DNA Special: Remember the martyrs of 26/11?

We want to ask you a question that when you remember the biggest terrorist attack on Mumbai on this day 13 years ago, which we know as the 26/11 attack, what is the first name that comes to mind when you think of that terrorist attack?

Most of you will take the name of terrorist Amir Ajmal Kasab, who was the only terrorist caught alive in this attack. But how many of you remember the names of martyrs Tukaram Omble and Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who was martyred while saving Mumbai from this attack?

This was the biggest terrorist attack ever on India. The 10 terrorists who attacked had come from Pakistan. There was an encounter between terrorists and security forces for 60 hours at different places in Mumbai, in which 9 terrorists were killed. The tenth terrorist Ajmal Kasab was caught alive by Tukaram Omble, Assistant Sub Inspector of Mumbai Police. During that time, Kasab shot Tukaram Omble in the stomach. Despite being shot, Veer Tukaram did not spare Kasab and was martyred.

Today, we are talking about Shaheed Tukaram Omble especially because if he had not caught Kasab alive, the world would not have exposed the lies of saffron terrorism in front of the world. You will remember when Amir Ajmal Kasab, a terrorist who came from Pakistan, was caught, he had a Kalawa (red thread) tied in his hand and he was telling his name as Sameer Chaudhary. This was a conspiracy of Pakistan.

Similarly, Major Unnikrishnan of the National Security Guard was also martyred while facing terrorists in this attack. He was the first commando of NSG to give martyrdom during this attack. But then, a leader of the country had made a remark against Sandeep Unnikrishnan, which no one could even think of.

Major Unnikrishnan was from Kerala, but he and his family lived in Bangalore. Then there was the government of CPI(M) in Kerala and the Chief Minister was VS Achuthanandan. He had reached Bangalore to meet Major Unnikrishnan's family but it was a political tour. During this, when Major Unnikrishnan's family members protested against the Chief Minister of Kerala, he made a derogatory remark against Major Unnikrishnan and said that if Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan had not been martyred, not even an animal would go to his house. That is, the soldiers of the country were giving their lives and a leftist leader of the country was insulting those martyrs and their families. Whereas today, when we talked to Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan's father, he said that he is not only proud of his son but also of all the soldiers of the country who are protecting the country like warriors on the border.

Surprisingly, all these 10 terrorists who attacked Mumbai were given Hindu identity. Not only were they given ID cards with Hindu names, but a Kalawa was also tied in their hands, as Hindus often tie in their hands.

Pakistan wanted to prove that the Hindus of India have stood up against their government and they have taken up arms against the atrocities being committed on Muslims. But this trick of Pakistan failed as Amir Ajmal Kasab was captured alive.

How the 26/11 attacks were tried to be projected as Hindu terrorism was revealed by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria in his book Let me say it now. This book was published in the year 2020. Referring to the interrogation with Kasab, Rakesh Maria writes in this book -

If all went well, Kasab would have been killed, he would have had a red thread in his hand, that is, a Kalawa. Not only this, an I-card would have been recovered from him, in which his name was written as Sameer Dinesh Chaudhary. And according to this ID card, he was a student of Arunodaya Degree and PG College, Hyderabad. His home address was Teachers Colony, Nagarbhavi, Bangalore. Had Kasab been killed on the day of the attack, a team of Mumbai Police would have gone to Hyderabad and started an investigation. And outside the house of Sameer Dinesh Choudhary in Bangalore, media people would line up and everyone would start interviewing his family and neighbours.

But alas, this did not happen because Kasab was captured alive and during interrogation, he revealed that he is a resident of Faridkot in Pakistan and he has been trained by Lashkar-e-Taiba for this attack.

Now the question is if Kasab was killed with this fake ID card, would the media of our country try to get to the bottom of the truth even for a moment? Probably not, because the bigger news than his being a terrorist, would have been that he is a Hindu terrorist.

Rakesh Maria was the Joint Commissioner of Crime Branch of Mumbai Police at that time. While Hasan Ghafoor was the Mumbai Police Commissioner at that time. But Rakesh Maria was given the responsibility of the control room that day and it was he who questioned Kasab.

Rakesh Maria writes in this book that Kasab was convinced Muslims were not allowed to offer namaz (prayers) in India and that all mosques in India were locked. Even the voices of Azaan that Kasab used to hear in lock up, he considered them only as his imagination.

When Rakesh Maria came to know about this, he asked one of his companions to take Kasab to a nearby mosque. When Kasab saw prayers being held in that mosque, he was shocked and could not believe himself. He found this impossible.

What an irony that by these methods, not only the Muslims of Pakistan are provoked about India, but the Muslims of India are also intimidated by doing similar things.

Rakesh Maria has further written in his book that one day he asked Kasab what he would get by doing all this, that is, what would he gain by shedding people's blood and why did he do this?

In response, Kasab said that sir, you do not know that our master has told us that when you are killed in jihad, your dead bodies will start glowing and will have a fragrance. You will be welcome in the paradise, there will be beautiful hoor (virgins) and you will get all the comforts in heaven. Good life is possible only in paradise, not here on earth.

After this, Rakesh Maria got very angry and he took Kasab to the hospital where the bodies of the remaining 9 terrorists were kept.

Rakesh Maria took Kasab there and said, look at this, these are your jihadi friends who are in paradise. According to Maria, seeing this, Kasab's mouth was left wide open. The bodies were stinking and it was difficult to even stand there.

Then, Rakesh Maria asked Kasab that your master had said fragrance, where is that fragrance and where is the glowing body?

Maria kept asking these things to Kasab again and again but Kasab had no answer to it. Then, Maria asked to Kasab that if the body starts glowing when you die in jihad, why don't your masters themselves give their lives in jihad and why do they live here in pleasure. Hearing these things, Kasab's face dried up and he sat down on the ground.

But according to Maria, Kasab did not apologize for his actions as he probably realized that it was too late and had become a victim of the conspiracy of his own masters.

Rakesh Maria has also raised questions on the role of media in this book. The 26/11 attack was a huge terrorist attack and it took three days to kill the terrorists. At that time, media was doing live coverage of this attack and the terrorists were preparing their further strategy by watching the news channels of India.

Maria wrote in this book how terrorists directly contacted a news channel and a terrorist present in Taj Hotel gave live interview to the channel. He put all his demands in front of the news anchor. And then he called his handlers and told how wonderful this interview was.

According to Maria, these terrorists were given training to speak Hindi and were told that on being asked, they should tell themselves to be residents of Hyderabad.

That is, the terrorists knew somewhere that the Indian media would not let this opportunity go by hand and they had prepared accordingly.

These terrorists were also taught difficult Hindi words so that no one doubts their language.

Now, you will wonder how the media of our country has come under the trap of terrorists and unknowingly, the live coverage and enthusiasm of the media made the path of terrorists easy.

Kasab was kept in Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim was entrusted with the responsibility of killing Kasab because Kasab was the only living evidence against Pakistan and Pakistan wanted to get rid of him at all costs.

Overall, Kasab was not only instigated in the name of religion first and was prepared to attack India but he was also shown a wrong picture of India, an India where Muslims are oppressed. Right at the time of his death, Kasab must have understood that his masters not only lied to him but also sent him to India to die in the name of religion and jihad. But today, some people of our own country who consider themselves to be masters of politics, they also show such false pictures to the Muslims of the country and instigate them against their own country.

At the time of 26/11 attack, Maharashtra was ruled by Congress and NCP and the country was ruled by UPA. Everyone was expecting that India would take military action against Pakistan after this attack but the government of that time did not do anything like this. Seven years before this attack, America was attacked on 9/11. Immediately after this attack, the US started attacks on Taliban and Al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan. If India wanted, it too could have taken similar action against Pakistan, but the government of that time did not show courage.

Congress leader Manish Tewari has recently written a book called – 10 Flash Points, 20 Years. In this he has also mentioned 26/11 attack. In this, he writes that when a nation shows restraint, sometimes it is not a sign of bravery but a sign of weakness, often, there comes a time when your action should outweigh your words. 26/11 was one such time. That's why I think India should have given immediate reply to Pakistan after this attack.

Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also referred to the 26/11 attacks during the Constitution Day program and remembered the Mumbai Police and Indian Army personnel who were martyred in this attack.