Accept me, Kasab's letter to Pakistani authorities

Even as Pakistan refuses to acknowledge that the Mumbai attackers were from Pakistan, Kasab - the lone gunman caught alive is now appealing to his government- to extend legal aid.

Captured terrorist Ajmal Kasab has written to the Pakistan High Commission for access to legal aid. Amongst his pleas is also a direction to claim the body of his fellow terrorist- Ismail Khan and give him a decent burial.

It's now becoming more and more difficult for Islamabad to hide under the cloud of uncertainty of the identities of the men who attacked Mumbai.

The dust has begun to settle and investigations by the world media too point to how Pakistani organisations are in complete denial of evidence that all the terrorists belonged to Pakistan.

There is a new addition to the pile of proof. This time it is a letter that the surviving terrorist Ajmal Kasab has written to the Pakistan High Commission in India.

Top sources in the Mumbai police have revealed that Kasab, in a three-page letter to the high commission.

Ajmal has confessed to carrying out the terror attack in Mumbai. He has said that he is indeed a Pakistani national and was part of the LeT's operations.

He has asked for legal help from Pakistani officials.

The letter asks the officials to claim the body of his fellow terrorist Ismail Khan's body and give it an Islamic burial.

He has also named Zaki-ur-rehman Lakhvi, believed to be the man who lured him into terrorism, the LeT chief Hafiz Sayeed and Mohammad Kahafa as his trainers.

The said letter has been handed over by the Mumbai police to the union home ministry, which will first examine it and then pass it on to the Pakistan High Commission.

So far, the high commission has denied recieving any such letter and Islamabad continues to demand what it calls 'solid proof of its involvement in the Mumbai attacks'.

India, on its part has maintained that evidence will be shared at the appropriate time.

Awaiting the avian guests

Pigeon nests outside the Taj still unoccupied

Mumbai: Terror-hit Taj has bounced back to life with visitors and tourists thronging the heritage wing, but the pigeon nests resting outside the iconic hotel are still awaiting their avian guests. Pigeon nests dotting the landmark area were shattered by gunshots and grenade blasts during the terror siege on November 26.

The pigeons, which attract tourists at the Gateway of India and Taj, have gone missing following heightened security around the buildings. Avid bird lovers who spend their time feeding and watching them at the ground between Taj and Gateway are evidently missing this theatre of nature.

No feathered friends

“My wife and I come here every morning to spend sometime with the pigeons. It has been our routine for the last 10 years, but I feel dejected now when I do not find my feathered friends here,” says Birendra Choudhary, a resident of South Mumbai’s Colaba area and a regular jogger. “My morning stroll is synonymous with pigeons, as I believe association with them would bring wealth and peace of mind to me,” he said.

Prasad Abhyankar, who regularly visits the site, says “I cannot imagine this place without pigeons. It is always at the back of your mind that you will see those messengers of peace if you are going to take a stroll near Taj.” “The absence of these special guests is disappointing. I think even pigeons detest such terror attacks and they are not willing to come back,” he said.

Losing its charm

The absence of the birds also disturbs Kishore Tiwari, who used to spend his evenings in the area with his girlfriend. “It is a favourite spot among youngsters to take snaps and play with pigeons, but the place is losing its charm since the pigeons are missing,” he said. Spending time with pigeons and feeding them generates a sense of peace among the visitors.

Piece of peace

Hence, many domestic and foreign tourists gather here in large numbers to take their ‘piece of peace’ and “shoot” these winged companions, which adds beauty to the souvenir photographs, captured with the Arabian sea in the backdrop.

After strike - Building better response networks

After the horrifying Mumbai carnage the word “intelligence” relating to terrorists is becoming a kind of buzzword and an awesome amount of suggestions and ideas are coming in a torrent. Unwittingly it is leading to a situation where ordinary people are made to imagine that once a good, reliable and dependable intelligence network is in place, terrorism as a problem will be fully and squarely met.

At the same time, it is equally vital that we do not allow ourselves to become collective victims of mass fright and community hysteria. The leadership, both at the political as well as the administrative levels, has to act fast and firm to restore the pubic confidence in the systems without allowing scare or helplessness to overtake us. From out of the rubbles of the gruesome setting of 26/11 of Mumbai, perhaps the following action points can be culled out for a closer look — reviewing and strengthening the Intelligence networks, developing a public ethos which enables a greater appreciation of public response to various aspects of law enforcement and which prompts a more willing participation by the common citizens to the laborious and at times irksome security drills of myriad kinds, police reforms (inclusive of reasonable augmentation of police resources, that will make the police worry more about the law of the land than the political bosses) and putting in place comprehensive calamity response structures.

Tackling future threats

In fact, many international security experts have very rightly observed, more specifically after the tragic events of the so-called 9/11 of the USA that ‘you are at best, prepared to deal with your last experience’.

It is surely pragmatic to infer that we will again be left high and dry if the satanic and diabolic minds conjure up a hitherto untried path to set off a new lethal tremor. There is an urgent need to review the entire edifice of intelligence gathering in the country. The mentally etched scene where a constable armed with a .303 rifle in contrast to an AK 47 wielding terrorist and the risks that the fire force personnel really faced during the rescue missions that unfolded before our television screens may rouse our feelings to seek immediate augmentation of arms at par.

Yet, we have to take a broad view in the context of not only terrorism but also of various other threats to peace so that the basic concept of ‘civil police’ — a hallmark of democracy — is not destroyed. Surely the constabulary needs to be provided with better resources and support and that necessarily does not mean arming each of them to the teeth. Firearms with the police can surely appear to be consistent in times of grave disorder and that should not be a customary and patent picture during normal times. After all, a policeman is professed as a friend, philosopher and a guide of the citizens.

Law enforcement

Anxiety and urgency spurred by the recent events must not force us to hurriedly alter basic features of law enforcement without really seeing any valid need for a dramatic transition in the make up. Fighting terrorists, even in a close quarter battle with weapons ought not be performed by the civil police and units like NSG or ATS have to deal with that type of threats. We would be prudent in not forgetting that strikes by terrorists, howsoever horrendous are not daily events and normal civic life has to go on and at the same time our daily existence has to face various other forms of threats to peace and order.

The task is comparable to the efforts to keep a beach clean – by removing the debris thrown by the visitors as well as clearing the refuse dumped by the sea waves. That task has to be done and repeated without a break. Indeed that is the charter before us. Rightly it was well said that eternal vigil is the price of liberty.

Dancing at the Taj

In these dark days, memories of better times at the Taj 70 years ago.

The Taj has issued a clarion call, “I will prevail”. From its many vicissitudes during the past century, like the phoenix, it has always resurrected itself in all its brilliance.

The Taj was an icon even in those days. Its frontage was so uniquely beautiful. Inside, it was sumptuous. Princesses had made it their second home. It was Bombay’s pride. If a guy took his girl there, he felt good about himself.

Brief acquaintance

My own acquaintance with the Taj was for a short period before my marriage at the end of 1938. After the engagement, I was allowed to date a man alone. But it was no carte blanche. There was a 10 p.m. deadline.

American films of those days were as lively with songs and dances as Bollywood’s are today. It was the era of musicals and hey day of the fox trot, waltz, tango and rumba. We knew all the songs and wanted to learn the dances. In the evenings we met at friends homes’ and danced to the gramophone. Girls usually outnumbered boys and though we corralled younger brothers and cousins, we still had to dance with each other. No matter. It was fun, and we did learn to dance.

Going to a Tea Dance at the Taj was a very different affair. Every Sunday evening I looked forward to an opulent world unknown to me. Wearing the lovely new saris gifted at the engagement was an added pleasure. In the Taj, the huge ball room used to be downstairs. Tall glass windows covered the whole length of one side. As they entered, the guests were enfolded in its magic ambience. The scent of massed flowers and rich pastry, gorgeous tapestry, the delicate clink of polished silver, soft music and the quiet murmur of elegant patrons chatting over damask tables. We ordered tea and waited for the dance music to begin. Dancing to a live band which enjoyed playing jazz as only Goans knew how to, was sheer joy. My partner was a good dancer. My repertoire was limited. Since the Taj ball room was not exactly a place to learn new steps, we stuck to the familiar.

Special memories

That time seems so long ago. These dark days, watching the Taj in flames on TV, countless families must be recalling their own happy memories of the hotel. How they used to save up for lunch or tea, be it for Navroze, Christmas or birthday. How great it was to feel rich and opulent even for one special day. Always at the Taj — acme of excellence. Let’s hope the band will soon play “happy days are here again”.

The writer (aged 91) is a freelance contributor. She can be contacted atsilloo.mehta@yahoo.co.in

Did some Taj guests die after police “error”?

LONDON: In a report that will embarrass the Mumbai police, the BBC on Sunday quoted guests who survived the terror attack on Taj Hotel as saying that some people may have died as they tried to escape after they were misled by the police into believing that it was safe to leave.

Allegation denied

However, the police denied the allegation.

One survivor , Dr. Prashant Mangeshikar, a gynaecologist who was trapped in the hotel for several hours, said some guests were shot and killed by terrorists after police told them it was safe to get away.

Dr. Mangeshikar said that he and some others had barricaded themselves in a room and waited. In the early hours of the morning, police officers who made it through to where they were hiding reportedly told them it was safe to leave the hotel because the gunmen were cornered on another floor.

Suspicion saved him

Some went ahead, but Dr. Mangeshikar refused to leave.

“I was a little suspicious that the police were actually sending these guys down a different route where the terrorists were supposed to be. I refused to move away and the people who ran ahead of me, about 20 or 30 of them, all of them died,” the BBC reported him as saying.

Another guest, Shilpa, a dress designer said that her aunt was shot dead and her cousin seriously wounded because they followed police instructions to try to leave.

‘Disgraceful’

Describing the police conduct as “disgraceful,” she said: “They had no right to risk people’s lives.”

A small scar and Ode to Joy on Taj's re-opening night

 

A large shop display window, located in a corridor directly opposite the entrance to the now-boarded-up Harbour Bar, that was decimated in the 26/11 attack on the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, has a simple message mounted on a tricolour background:

We salute all those who sacrificed their lives so that the rest of us could be informed.

But if you carefully touch the glass of the window you realise it isn't there. It probably cracked, or was blown away, during a grenade attack or gunfire on November 26, or in the hours after that, when 31 people, including 12 Taj staffers, including seven chefs, were killed. It is a small scar, still visible in the newly re-opened hotel. 

Ever since the Taj Mahal Tower hotel -- the palace or heritage wing remains shut for an extensive restoration job that will be completed only next year � opened its doors again on Sunday evening at 7 pm, with heavy security in place,  Mumbaikars have flooded the hotel.

Some sit in the lobby serenely listening to pianist Moreno, smart in black and white, play Ode to Joy, popularised in Beethoven's ninth symphony.

Others pose in the centre of the lobby, in front of the brighty-lit,spangled Christmas tree [Images] for photographs. The lobby blazes with lights and cheer, a tad forced. The portico outside is decorated with lit wreaths. About 100 staff members float around welcoming people/guests and managing the crowds of curious Mumbaikars.

Little knots of visitors float down the corridors to the pool area and the lobby of the old Taj, a portion of which is open, peeping at the just re-opened Ravissant (a luxury goods shop) festooned in marigold garlands, the brightly-lit Louis Vuitton handbag showroom and the Indian Textiles. They pause, quietly, and look at the glass-less window display.

Garlanded guests, who have just checked in, a number of them foreigners, head to the bank of elevators.

At the big window looking out to the glowing Tree of Life memorial for the 31 victims, located in the open-air atrium, opposite the popular Nalanda bookshop, amidst a sea of candles, Christmas trees and reindeer, patrons new and old gather. Some solemnly snap cell-phone pictures of the memorial as a souvenir. Others, probably tourists, take out cameras and shoot more special images.

A lady, probably from the North East, stands looking sadly at the flickering candles. She says she used to live in Bandra and decided to come today because she heard the hotel was opening. Moreno, the 'piano man', with a musical note brooch, comes across to chat with her. He recounts to her how during a restroom break, the terrorists came in and started shooting and he thought it was some construction work. But he managed to make an escape right through the main doors of the hotel.

Deepak Parekh, chairman, HDFC [Get Quote], and his wife Smita, sit in the lobby. They are almost certainly among the 1,000 guests invited by Taj Hotels and the Tatas, along with novelist Shobhaa De, Raymond Group chairman and managing director Gautam Hari Singhania and his wife Nawaz, Godrej [Get Quote] group chairman Adi Godrej, actor Rahul Bose [Images], Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra Bank[Get Quote], among others, to mark the reopening of the hotel with a puja and a discreet function, after which Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata group addressed the press at dusk, with Taj Hotels CEO, Raymond Bickson standing at his side.

He said, "This is a memorable day in (its) show of strength, a tribute to all those who have lost their lives or those who have saved many lives. It is an indication of our participation in the community of the city of Mumbai."

The Parekhs are probably catching their breath before they carry on to the next function of the evening. A few chairs away from them sits a woman with her eyes closed, motionless.

All of the Taj Mahal hotel's [Images] 278 rooms in the 23-storey tower wing are once again operational. Five restaurants of the hotel have also opened again � the hotel's rooftop Mediterranean eatery Souk, fine-dining eatery Zodiac Grill, its coffee shop Shamiana, bar Starboard and Indian cuisine restaurant Masala Kraft. They are booked out. At Starboard, nostalgic songs like Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonightplay, as city nightbirds troop in hoping for a table.

Outside the hotel, suited Deepak Datta, an NRI from the US, who says he was the first guest to re-check in after the opening, offers a series of interviews to the The Guardian, Sky News and ITN. "I booked the same room. I have to sleep in the same room tonight. By being the first guest I am doing my small bit," he says. 

The Taj and the Trident reopen today

Back on their feet less than a month after the terror attacks

 
Sprucing up: Taj Mahal Hotel staff decorate a Christmas tree in the lobby on Saturday, the eve of the hotel’s reopening.

Mumbai: Terror-torn luxury hotels — The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower and the Trident — will reopen their doors on Sunday after a gap of less than a month.

At a press conference here on Saturday, Rattan Keswani, president, Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, told the media that the Trident would have 100 rooms occupied on the reopening day and its restaurants — India Jones, Frangipani, Opium Den and the Verandah — already received reservations calls.

In the wake of the attacks, the hotel sought expert help in upgrading security. “We have hired the best security consultant,” Mr. Keswani said.

Although he did not divulge the extent of spending on security upgrade, he said it was quite a lot. He spoke of the likelihood of the presence of armed guards and barricades at the entrances.

“The hotel will have large baggage scanners. Every piece of hand baggage will be checked, metal detectors will be in place at every entrance and there will be an identity check. However, these surveillance and security measures will be as “unobtrusive as possible,” he said.

The restoration of the Trident cost the Oberoi group, which manages the Oberoi and Trident hotels, about Rs. 40 to Rs. 50 lakh.

Of the two, the Oberoi suffered heavy damage and will reopen only after an estimated time of seven months. No decision on its reopening has been taken so far. The assessment process is likely to get over in 15 days, said Mr. Keswani. The restoration of the Oberoi will cost Rs. 40 crore to Rs. 50 crore. The insurance company, New India Assurance, already released Rs. 25 crore, he said.

Now the Trident’s lobby, the main affected area, sparkles — its unblemished look healing the discomfiting memory of the horror. Twenty-two guests and 10 staff lost their lives at the Trident and Oberoi, said Mr. Keswani.

According to Mr. Devendra Bharma, Executive Vice-President, during the attack, 135 guests were evacuated from the Oberoi and 316 guests were evacuated from the Trident. Guests dining at the restaurants were also evacuated.

He also said the hotel saw cancellations up to 30 to 35 per cent. However, this was true not just of this hotel, but in hotels all over the country. Moreover, this being the holiday season, the number of foreign guests is anyway low.

According to a Taj press note dated December 17, “268 rooms will be available, which include nine suites and six club rooms. The evening of December 21 will also see The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower reopening its world-renowned restaurants and eateries on the dot at 7.30 p.m., including The Zodiac Grill, Souk, Masala Kraft, Aquarius, Shamiana, Starboard and La Patisserie. Also reopening will be the Rooftop Rendezvous Banquet Hall and the Chambers.”

Both the Taj and the Oberoi have set up funds to help those affected by the attacks — the Taj Public Service Welfare Trust and the Oberoi Care Fund.

Never say die: Trident, Taj tower rule skyline again

 Two structures that bore the brunt of the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, the Trident hotel and the Taj hotel towers are all set to reopen on Sunday December 21, 2008, within a month of the attacks.

The Trident is throwing open all its 550 guestrooms and suites as well as facilities like the spa and fitness centres to the public.

The hotel says most tables at its two restaurants have already been booked. But the hotel will have no Christmas or New Year celebrations. The freeze on celebrations of the loud kind are to mourn the victims of the terror attacks.

The Taj, another target of the terrorist attack, also reopens on Sunday. Four terrorists were holed in at the Taj Palace hotel in a 60-hour-long siege.

The Trident, which is in a building close to the Oberoi hotel, is connected to it through a lobby. The Oberoi hotel, however will remain shut for renovation work, necessiated by damages sustained in the recent terrorist strikes.