Dispatches – Terror in Mumbai

Between 26 and 28 November 2008, the city of Mumbai as subjected to a coordinated and vicious campaign of terror attacks by ten armed members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant Islamic organisation from Pakistan.

Ajmal Amir Kasab, the surviving gunman

Dispatches: Terror in Mumbai is a graphic and explosive piece of journalism that tells the story of the Mumbai terror attacks in the words of the victims, families, law enforcement personnel and surviving gunman.  Watching this piece, I went through so many emotions including shock, horror and a deep sadness.  On the Channel 4 site, they describe the attacks as an atrocity and they were indeed a cowardly and disgusting series of attacks. 

The gunmen arrived by boat from Karachi and split up into pairs.  They attacked a busy bar, a crowded railway platform, two hotels, two taxis and a Jewish spiritual centre.  They fired indiscriminately into crowds and Kasab stated that their aim was to kill people.  Simply to kill as many people as they could.  At least 173 people died in the attacks and 308 were counted as wounded.

The worst thing about the attacks was that they went into one of the poorest countries on Earth and victimised people who would find it especially difficult to bounce back from the attacks.  These were normal people; men women and children of all religions and walks of life, including Muslims.  For an organisation that preached the unity of Islam, they sure did a good job at tearing families and communities apart.

Dispatches: Terror in Mumbai is chilling as it shows that the terrorists were basically brainwashed boys who were used and manipulated by their operators in Pakistan for whatever grandiose intentions they had.  I abhor terrorism but this film helped me to understand the people behind the attacks, both the pawns and the power seekers.

I’ve embedded the videos below and I would really recommend viewing them.  They are extremely graphic and disturbing though and may upset certain viewers.