Mumbai terror drama unfolds on Net
Amit Banerjee
Thursday, November 27, 2008, (New Delhi)
Citizens of the World Wide Web have connected to terror-stricken Mumbai in a way never seen before.
Within hours of the spate of coordinated attacks in the heart of India's financial hub, surfers logged on to www.ndtv.com to express their horror over the Mumbai encounter.
"Enough is enough. The whole country is bleeding today. Are we here to only feel defeated every morning we wake up? MUMBAI- the whole country is with you," said Sriram.
"I'm pretty sure Mumbai will be up-and-running again on Thursday. Everyone will exclaim how resilient we are etc. etc. The unfortunate bit about all of this is that we are resilient by force and not by choice. And given how frequently we have to call upon our resilience makes me believe that we are no longer resilient but insensitive. And that will be a very true reflection of our society at-large, inclusive of our political and law-order situation. Wednesday, the 26th has once again brought to light the very questions that some of our leaders need to ponder on - "Is India really shining"?," said Naeem Harnekar.
An eyewitness Dinesh Kumar used a forum on NDTV.com to share his experiences as he tried to make his way back home from work.
"I left office (Charni Road - West) at 10 pm. Caught a bus to the CST. After crossing the Metro Cinema Hall, police and rapid action force stopped our bus and asked us to return back. I got out from the bus at 10:20 pm and thought of going to Church Gate to catch a train to Dadar and to Mulund. From the people around, I understood that there were also shootouts in CG. Returned back to office at Charni Road Near Tarapora Aquarium and decided to take a cab to Mulund. I heard the sound of two continuous blasts at the Oberoi Hotel which can be seen from the Tarapora Aquarium and saw smoke near the Oberoi Hotel. I tried stopping cabs passing by but none would stop at the Marine Drive main road. At last I got a cab and managed to reach Sion where there was a heavy traffic Jam. I got down from the taxi and walked down to the Sion Station. There was no train coming from CST. There was a train going toward Dadar. Station officials said that this train is up to Dadar and will return back to Kalyan. I got a Kasara train and finally reached Mulund at 12:25."
A Mumbai help blog (http://mumbaihelp.blogspot.com/2008/11/can-we-help.html) was up and running to put people in touch.
If nothing, the blog shows the indomitable spirit of Indians who refuse to be cowed down by terrorists. In a terrific show of solidarity, bloggers are offering their mobile numbers to complete strangers in any part of the world to touch base with their loved ones in Mumbai. As expected, the site is flooded with anxious queries, among those some from Israel looking for Rabbi Gabriel Rivka Holtzberg, the director of Chabad-Lubavitch in Mumbai.
For those wishing to follow the conversation on microblogging site Twitter, a general search for 'Mumbai' will collect everything. There are also geotagged tweets originating from within 15 miles of Mumbai.
Besides Twitter, Netizens are following the chain of events on Wikipedia's Current Affairs page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Current_events), Mahalo (http://www.mahalo.com/Mumbai_Terrorist_Attacks) and Now Public (http://www.nowpublic.com/tag/mumbai).
The site has a wealth of multimedia footage culled from prominent news channels, including NDTV. Real-time coverage is also happening on Ground Report (http://www.groundreport.com/), Mumbai Metblogs (http://mumbai.metblogs.com/) and Global Voices Online (http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/11/26/india-terror-attacks-continue-in-mumbai/).
In his India Uncut blog, journalist and blogger Amit Varma (http://indiauncut.com/iublog/article/a-night-out-in-mumbai/) gives a vivid first-hand account of Mumbai's night of terror.
Sample his emotional outburst: "Earlier today, I was working on a final polishing of my novel before it goes to press. Now I wonder what's the point. The book will come out in April, and Bombay will be a different city then. This book was written in a Bombay before these attacks; it will come out in a Bombay after these attacks, and it somehow feels, as I sit here in the business center of a boutique hotel a stone's throw away from mayhem, that it will be inadequate. It is a love story-and isn't that perverse?"
On Flickr, a search for 'Mumbai attacks' brings up hundreds up photos, most of them grabs from television coverage, but also gems like Vinu's photostream (http://flickr.com/photos/vinu) that has some amazing snaphots from Ground Zero.
The South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) has a launched a series of live webcasts on the horrific events in Mumbai. These special two-hour reports will continue every 12 hours in the coming days. (http://www.sajaforum.org/2008/11/breaking-news-terrorists-attack-mumbai-hotels.html)
And it is just not Indians who are feeling Mumbai's pain. American blogger Steve Clemons has this to say on The Washington Note (http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2008/11/condolences_fea/): "Gunmen are holding fort in the Oberoi Hotel and the Taj Hotel -- which are the two hotels I stayed at during recent trips to Mumbai. I knew a number of the staff in these two hotels and am very worried about them. Condolences to all who have lost people in this sad episode. We need to think about the innocents who get caught up in this drama -- and in another context, when U.S. forces kill accidentally innocent people, we need to know that it's hurting many and breeding blowback and rage."
In a quick reaction, America's President-Elect Barack Obama also condemned the terrorist outrage in Mumbai. "President-Elect Obama strongly condemns today's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, and his thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and the people of India. These coordinated attacks on innocent civilians demonstrate the grave and urgent threat of terrorism.
The United States must continue to strengthen our partnerships with India and nations around the world to root out and destroy terrorist networks. We stand with the people of India, whose democracy will prove far more resilient than the hateful ideology that led to these attacks, " says a statement on his official website (http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/stateupdates/gGxXSv).