Lessons from Nairobi attack? A warning for Goa Vivek Menezes, TNN | Sep 29, 2013, 03.31 AM IST
Hearts sank across India this week, as scenes of the horrific terrorist assault on Nairobi's Westgate Mall filtered onto our television and computer screens. Most store-owners in the complex are Indian Kenyans, many were killed right away. Plus, the two countries have been closely linked since before independence, Goa's own Pio da Gama Pinto and Fitz de Souza fought with distinction for Kenya's decolonization, and Mapusa-born Joseph Murumbi Zuzarte was the new country's Vice President and one of its greatest statesmen. But even more significant cause for Indian worry is the deadly similarity between this week's Nairobi attack, and the lethal commando invasion of Mumbai on 26/11, 2008, that lasted three days, paralyzed the entirety of South Bombay, and killed and wounded almost 500 people. On that day, we learned how unprepared even the financial capital of the country was for the kind of incident that has become all too common in our troubled times: information systems broke down, emergency response failed completely, and even the most elite armed responders turned out to be comprehensively ill-equipped and untrained. The situation is reportedly improved in Mumbai now, and the continuing occurrence of these kinds of attacks around the world has led security forces to prepare more substantially. But the Nairobi disaster is grim reminder the threat can come from unexpected directions, with many details that are of particular relevance to our own, still blessedly becalmed Goa. First, it does no good to stereotype where the attackers will come from. On Tuesday, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta reported a British woman and three Americans were involved. His foreign minister, Amina Mohammed rightly concluded these facts "underline the global nature" of the threat the world now faces. Here, it is important to note that it was an American, David Headley who first drew Goa into the international terror ambit, spending weeks in the state scouting potential targets against Israelis in the free-wheeling nigh-lawless beach belt that stretches north from Anjuna through Pernem. Second, it is nearly impossible to prevent a committed band of terrorists from initiating their plans, but the first response-and first responders-are absolutely crucial to containing the damage. Nairobi is a dangerous and crime-affected city, so the police and other teams who arrived at the scene within the first minutes were fairly seasoned, and immediately engaged the terrorists with return fire. That helped keep casualties down. The same unfortunately didn't happen on 26/11 except in a couple of places-notably VT station, where guards heroically faced down AK-47's with 50-year-old Enfields-but it should be noted that in both places Kasab and company immediately changed plans and bolted. God forbid it ever happen in our Goa, but what would happen if a similar team opportunistically chose a target as packed with foreigners as Nairobi's Westgate Mall? How many days would it take for adequate response to arrive, with what cost of life, not to mention reputation? Here note that it took almost a decade for big-bucks Bali tourism to recover after its nightclub bombings in 2002. So Nairobi also teaches us that it is imperative Goa immediately constitute serious, workable disaster contingency plans that are further widely communicated to the public. Officialdom moves slowly across the state-there are villages where you never see a cop for days on end. In the time of need it will be imperative that citizens know what to do, and who to contact beyond local police. Finally, nobody wants to see our famously open, relaxed and tolerant Goan culture change more than it has to. But by allowing large swathes of the state to lapse beyond the reach of the police, we are asking for serious trouble. As learned from Afghanistan before 9/11, and now Somalia (from where the Nairobi terrorists apparently got their orders) lawless areas attract terrorists. No-go territories quickly become a base of their operations. In this regard, in the middle of an age of attacks like Nairobi, it's frankly unbelievable that ruling party legislator Dayanand Mandrekar could actually call an IPS officer a "goonda" for actually doing his mandated job to oppose criminality by raiding illegal parties. The intention seems to be to create a no-go territory right here in our state: certain disaster. Just this week, the CM himself admitted Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal stayed in the exact same area Mandrekar was talking about. The accused terrorist lived here as long as he wanted, rode his motorbike wherever he wanted. Manohar Parrikar then chillingly admitted, "The NIA, during the search of his house, found bomb-making equipment." What more evidence do we need that the writing is on the wall for Goa? The real goondas will surely have taken heed. (ENDS) The writer is a well published author and photographer. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Lessons-from-Nairobi-attack-A-warning-for-Goa/articleshow/23229717.cms