WHEN THE SKIES CAVED IN

WHEN THE SKIES CAVED IN

Rudolph Giuliani, Mayor of New York receiving Sh.Vajpayee at Ground Zero

 

Friday,November 9, 2001. It was few hours past midnight. The roar of a low flying jumbo jet on its flight path to the nearby JFK airport reverberated through the floors of one of the finest premium luxury hotels in the world, “The Towers” at the New York Palace in the heart of Midtown Manhattan.  Quite pleasant and slightly traditional in aesthetics, this hotel is where most of the world leaders stay when they come for the United Nations summit.  Except for the occasional honking of a speeding NYPD patrol car or a distant wailing of sirens from the motorcade of some head of state arriving late for the summit, a total and complete silence reigned on the fifth floor where the Prime Minister of India Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was staying. After two days of hectic diplomacy in Washington, he reached New York later that evening, and got into his bed early, knowing that the next day was likely to be even more busy as he would be addressing the 56^th UN general assembly followed by a series of bilateral meetings with several heads of state.

 Standing guard outside the Prime Minister’s suit along with my United States Secret Service night-shift counterpart, who befriended me after introducing himself at the hotel itself, I asked him a question the whole world has been asking with utter bafflement. 

“How could it be possible for such a thing to happen in the United States of America?”

Obviously with a heart writhing with agony and pain at the poignancy of that shocking incident, he stood in silence for a few moments and then he gave a tender look to me and said, 

“Because we have had this bad or good habit of trusting anyone very easily” 

I felt he was not prepared to commit his earnest opinion to it at this early juncture because it was only two months ago, just a mile away from where we were standing, that his motherland, the world’s most powerful country awakened to an attack of surpassing disproportion which easily qualifies as the largest single terrorist attack ever seen in the history of mankind. As several people still lie underneath a mountain of rubble and the federal agencies investigate into the possible involvement of insiders in carrying out this spectacular attack, it’s quite apparent that he muted his opinion. 

Notwithstanding the grim situation prevailing in the city of New York, the 56^th UN General assembly was held peacefully the next day, November 10, 2001, amid unprecedented security arrangements. The nation as a whole, it seemed was resolved to fight the terror and the anarchic bloodshed that had been deliberately unleashed on them. That day, at the United Nations premises, I felt the air was heavy with belligerence and on every face I met, it played out a weird grimace and distress.  It seemed they had suddenly become skeptical of absolutely everything and everyone around them. America, I thought, for the first time since turning into a super power went into defensive stance at least for the time being.

Sunday, November 11, 2001 was just a normal routine day. I went through the Prime Minister’s schedule for the day circulated by the mission control room and found nothing special in there. PMO staff and other members of the delegation were getting ready for our evening flight to the next destination, which was London. Since there was nothing else going on, the Close Protection Team members were sauntering along the pathway in front of the room having conversations with the secret service agents who focused more on security related issues.  But we were vaguely aware that there were some discussions going on in the diplomatic circle on the possibility of the Prime Minister of India visiting the Ground Zero site. Though the New York city authorities were reluctant to allow any international heads of state outside America to visit the site, particularly when tall flames were still visible and dead bodies still being recovered from the massive tomb of rubble, it was Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tall stature and immense popularity on international stage that drove the American authorities to welcome him to join their grief. 

It was only a five minute journey from New York palace to the Ground Zero. Due to safety restrictions, it was decided that only two cars, the main car and a security car will be going there with a depleted strength of CPT.  The entire area was already cordoned off by the NYPD. With the Secret Service escort vehicles accompanying the motorcade, the security of the Prime Minister was almost impenetrable. As the limousines moved slowly down the Liberty Street towards the Ground Zero, I could see the somber faces of the rescue workers, fire fighters and police men engaged in rescue and clearing-up operations in precarious circumstances at the site of the collapsed twin towers. A few trucks were seen carrying debris and wreckage out of the site. The whole area, I found, was still wrapped up in some deep melancholy. 

 

Signing the Victims Board

However on reaching the venue, the Prime Minister was received by the New York City mayor Mr. Rudolph Giuliani and his team. The security apparatus was, as expected, full-on and rather ubiquitous. Standing at an arm’s length behind the Prime Minister on a newly raised structure with a huge “victim’s board’ that will be used by the world leaders to sign as a part of paying homage to those who were killed by the terrorist attack on WTC, I glanced down at the ground and realized the place where the mighty World Trade Centre had once been, was now only a giant crater surrounded by burning wreckage, debris and tangled steel. Many people could still be trapped and dead beneath the rubble. Flames were still bursting from a number of completely devastated buildings. “This is total tearing down” I thought. 

After placing a wreath on behalf of the government and the people of India, the prime minister placed his signature on the “victim’s board’ thereby becoming the first head of state, if my remembrance is correct, to make such a gesture. Shortly thereafter he left for the hotel.

It’s been years, but still those horrifying scenes are fresh in my mind. And I also vividly remember watching the television footage on September 11 of the second plane hitting the WTC tower and the mayhem thereafter -citizens running for their lives along the road, some throwing themselves out of windows to escape the flame that engulfed their offices, fire engines, ambulances, screaming people and finally that most horrifying as well as the most nerve wreaking footage of WTC twin towers collapsing as thick clouds of pulverised concrete spewed in all directions. 

 In the days following this horrendous tragedy, the US saw rapid and dramatic changes in both domestic and foreign policy. There were significant shifts in approach towards outsiders.  I presume, the words of the secret service agent that midnight, literally permeated every actions subsequently taken by the United States of America. The “trust all attitude” that most Americans had long taken for granted was suddenly denigrated and the so far relatively simplistic approach towards the security measures became stringent and rigorous. Since then, the nation as a whole started believing in retaliation, revenge, preemptive attacks on all countries sponsoring terrorism and eventually the people became more skeptical about anything and everything. 

Rest is history. The Americans demonstrated their strength on the world stage in resolving a testing period that inflicted overwhelming feelings of panic and fear, painful intrusive memories and events that even questioned their nationalistic patriotism. They have proved categorically that they have not been defeated. Though it is widely accepted that it is pretty unlikely that international terrorism can be brought to an end by military actions, the post September 11 campaign to eliminate Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, initiated by the United States and many other NATO and non NATO nations delivered a severe blow to the terrorists and their umbrella organizations all over the world. 

Just a couple of days ago, I read an article in “The Hindu” titled “No room for complacency” which discussed the Al-Qaeda’s declaration that it has set up a branch in the Indian subcontinent called “Qaedat al-Jihad”. This poses serious questions for India and its new government. To me, however, this news represented more than just an imminent threat that is looming over the entire nation. It throws at me a few unpleasant questions as to whether as a nation, we have the nerve to stand up to terrorism as precisely as the Americans have been doing since 9/11. Do we have the courage to admit our weaknesses and take curative measures? Can the government unilaterally take coercive actions to deal with terrorism without taking those religious aspects into account? Do we have a set formula at all or for that matter an effective domestic as well as foreign intelligence gathering set up or a National security System to effectively deal with a massive terrorist attack of unprecedented magnitude? 

 Let’s hope that the new government can strive to avoid the mistakes we made earlier and do something better to vanquish the threat by coordinated efforts even if it goes to the extent of small encroachments on civil liberties, if it be, in the larger interest of the country. We cannot afford to allow this desperate attempt by the Al-Qaeda to sustain in the sub continent and carryout insidious terror dealings. Furthermore, the government should simultaneously address the issue of a few Indian youngsters joining the terror network by understanding the causes that obviously stem from certain deep rooted disenchantment that was exacerbated by treating all members of a particular community as suspects. 

  

Today, United States of America is observing the 13^th anniversary of one of the deadliest terrorist attacks on the planet earth with tragic memories of over 3000 innocent lives lost. As an armed force officer who has seen the enormity of the situation on ground, and was briefed about how monumental this deadly attack was, my heart goes out to all those countless number of police officers, fire fighters, emergency workers, doctors, nurses, volunteers and several others who had risked and lost their lives in desperate efforts to save others. Let’s raise our hands and salute them on this occasion, for their act of supreme sacrifice for the humanity.

Let the new generation that has only heard about a post parliament attack, Akshardham, Mumbai blast or 9/11 world with no recollection of these incidents, join together in this fight against terror. You have in front of you an empty paper that no one but only you can write something on it. You fill it with your new hopes and aspirations and keep it well guarded with your unabashed patriotism and love for the motherland. 

At Ground Zero- When The Skies Caved In.