terror and uncertainty in the region. The government and the people of India were neither cowed nor provoked by these atrocities but stood resolute."

A year on, the fallout has been changes in the security mindset and the premium put on strengthening internal security. Basic protocols, strategies and tactics for an appropriate response have been listed.

Making the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) — tasked with collecting intelligence in real time fully operational has been perhaps the most tangible achievement.

"In the last 11 months, we have been able to bust 31 terror modules. Optimising intelligence flow and coordination between different agencies has helped vastly," said a senior security official who spoke about the valuable lessons learnt.

For a very long time, India has managed to absorb the shock and move ahead. The lessons, this time around, are different — it will no longer be business as usual.