bout de papier, Vol. 30, No. 4 (2019), pp. 16–21
The 26 November 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai, often referred to as 26/11, had an effect on India similar to the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York seven years earlier. On the 10th anniversary of the attack, it seems important to revisit the events of 2008 — to reflect on what occurred, what has happened since, and to draw some lessons learned.
The 2008 Mumbai attack was unique in that it targeted not only resident Indians, but international travellers as well. Victims included many business visitors, religious pilgrims, tourists and families of the Indian diaspora from around the world. As Canada’s Consul General in Mumbai at the time, I was among those caught up in the incident.
A city of over 18 million, where Hindu-Muslim tensions periodically flare and monsoon rains can turn deadly, Mumbai is referred to as “Maximum City” in a book by the same name. It is also the financial and cultural capital of India.
The year before my arrival, the Mumbai monsoon had killed hundreds of people and, in July 2006, my first year in India, a series of seven train bombings during the evening rush hour killed 209 commuters and injured another 500. Despite these tragedies, Mumbai was not ready for the ferocity of the events that would unfold.
Wednesday evening, 26 November 2008
Wednesday 26 November 2008 is a typical evening at the Consulate General. Working late, preparing for yet another large mission from Canada, we lock up the office just before 9pm. I share a taxi with a colleague and am dropped near Leopold’s Café, an open-air meeting place popular with expatriates and tourists alike, not far from the iconic Taj Mahal Hotel. About 9:20pm, I walk by Leopold’s Café, look inside and decide it is too busy to quietly read after a long day. I head further down the Colaba Causeway. a couple of short blocks, and around the corner to a quieter café on a tree-lined side street leading toward the sea.
I had in fact had lunch at Leopold’s that day while running some errands. With an office both damp and cold, I often escaped the Consulate to warm up in Leopold’s or other open-air restaurants in South Mumbai where ceiling fans, lime soda and vibrant street life reminded you that you were in India.
A short time before my fortunate decision, four rubber dinghies make their way to the shore of South Mumbai, ferrying ten well-trained Lashkar-e Taiba terrorists. Lean and fit, sporting t-shirts and jeans under the guise of tourists, they each carry credit cards and dried fruit, along with a bag containing an AK47, half a dozen magazines and an additional 400 rounds, eight hand grenades and an automatic-loading revolver. Five days earlier, they set out from Karachi, Pakistan, hijacked an Indian fishing trawler, killed four crew members and ordered the captain to proceed to Mumbai.
The shooting probably starts in the passenger hall of the main rail station, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, less than 200 metres from the Canadian Consulate, shortly after our departure. Two of the terrorists arrive chucking grenades with guns blazing during the evening rush hour. In minutes they proceed to kill 52 people and wound twice as many.
No sooner have I ordered jasmine tea when reports of gunshots being fired on the Colaba Causeway begin to circulate. Is it political rivalry, a gang feud among drug traders, or something else? Not wanting to find out, I leave hastily, without paying for tea, as the waiters seek to clear and close the café. Making my way toward the seafront, I tum left and walk along a break-wall until the dome of the Taj Hotel is in sight. I think of seeking refuge there, as it has security and seems the safest place to be. For me like many a Mumbaiker, this hotel has been a home away from home.
Several minutes after I pass Leopold’s, two of the terrorists drench the café with bullets. In less than 90 seconds, they leave 10 people dead or dying and many more seriously injured, before they head for the Taj. The wounded include Sourav Mishram, a reporter with Reuters. I have narrowly avoided the crossfire when the violence first broke.
Meanwhile, two other militants move north and plant bombs in separate taxis that would kill an additional five people and wound fifteen.
Two others enter Nariman House – home to a Chabad House. a Jewish outreach centre. Six occupants, including the owner and his wife, who was five months pregnant, are killed. Their two-year-old son survives the attack after being rescued by his Indian nanny.
The two who attacked the train station move on to the Cama Hospital. Alerted of their arrival, hospital staff lock down the patients. The terrorists hurriedly move on, pursued by Mumbai Terrorist Squad Chief Hemant Karkare in a jeep. He and three of his men are gunned down by the two terrorists, who then commandeer the jeep. The vehicle is later intercepted by a police patrol. One terrorist is killed and the other arrested, but not before another police officer’s life is taken in an exchange of bullets.
Four of the terrorists soon reach the Taj Hotel, while an additional two shoot their way into the Trident-Oberoi Hotel. By the time I get close to the Taj, I can see that it is under attack. Crowds begin to form outside. The hotel will become the major flashpoint for the siege.
Shots ring out and grenades periodically explode on the lower levels. On the 21st floor of the adjoining tower, at the Souk Restaurant, the more than 100 diners who had been tucking into Middle Eastern cuisine now take refuge. A Korean delegation holed up in the Rendez-vous Room on the floor below is also trapped with nowhere to go. The Consulate has recently hosted the Premier of British Columbia and a large delegation in that venue.
Returning along the sea wall, I arrive at the home of Gul and Sheila Kripilani, a very short distance from the Taj Hotel. The Kripilanis are leading figures in the Canadian community in Mumbai. We have shared many a pleasant dinner and conversation, together with visiting Canadians, on their rooftop terrace overlooking the Arabian Sea.
I charge my phone and contact Sharon Landry, the Consulate’s veteran MCO, as well as Rick McElrea, Senior Trade Commissioner, and Elaine Brouca to ensure they and local staff are safe. I awaken the High Commissioner, Joseph Caron, and DHOM Ken Macartney in Delhi to apprise them of developments.
After grabbing some food at the Kripilanis’, I return near the Taj and call various diplomatic and Consulate colleagues as well as Indian officials. Joe Leahy, a friend and foreign correspondent with the Financial Times of London, calls to compare notes as he stands outside the Oberoi Hotel. I am also in touch with the Times of India photographer, Shantanu Das (some of his photos appear in this article).
Collectively, with Canadian and locally engaged colleagues and friends of the Consulate, we would work nonstop over the coming days trying to assist Canadians in distress, dispel rumours, piece together what was actually happening, and report effectively on the chaos that the rampage had produced.
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Shortly before midnight, the police finally surround the Taj Hotel, and several hours later the army arrives. I spend most of the night outside the main entrance, waiting in vain for any Canadians to emerge. A small number of staff and guests are later able to exit, accompanied by soldiers. By the very early morning the hotel is on fire following a heavy explosion near the central dome. Fire can be seen spreading across the top floor of the hotel, and fire trucks now provide a backdrop to the sporadic shooting that can be heard inside.
The terrorists by this time have moved from the heritage part of the hotel to the new adjoining tower, where they are ensconced with up to 150 hostages. People at the lower level windows pace about nervously and look out, their cell phones in hand. Many hours pass and, just before dawn, firemen finally open the locked windows and begin to rescue those reachable by ladders — more than 200 guests and staff in total.
By first light, National Security Guard (NSG) commandos are at last ready and given a feu vert to take back the Taj Hotel and Tower. The NSG is soon ushering those who had been hiding on the second floor Chambers Club. Another 100 people are evacuated over the next several hours. Meanwhile, the terrorists set fire to a room on the fourth floor.
ATask Force is set up involving all sections of the Consulate General and we prepare a 24/7 roster, engaging all our local and Canadian staff. Reinforcements arrive from the High Commission in Delhi that include Jordan Walsh, a young Consular Officer, and his public affairs colleague, Hélène Viau, responsible for reporting, communications and media relations.
Arriving at 9am from Chennai, Walsh is astonished at the devastation the attack has on the city, which appears virtually empty. The usual loud and congested two-hour ride from the airport takes only 35 unnervingly quiet minutes, given the striking absence of cars, pedestrians, street vendors or wallahs, and even the homeless.
In the absence of hotel guest lists, inaccessible for the two hotels (they will only become available late Thursday), a picture of the many Canadians in harm’s way gradually emerges through a very connected world. News of the Mumbai attack travels quickly and family, friends and media are calling the Foreign Affairs Operations Centre or the Consulate team directly. Families relay cellphone numbers and we get in touch with several of those trapped inside the hotels, until their cellphones go dead. We quickly relay messages to family and friends.
Several people make their way to the Canadian Consulate with stories to tell — physically unscathed, they are nonetheless traumatized. Some were outside the Oberoi or the Taj when the attacks occurred, without their personal effects or luggage. Others escaped or were released from the two hotels over the course of the day
A snapshot of some of the Canadians trapped in the two hotels include Marsha Maxwell, 62, a retired teacher caught in the Oberoi at the time of the attacks, as well as Alison Nankivell, a mother of two from Ottawa. Others include the Simonsons from Calgary. Montreal physician Dr. Michael Moss and his partner Elizabeth Russell, an accomplished nurse, are also in Mumbai for a short stopover on their return to Canada after a holiday in Goa.
Helen Connolly, a Toronto yoga instructor grazed by a bullet, was admitted to hospital and soon released. Montreal actor Michael Rudder remained in hospital in stable condition, recovering in intensive care from gunshot wounds to the arm, thigh and torso. Both Rudder and Connolly were in India on a meditation retreat with the Synchronicity Foundation, a US-based spiritual organization. Several of their party sitting at the same dinner table had been killed.
Several flashbacks and images will later resurface from that day. A striking photo of the attack appears in a national magazine. It shows Consulate driver Bryan D’penha standing next to Ratan Tata, the Chairman of the Tata Group, owner of the Taj Hotel. Fingertips pressed to their lips they stand side-by-side in mirrored disbelief as they watch the grand old palace burn.
What we witness during the numerous visits to the Jamshedjee Jeejeebhoy (J.J.) Hospital as we try to identify the dead and the missing can never be forgotten. Fifty or more bodies, mainly recovered from the train station, are covered in cotton sheets and laid out on the floor of the hot and humid lobby. Confusion ensues after Taj Hotel victims are mixed with this group, but not separately identified.
The victims at J.J. Hospital include Michael Moss. After we mistakenly assume that he was killed at the rail station, we run a grisly and fruitless search for his luggage among the abandoned, disordered belongings left scattered in the station.
Friday, 28 November 2008
At the Oberoi-Trident Hotel, the elevators are out of service and the bottom windows smashed out. Some hostages are rescued by mid-afternoon on Friday. Later that day, this commando operation concludes. Two dozen corpses are recovered.
Meanwhile at the Taj, the first bodies are recovered from the lower levels of the hotel following the arrival of more NSG commandos. A series of grenade explosions thunder and gun shots are fired.
The consulate remains in regular contact with the police, working to piece together identity cards, various suitcases and jackets, purses and passports left behind during the confusion.
The morgue is busy with non-stop visits, as all Consulates attempt to determine the nationality of the remains of various unidentified victims.
That afternoon, I describe the attacks in an interview with the Canadian Press as “a blow not only to India, but to the international community and expatriates living in Mumbai.” All diplomatic missions use the two hotels attacked frequently for delegations and ministerial visits. It is where we buy our books and newspapers, host lunches and dinners, and socialize after work. We know doormen, the florist, and the General Manager personally. The GM of the Taj lost his wife and two sons in the fire set on the fourth floor.
Saturday, 29 November 2008
In the very early morning of Saturday the 29th, further explosions and frequent gunshots are heard. By 8am it is announced that the Taj and Oberoi Hotels are under the control of security forces and each room is being searched.
The Consulate team is on site at both hotels, to ensure that those rescued are soon speaking with relatives, so all know that they were released. Since the hotels’ IT systems were severely damaged during the siege, information will keep coming in for several days about registered guests.
We organize return travel for those in need. Still in hospital, Michael Rudder is now in a better position to speak and we discuss what arrangements can be made for an air ambulance to take him home.
When the attacks finally come to an end, 68 hours after they began, at least 164 people are dead, and more than 300 wounded. Two of the deceased are Canadians. Despite considerable pressure from media on the ground and in Canada to know more, only one Canadian victim has been publicly identified by late Saturday: Dr. Michael Moss.
Moss’s partner, Elizabeth Russell, also died in the attack. Both were shot at point blank range while sitting by the pool at the Taj Hotel. The Consulate would later take DNA samples and help the families arrange to bring the cremated remains back to Canada.
Epilogue
Several Canadian ministers, in quick succession following the attack, visited Mumbai as a sign of solidarity with India. The lone surviving terrorist, Ajmil Kasab, was tried and executed on 21 November 2012. He was aged 25.
David Headley (born Daood Sayed Gilani), a Pakistani— American spy who undertook several reconnaissance missions to Mumbai to plot the attack, was sentenced to 35 years in a US prison on 24 January 2013. The Government of India continues to seek Headley’s extradition.
Headley’s boyhood friend and partner in business, Pakistani-Canadian Husain Rana, while eventually found not guilty of involvement in the Mumbai attack, was convicted in January 2013 of providing material support to Lashkar-e Taiba and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Following the Mumbai attacks, and more recent events worldwide, the potential threat of terrorism, particularly as it pertains to hotel and building security, is now better appreciated. As a result, vigilance, risk analysis and active shooter drills are increasingly important parts of security planning and training at Global Affairs Canada — both at home and abroad.
Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 30, No. 4 (2019), pp. 16–21. Read the rest of this issue →
