[Assam] Hotel Taj: Icon of whose India?

[Chan Mahanta]

You raise some very pertinent points here Mridul. I am not one to 
jump into conspiracy theories, but I know, and we all ought to know, 
that NOT everything IS what it SEEMS to be.

The Mumbai attackers could very well be LeT cadres, originating from 
Pakistani territory and they could very well have been trained by 
present or past Pak Military personnel or ISI.

But the series of disclosures from Indian "investigators"  and govt. 
officials don't  either add up or are entirely credible to all but 
the tone-deaf or the simple-minded . I can accept that a critical 
piece of the puzzle--say the death of Karkare/Kamte/Salaskar  early 
in the episode is one of those improbable but real co-incidences. But 
there are number of  points here that defy ordinary credibility.

Finally, I still can't believe that the Mumbai police or its 
Fire-Prevention people had NO knowledge of or access to the layout of 
its most famous and "IMPORTANT"  hotel; more so because the Owner, 
Ratan Tata studied architecture and is fairly well-known about his 
interest in architecture while the attackers were ' by the govt's. 
own admission, very conversant with it. There is such a thing as 
creating as-built drawings in the architectural profession. No hotel 
housekeeping manager can run a place without up-to-date plans. What 
it can  mean are:

	A: There were local accomplices, or scouts  who scoped out 
the place ahead of time and
	familiarized themselves without having the benefit of floor 
plans. Therefore these are far
	more intelligent and resourceful people than Mumbai's own 
safety officials; who should have
	been very familiar with the facility and should have had 
floor plans at their offices. The
  	explanation offered by someone, obviously an idiot of the ilk 
of Indian officialdom, that there
	were no plans because it was such an old facility, is 
entirely unbelievable.

	B: That the govt. is releasing only what suits its propaganda 
purposes. That there is more to
	everything than meets the eye.

	C: From all the reports that we see day-in and day-out, 
Indian police and military
	"investigators"  must be the best and most effective in the 
world, since they can extract
	information and confessions from the most notorious and 
nefarious of criminals they 'nab'.
	So, why should anyone doubt  anything they tell the world. Right?

	If you believe that, as they say here in the USA, I have 
prime piece of land to sell you in the
	Nevada deserts ( that you are utterly gullible).


The fires that incinerated so many, including the hotel GM's family 
brings up another question: Was there any automatic fire sprinkler 
system in the hotel?  Does not sound as though there was. No modern 
hotel facility  that charges room rates higher than fancy hotels in 
NY,Singapore, London etc. can be imagined to  be without it.

Here is a pointer to our fellow men: If you go stay in some fancy 
hotel like this, never forget to inquire if there is an automatic 
fire-sprinkler system in the facility. Hotels and high-rise dwellings 
around the world have an unenvious history of suffering from the 
worst infernos.















At 9:27 PM -0800 12/3/08, Mridul Bhuyan wrote:
>This is quite an interesting piece with some really valid points. 
>The role of the media while covering the attacks are definitely we 
>should look into. The credibility of the socalled outstanding 
>journalists are in question.
>
>Some of the points woth mentioning about the terror attacks are:
>
>1. Except the admission by the captured terrorist, the items used by 
>the terrorists bearing 'Made in Pakistan' marks and satelite phone 
>intercepts, what other proofs are available to show Pakistan's 
>involvement? Are they enough to indulge in mudslinging accusing 
>Pakistan of its involvement, as done by many popular channels long 
>before the evidences collected by Police? This has resulted in 
>immediate reaction from the Pak media and the whole seriousness of 
>the matter got diluted.
>
>2. When the Indian media will be matured enough to realise that 
>while an operation is in progress there are limits to which the 
>media coverage should be limited to?
>
>3. During the joint press conference with US Secretary of state, 
>Pranab Mukherjee mentioned about all the terror attacks recently 
>including Jaipur. However, he never ever mentioned even the name of 
>the Guwahati incident? Not a single Indian mentioned about the bomb 
>blasts in Guwahati showing that they don't care about the Bomb 
>blasts in Assam.
>
>4. In a panel discussion, by ND TV, the famous celebrities in the 
>likes of Simi Garewal, Ness Wadia (Bombay Dyeing) etc. and in the 
>mass rally, likes of Preity Jinta , Prahlad Kakkar (Ad film maker) 
>have expressed faith in their famous Mumbaikar Spirit (What is that? 
>Is it something that while partying, it is Mumbaikar spirit and 
>while attacked by terrorist, it is Indian spirit waiting for 9 hours 
>for NSG to reach).
>
>5. The timing of the blast suits whom, while elections to about 5/6 
>states are being held.
>
>6. Who will benefit the most out of these terrorist attacks?? Let 
>the election results come in.
>
>7.  How the top brass of the India security like Heman Karkare, 
>Kamte & Salaskar got killed even before the counter attacks against 
>the terrorist began. Is there any link with the investigations of 
>Malegaon blasts???
>
>These are some of the vital points, which needs to be deliberated 
>upon seriously in the aftermath of the terrorists strike in Mumbai.
>
>Rgds
>Mridul Bhuyan
>
>--- On Wed, 12/3/08, baruah at bard.edu <baruah at bard.edu> wrote:
>
>From: baruah at bard.edu <baruah at bard.edu>
>Subject: [Assam] Hotel Taj: Icon of whose India?
>To: assam at assamnet.org
>Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 4:51 PM
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>From: girish karnawat <girishkarnawat at gmail.com>
>Date: 2 Dec 2008 15:44
>Subject: Hotel Taj: Icon of whose India?
>
>Hotel Taj: Icon of whose India?
>
>Gnani Sankaran- Tamil writer, Chennai.
>
>  Watching at least four English news channels, surfing from one another during
>the last 60 hours of terror strike made me feel a terror of another kind, the
>terror of assaulting one's mind and sensitivity with cameras, sound bites
>and non-stop blabbers. All these channels have been trying to manufacture my
>consent for a big lie called - Hotel Taj the icon of India
>
>  Whose India, Whose Icon?
>
>  It is a matter of great shame that these channels simply did not bother about
>the other icon that faced the first attack from terrorists - the Chatrapathi
>Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station. CST is the true icon of Mumbai. It is
>through this railway station hundreds of Indians from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,
>Rajasthan, West Bengal and Tamilnadu have poured into Mumbai over the years,
>transforming themselves  into Mumbaikars and built the Mumbai of today along
>with the Marathis and Kolis
>
>  But the channels would not recognise this. Nor would they recognise 
>the thirty
>odd dead bodies strewn all over the platform of CST. No Barkha Dutt went there
>to tell us who they were. But she was at Taj to show us the damaged furniture
>and reception lobby braving the guards. And the TV cameras did not go to the
>government run JJ hospital to find out who those 26 unidentified bodies were.
>Instead they were again invading the battered Taj to try in vain for a scoop
>shot of the dead bodies of the page 3 celebrities.
>
>   In all probability, the unidentified bodies could be those of workers from
>Bihar and Uttar Pradesh migrating to Mumbai, arriving by train at CST without
>cell phones and pan cards to identify them. Even after 60 hours after the CST
>massacre, no channel has bothered to cover in detail what transpired there.
>
>The channels conveniently failed to acknowledge that the  Aam Aadmis of India
>surviving in Mumbai were not affected by  Taj, Oberoi and Trident closing down
>for a couple of weeks  or months. What mattered to them was the 
>stoppage of BEST
>buses and suburban trains even for one hour. But the channels were 
>not covering
>that aspect of the terror attack.  Such information at best merited a scroll
>line, while the cameras have to be dedicated for real time thriller 
>unfolding at
>Taj or Nariman Bhavan.
>
>  The so called justification for the hype the channels built around heritage
>site Taj falling down (CST is also a heritage site), is that Hotel 
>Taj is where
>the rich and the powerful of India and the globe congregate. It is a symbol or
>icon of power of money and politics, not India. It is the icon of 
>the financiers
>and swindlers of India. The Mumbai and India were built by the Aam Aadmis who
>passed through CST and Taj was the oasis of peace and privacy for those who
>wielded power over these mass of labouring classes. Leopold  club and Taj were
>the haunts of rich spoilt kids who would   drive their vehicles over sleeping
>Aam Aadmis on the  pavement, the Mafiosi of Mumbai forever financing the
>glitterati of Bollywood (and also the terrorists) ,  Political brokers and
>industrialists
>
>  It is precisely because Taj is the icon of power and not people that the
>terrorists chose to strike.
>  The terrorists have understood after several efforts that the Aam Aadmi will
>never break down even if you bomb her markets and trains. He/she was resilient
>because that is the only way he/she can even survive.
>
>   Resilience was another word that annoyed the pundits of news channels and
>their patrons this time.  What resilience, enough is enough, said Pranoy
>Roy's channel on the left side of the channel spectrum. Same sentiments were
>echoed by Arnab Goswami representing the right wing of the broadcast 
>media whose
>time is now. Can Rajdeep be far behind in this game of one-upmanship 
>over TRPs ?
>They all attacked resilience this time. They wanted firm action from the
>government in tackling terror
>
>  The same channels celebrated resilience when bombs went off in trains and
>markets killing and maiming the Aam Aadmis. The resilience of the ordinary
>worker suited the rich business class of Mumbai since work or manufacture or
>film shooting did not stop. When it came to them, the rich 
>shamelessly exhibited
>their lack of nerves and refused to be resilient themselves. They cry for
>government intervention now to protect their private spas and 
>swimming pools and
>bars and restaurants, similar to the way in which Citibank, General Motors and
>the ilk cry for government money when their coffers are emptied by their own
>ideologies
>
>The terrorists have learnt that the ordinary Indian is unperturbed by terror.
>For one whose daily existence itself is a terror of government sponsored
>inflation and market sponsored exclusion, pain is something he has learnt to
>live with. The rich of Mumbai and India Inc are facing the pain for the first
>time and learning about it just as the middle classes of India learnt about
>violation of human rights only during emergency, a cool 28 years after
>independence.
>
>  And human rights were another favourite issue for the channels to whip at
>times of terrorism.
>Arnab Goswami in an animated voice wondered where were those 
>champions of human
>rights now, not to be seen applauding the brave and selfless police 
>officers who
>gave up their life in fighting terrorism. Well, the counter question would be
>where were you when such officers were violating the human rights of 
>Aam Aadmis.
>Has there ever been any 24 hour non stop coverage of violence 
>against dalits and
>adivasis of this country?
>
>  This definitely was not the time to manufacture consent for the extra legal
>and third degree methods of interrogation of police and army but Arnabs
>don't miss a single opportunity to serve their class masters, this time the
>jingoistic patriotism came in handy to whitewash the entire 
>uniformed services.
>
>  The sacrifice of the commandos or the police officers who went down dying at
>the hands of ruthless terrorists is no doubt heart rending but in vain in a
>situation which needed not just bran but also brain. Israel has a 
>point when it
>says the operations were misplanned resulting in the death of its nationals
>here.
>
>Kakares and Salaskars would not be dead if they did not commit the mistake of
>travelling by the same vehicle. It is a basic lesson in management 
>that the top
>brass should never travel together in crisis. The terrorists, if only they had
>watched the channels, would have laughed their hearts out when the 
>Chief of the
>Marine commandos, an elite force, masking his face so unprofessionally in a
>see-through cloth, told the media that the commandos had no idea about the
>structure of the Hotel Taj which they were trying to liberate. But the
>terrorists knew the place thoroughly, he acknowledged.
>
>  Is it so difficult to obtain a ground plan of Hotel Taj and discuss operation
>strategy thoroughly for at least one hour before entering? This is something
>even an event manager would first ask for, if he had to fix 25 audio 
>systems and
>50 CCtvs for a cultural event in a hotel. Would not Ratan Tata have provided a
>plan of his ancestral hotel to the commandos within one hour considering the
>mighty apparatus at his and government's disposal?  Are satellite pictures
>only available for terrorists and not the government agencies?  In 
>an operation
>known to consume time, one more hour for preparation would have only improved
>the efficiency of execution.
>
>  Sacrifices become doubly tragic in unprofessional circumstances. But the Aam
>Aadmis always believe that terror-shooters do better planning than terrorists.
>And the gullible media in a jingoistic mood would not raise any question about
>any of these issues.  They after all have their favourite whipping boy ? the
>politician the eternal entertainer for the non-voting rich classes of India.
>
>  Arnabs and Rajdeeps would wax eloquent on Manmohan Singh and Advani visiting
>Mumbai separately and not together showing solidarity even at this hour of
>national crisis.  What a farce? Why can't these channels pool together all
>their camera crew and reporters at this time of national calamity 
>and share the
>sound and visual bites which could mean a wider and deeper coverage of events
>with such a huge
>  human resource to command?   Why should Arnab and Rajdeep and Barkha keep
>harping every five minutes that this piece of information was 
>exclusive to their
>channel, at the time of such a national crisis? Is this the time to 
>promote the
>channel? If that is valid, the politician promoting his own political
>constituency is equally valid. And the duty of the politician is to 
>do politics,
>his politics. It is for the people to evaluate that politics
>
>  And terrorism is not above politics. It is politics by other means. 
>To come to
>grips with it and to eventually eliminate it, the practice of 
>politics by proper
>means needs constant fine tuning and improvement. Decrying all politics and
>politicians, only helps terrorists and dictators who are the two sides of the
>same coin. And the rich and powerful always prefer terrorists and dictators to
>do business with.
>
>Those caught in this crossfire are always the Aam Aadmis whose deaths are not
>even mourned - the taxi driver who lost the entire family at CST firing, the
>numerous waiters and stewards who lost their lives working in Taj 
>for a monthly
>salary that would be one time bill for their masters.
>
>Postscript: In a fit of anger and depression, I sent a message to all the
>channels, 30 hours through the coverage.  After all they have been constantly
>asking the viewers to message them for anything and everything. My 
>message read:
>I send this with lots of pain. All channels, including yours, must 
>apologise for
>not covering the victims of CST massacre, the real mumbaikars and 
>aam aadmis of
>India. Your obsession with five star elite is disgusting. Learn from the print
>media please.  No channel bothered. Only srinivasan Jain replied: 
>you are right.
>We are trying to redress balance today. Well, nothing happened till 
>the time of
>writing this 66 hours after the terror attack.
>
>
>
>--Girish Dariyav Karnawat
>
>--Groupe SCE India Pvt ltd
>Bangalore
>Karnataka
>INDIA
>
>
>--Arpita Das
>Co-founder and Publisher
>YODA PRESS
>Editorial address: 9519, c9, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110 070
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>
>
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