‘India doesn’t have capability to pick out Hafiz Saeed’
BOOKS ON 26/11
Iwas in Florida that day, enjoying the sunshine and a cloudless blue sky as I took a walk around the block in my mother’s quiet neighbourhood. Palm trees swayed gently in the warm breeze as I thought of Alan and Naomi, my husband and 13-year-old daughter. I wondered what time it would be in Mumbai. It must be dinner time, I thought. I was surprised I had not heard from them that day but maybe there would be an email when I returned to my mother’s house, I thought.
But no email was waiting for me. As I was preparing tea, the phone rang. I still vividly remember that ring and the urgent message that followed. “Kia turn on the news, the Oberoi Hotel is being attacked by terrorists.” I felt numb and the phone slipped from my limp hands as I almost collapsed. I was praying for the information to be wrong but when we turned on the news, we realised it was true.
It wasn’t until two days later, early morning, that we learned the fate of Alan and Naomi. Both had been shot and killed under a table at the Tiffin restaurant of the Oberoi Hotel. As the attacks unfolded in front of us on TV and sent shock waves across the world, messages of love and prayer found their way to me in Florida.
Alan and Naomi were in Mumbai with a group from the Synchronicity Modern Meditation Foundation and hundreds of messages were sent to that website from people of all religions – Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Christians, and more. In the midst of the deepest grief I had ever known, I also felt a tsunami of love pouring forth from our world family. For the first time, I felt this world family personally and the magnitude of this love overpowered hatred, anger, disbelief and shock. I knew this is who we truly are as human beings. I knew that those young men who became terrorists must have been disconnected from love, disconnected from their own true essence, and that enabled them to kill other human beings. I felt compassion for these lost souls and I remembered the words of Jesus Christ “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.” I decided in that moment to focus on forgiveness, love, compassion and peace. I knew deep in my heart that this would be my survival.
The surviving members of the group from Synchronicity all agreed that we must choose love in response to terror. Master Charles Cannon, our spiritual director, suggested we bring our focus to ‘a greater vision’ to create a positive outcome to this tragedy. This greater vision is to affirm life rather than destroy it. This vision is to honour the oneness and sacredness of life in ourselves and in everyone we meet. Life is what we all share and it must be honoured. ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ is the golden rule that we all know, but now is the time to live it every day in every way we can. We co-founded One Life Alliance to carry out this vision and inspire others to join us.
Because of the generosity of Mr. PRS Oberoi and funding from the family of two of our survivors, Joe and John Slicker, I was able to spend most of 20102016 in Mumbai reaching out to schools, businesses and the Mumbai police department. I felt compelled to invite the citizens of Mumbai to share this message, and work with them to create programmes that would bring this vision into everyday life. I also needed to see where my husband and daughter spent the last 10 days of their lives, and yes, even those last minutes in the Oberoi restaurant. They were so happy in that beautiful environment. They loved all of the sweetness India had to offer.
On one of my many visits to Mumbai, Harry, an Oberoi Shoppe owner, told me that he remembered my daughter from earlier that day on November 26. She was in the shop with some women from the Synchronicity group and one of them bought her a bright green silk scarf. She put it on and danced all around the outside of the shop full of joy. I can just see her and am so grateful to Harry for sharing that precious memory.
My husband Alan was the coordinator of the group and organised the daily outings to various temples, including those on the Elephanta Island. He was known for his sense of humour and practical way of sorting everything out to run smoothly. I was told by an Indian friend who helped out at the evening meditations, “I need you to know that for all the brief times I have known Alan on his visits to India he seemed so gracious and sincere - absolutely sincere in everything he did. A quality that perhaps one does not encounter so often…..his sincerity was amazing.” Alan told me on our last phone call “I love India so much I could die here.” He was a deeply spiritual person who loved being at the source of the ancient wisdom that is part of the fabric of India.
My family died in Mumbai, but I know they were enjoying every moment until that last night. I refuse to leave their memory lying under that table. I will honour their memory by dedicating my life to the opposite of terrorism – to love like an extremist. Love will always overpower hatred. A part of my life ended on 26/11 but after spending so much time in Mumbai I learned how to live again in a new way. Thank you Mumbai, for taking me into your heart and sharing your magic.
Every survivor must deal with loss of their loved ones in their own way. It takes time to grieve and to accept the finality of death. During these past 10 years, I discovered that the essence of my husband and daughter lives on in my heart. I am now closer to them than ever before. This aspect of life continues and will never die. When we learn to connect with that essence, we will never be alone. We will be so full of love that it will flow out to everyone we meet. May the anniversary of 26/11 bring a strong focus to loving life as we love and honour all those whose lives ended on this day. Let their legacy live on in love as we join together as one to create a more peaceful world.
The author is the founder of the One Life Alliance One of India’s worst terror attacks spawned several books, from anthologies of expert essays to thriller fiction. Here are some of the top ones in no particular order
CONQUERING TERROR A woman who lost her husband and daughter explains why she chose peace over hatred to deal with their deaths
The Siege: The attack on the Taj, by Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy: Using detailed reportage and interviews, the writers recreate the attack on the Taj Mahal hotel Kasab: The Face of 26/11, by Rommel Rodrigues: The book chronicles the life of Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks caught alive Mumbai 26/11: A Day Of Infamy, by B Raman: It focuses on what went wrong and argues that the terrorists were a tool of the Pakistani establishment 26/11 Mumbai Attacked, edited by Harinder Baweja: With an analysis of the failures, the book explores what led to the attack and how to avoid a repeat P Chidambaram took over the sensitive home ministry days after the audacious attacks. The ministry was demoralised and the attacks exposed chinks in the line of command, he says. Edited excerpts:
You took charge of the home ministry soon after the attacks. What shape was the ministry, key to internal security, in?
I took charge on December 1 and my immediate tasks were to review the preparedness of the country to such outrageous assaults mounted by a neighbouring country. I needed to assure the people of Mumbai and India that more effective steps will be taken to forestall such attacks and to make sure that if such attacks do take place, to repulse them and save human lives. It was also important to review the laws pertaining to terror attacks and make suitable amendments. The ministry was quite demoralised. The 26/11 attacks exposed many chinks in the line of command. The most important gap I found was the response time of security forces and the civilian government was tardy and inadequate.
Political heads rolled in Maharashtra and at the Centre. Why were the bureaucrats spared especially when there was specific intelligence pointing to the fact that the terrorists would take the sea route?
If responsibility has to be fixed on civil servants, it has to be fixed at the very top. The then home secretary was retiring in about a month, as was the Director, Intelligence Bureau. I asked myself what I needed to do about them and then also told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that I need continuity to get a grip of the situation. I decided to use their knowledge instead of suspending them. Both retired within two months.
Given the specific intelligence, could the Mumbai attacks have been stopped?
If an organisation like the Multi Agency Centre (which collates intelligence from all agencies) had been there, there was a good chance that the attacks could have been forestalled. The complete lack of sharing of intelligence between various organisations was a big problem. The army, navy and other agencies were not sharing their inputs with each other.
But India continues to be vulnerable…
We are not as vulnerable as we were in 2008. There were attacks in Pune, Mumbai and the Delhi High Court after 26/11 but none could be traced to any source outside India. What’s happening more recently are attacks on military installations, mounted by groups located across the border.
The victims and their families have still not got justice despite evidence the attacks were planned and mounted in Pakistan.
Ajmal Kasab was hanged and Pakistan was completely exposed. Pakistan has not denied that their citizens were behind the attacks. Yes, they have not convicted the terrorists they arrested. We, however, proved to the world that the attacks were planned, financed and mounted from Pakistan.
India opted for a diplomatic approach. Was a military option considered?
The military option was considered but was discarded as not likely to yield any tangible results. Short of going to war, we could’ve launched a cross-border attack. A cross-border strike was taken post 26/11. That was a deterrent. Pakistan did not launch an attack on Indian soil after that, at least till the UPA was in government.
Ajmal Kasab and Pakistanborn American terrorist, David Coleman Headley gave incriminating testimonies against Lashkar founder Hafiz Saeed and the Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI. Why did you not push for Headley’s extradition?
Headley was a double agent. We ensured that he was punished. The US would not go beyond that because it would have exposed other agencies. We put relentless pressure on the US to ensure that he is punished even though there was tremendous pressure on them from within their own agencies which were using Headley as an agent.
A trial has been underway in Pakistan for 10 years now. The case seems to be dragging. Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi, the main accused, is out on bail. Isn’t the trial just a sham?
Pakistan is not a country governed by the rule of law as we know it. I do not expect anything to come out of the trial. Every player in Pakistan is only interested in not punishing the conspirators.
The Lashkar and its front, the JamaatudDawah is no longer on the list of banned organisations. Hafiz Saeed is a free man and still gives speeches threatening India…
There are multiple power centres in Pakistan and they include the civilian government, the army, and terror organisations like the JuD and the Jaish-e-Mohammad. According to me, they share power and sometimes one defers to the other but essentially all three act in common.
Can Hafiz Saeed be picked out like the US did with Osama bin Laden?
Soon after the Mumbai attacks, Hafiz Saeed was in a safe house in Karachi. He now roams around freely but we don’t have the capability of targeting him in a raid like the one the Americans undertook. We didn’t have the capability then (in 2008) and I’ll be pleasantly surprised if we have it now. If we had tried, we would’ve failed and that would have been a bigger blow. We conveyed diplomatically, in no uncertain terms, that any Mumbailike repetition would invite retaliation and that message was strongly conveyed to Pakistan.
MY FAMILY DIED BUT I KNOW THEY WERE ENJOYING EVERY MOMENT. I REFUSE TO LEAVE THEIR MEMORY LYING UNDER THAT TABLE. I WILL HONOUR THEIR MEMORY BY DEDICATING MY LIFE TO THE OPPOSITE OF TERRORISM – TO LOVE LIKE AN EXTREMIST