Like many millions I also watched the Taj/ Trident/ Oberoi/Nariman drama unfold on TV. Bravo NSG, Bravo Marcos and Bravo all the police personnel, RAF, CRP and many other unsung/unseen heroes who the average citizen not know, has never heard of and will never find out about. At 63, I feel proud of the younger generation of our armed forces and paramilitary organizations, who through their sacrifice, allow us all to hold our heads high.
To those who think India is spending too much on its armed forces, to those who want to downsize the army- as if it was like any other industry or business or municipal unit- my request is think again.
Most important: From all accounts there were some 29 Pak and 11 Bangladeshi nationals involved in this audacious terror strike. I have talked to many of my buddies who like me are former combatants, fighter pilots, commandos, paratroopers and the like: and all of us think that Pakistan Army has once again followed its age old and proven method of using regular armed forces members, in this instance, perhaps marine commandos, in Mujahideen disguise exactly as it did in J&K 1947, Punjab and J&K 1965 and Kargil 1999. There is little point in calling the ISI Chief to India. He will simply deny his involvement and claim that the LeT are rogue elements not under the control of the ISI.
Even more important: The Pak army/ navy personnel may have already gone back after doing the preliminary work of landing the "terrorists". (Remember, according to TV reports, the cell phone that once belonged to the journalist Sabina Sehgal Saikia was last traced to Raigadh in Konkan an area known to be frequented by the Mumbai underworld)We cannot sit tight till we find out what happened to the others. The NSG has after all killed only 10 or 12 terrorists. Police and government authorities must not relax their vigil until each of the 40 or more is accounted for. Believe me: we will all have another serious incident like this again in a few days if we dont take action now. The way these men carried their rucksacks, secured the dinghy and handled their weapons and kept our elite commandos engaged for 60 hours is proof that they are Pakistani Army/Navy Commandos or were trained by such professionals. Pak army hand is therefore clearly evident.
We must do our utmost to put more pressure on our political leadership to act and to act fast to create/ change/revamp our anti-terror apparatus so that we send a clear signal to the future terrorist that he will not succeed.
